I had a freak out this morning… couldn’t get in to my blog at all. I kept entering my username and password and it would just refresh the login screen. I tried it from 3 different computers. I tried resetting my password and being e-mailed my login just to be sure that the database hadn’t been corrupted.
So I tried a wordpress upgrade and voila! Perfect. Must have been a bug in the previous version. And if I had listened to wordpress’s handy reminders that I had an out-of-date version installed, it wouldn’t have happened.
I’ve had a couple of people ask, so I thought I’d update. Andromeda has been sent to the tech editor, and she said she’d get to it this week. It shouldn’t take too long, and then it goes to the test knitter. I feel this pattern is extremely important to test knit because of the complex directions for the edging picots. You have to attach and reattach the yarn multiple times in different spots and although I think I’ve articulated that pretty clearly through charts and written directions, I want to ensure that it makes sense when you’re knitting it.
I’m hoping to have the tech editing back by the end of the month and have the test knitting done by the end of October. If the test knitting goes well and is done earlier than that, then it should be good to go before the first of November.
Blogging will be sparse this week. I’m really busy with my real job and haven’t had a lot of time to take or process photos, even though I’m carrying my camera with me everywhere. The laundry is getting done though, so all I need to do is vacuum the floor and I can block a couple of sweaters that I need to show you.
There are a lot of charitable organizations out there. All clamoring for your money. All wanting a piece of your pie. I know you can’t give to all of them. Most of us are on a budget, and with the US economy in its current state, gas and food are probably taking up all your extra money.
But assuming most of us here are women, take a moment to think about how amazing it is that we have a voice. That we can vote, that we can HAVE our own income to budget. There are girls on this planet who don’t have those rights and opportunities that we have. They are treated as second class citizens with no bearing on the world around them. They are left to float in the wake of their fathers, brothers, husbands…
There is an art project in downtown salt lake that shows short movies in the window of an empty shop. That’s where I saw this:
And it made me cry. If you’re interested, go to girleffect.org and click on “Do something”. It will take you to a list of donations that can be made and EXACTLY what that donation will do. You can write in what you want to donate as well, so if you like ONE of the causes, but can’t do the minimum option, give what you can.
Although I feel we still have a ways to go, as women in this country, to be seen as equal, why not help a girl to make a change in her own country as well.
Have you seen this? I know a lot of you probably shop at WalMart and I have nothing against you, I just know about how they treat their employees and the companies they retail for and since I have other options, I choose to spend a little more and not buy at WalMart. If you don’t have those options or the little more to spend, I really don’t hold it against you. But I prefer not to shop at WalMart and am rather proud that it’s been years since I’ve been in one.
That said, watch the animation there. It only takes a few seconds, but shows the growth of WalMart from 1962-2007. I’m rather amused that they used a nice purulent green color that is reminiscent of infected snot… I guess they don’t like WalMart either 🙂 Though regardless of what your feelings are, the whole thing is still a little shocking.
I finally had my appointment with the Diabetes specialist yesterday. He feels confident that 20 pounds of weight loss over the next year should put my pancreas firmly in its place and lower my blood glucose to acceptable levels. So now I begin a long arduous process where I attempt to overcome my feels about a gym (very similar to Juno‘s feelings about same). But losing 5 pounds by my next appointment in December seems reasonable.
I need a low-no impact way to get some serious cardiovascular exercise without hurting my back… I’m thinking recumbent bike…. but I might need to buy one so I can get my exercise done in the morning before I go to work. Anyone local have any fitness equipment they want to get rid of?
Whether I end up having to go to a gym, or being able to work out at home, I’ve got a nutrition class scheduled to learn what I should and shouldn’t be eating.
I had planned to take a photo and write a post last night to auto post this morning, but Photoshop ate a chart I’d been working on for 2 hours and hadn’t saved as often as I thought I had. 🙁
Now I am spending my spare moments today rebuilding it because I told my tech editor that I’d have it out today. Grr….
Hope your Friday works out much better than mine! Have a great weekend.
Andromeda has been done for some time, but I just hadn’t taken pictures of her.
Pattern: Andromeda shawl, pattern forthcoming. Yarn: Impulse of Delight, Bluefaced Bliss. 100% Blue-faced Leicester, approx. 375 yards per 110 grams. less than 2 skeins of “Blue Skies”. This yarn is luscious! It has a lovely bit of shine that glows through the subtly shifting colors. The 2 ply gives texture and bounce and a beautiful hand. Needles: 3.75 mm (US 5) circular. Verdict: It’s just lovely! I have taken it with me to knitting gatherings and it’s got a resoundingly positive reception.
In a previous post, I talked about the tessellations, which you can now clearly see once it was blocked. I considered adding another set, but it would have just gotten exponentially larger and used probably more along the lines of 4 skeins rather than 2 and been bigger than I wanted. I’m endlessly in love with this pattern though. At first glance it appears to be a simple geometric lace design, but then you start to count the “waves” and the little twist is revealed.
My very favorite part is this edging. This is the tricky bit. Each of the tessellations had to finish up with the point as it naturally progressed from the previously established pattern, which means that each point ended at a different spot than the one next to it. I’m sending it off to the tech editor by the end of the week and then having it test knit to make sure that the directions for the edging make sense. It would be very easy to get confused with so many things going on at once, so clear and understandable directions are paramount.
I’ve long admired Allison‘s Vessel Wednesday posts, so I thought I’d start a series of my own since I have a soft spot for vessels of all sorts. Pots, bowls, cups, boxes, etc…. If it has a function, but is beautiful in its own right even while it serves that function, then it gives me pleasure to have it share my space.
So here is a new addition.
I bought this little beauty from ceramic artist Barbara Dunshee‘s etsy shop. This small, fairly unassuming pot is devious though. The wash of blue on the lid is just a taste, as the whole inside of the pot is glazed with a beautiful deep blue, which was hard to capture in late-night photography.
I’m not sure yet what I’ll keep in there, but I’m sure it will give me a grin every time I open the lid.
Pattern: Jared Flood’s Noro Striped Scarf (ravelry link) Yarn: Noro Kureyon in colors 115 and 149, which I purchased at Lamb Shoppe in Denver when I was visiting there with Michaele. Needles: 5 mm (US 8) 24″ circular. Modifications: I slipped the first stitch of every row instead of slipping the edge stitches as indicated in the pattern. The pattern is written to slip the 1st and last stitch of every other row, which serves the same purpose as what I did but makes the color shifts line up perfectly with the stripes. The change was not dramatic, but made it easier to remember to slip stitches. Verdict: I love it! It’s a great scarf and it was so much fun to knit that I have to restrain myself from purchasing a ton of Noro just to make more of them. I’ve got my eye on some for holiday presents though. I can see more of these in my future.
Pattern: Coraline (ravelry link) by Ysolda Teague Yarn: Sirdar Balmoral, which I bought in a dingy old bag full from KnitCraft in Odgen, UT. But turns out that the yarn has been un-discontinued (at least in the UK)! I’m not sure how the new version resembles the old version (it looks like it might have a tighter twist), but it would certainly be worth a swatch because the 72% wool, 25% alpaca, 3% silk makes a BEAUTIFUL sweater! Needles: 3.25 mm (US 3) for the main body and a 2.5 mm (US 1.5) for the facings. I wanted to use a 2.75 (US 2), but didn’t have one on hand and didn’t want to wait for it. Plus the dpns for the icord edges and sleeves. Modifications: I shortened the sleeves as I realized I was running out of yarn more quickly than anticipated, so I pulled back the sleeves before joining for the yoke so I would have enough to finish. Turns out to have been a good thing, especially since I love the length of the sleeves this way. I also used more buttons than the 3 called for. I wanted to be able to close it up all the way down. These buttons are vintage mother of pearl buttons with steel shanks purchased on etsy. Verdict: The most wearable sweater I’ve ever made. I am glad I put the buttons all the way down. The length looks short here, but it actually hits an inch or two into my hips (I’m very short waisted). The pattern was clear and well-written, with great attention paid to the details. The shoulder decreases that begin before the yoke line up perfectly with the smocking stitches, and the i-cord edges around the sleeves and collar give a really nice, finished look. Just wonderful!
