Tag Archives: Blogging

Sidebar and Learning

I have been playing around with computers as a hobby  in one way or another since the early days of the Apple 2c.  There is so much to learn and do that it is still a mind stretching hobby.   A few months ago have decided to spruce up this blog by adding buttons to the sidebar.  The first button or two took what seemed like forever to place just where and how I wanted it.  That was chalked up to learning. It was hard learning but it also good.  I still remember how proud I was of myself when the first button was in place.

My most recent decision is to join some net rings for the purpose of being connected to others who enjoy the fiber arts .  Once again I am in the position of adding buttons to the sidebar of this blog. It is not such a difficult task as it was the first time or two.  I am still learning and stretching my brain muscles a bit….I know there is no actual muscle tissue in the brain, after all I am a nurse. But you get my point. This whole process of blogging can be and is at times a real learning experience. It is fun learning and helps keep me young.

Yeah!!

Yeah!! I did it!!! I learned how to add buttons to the sidebar of this blog. I am super excited. There is now a “Knit From Your Stash” button on the sidebar. It took a bit of playing around and checking out the code from one of my older blogs.  Thanks to the forums at WordPress and Lisa from Calming Seas ( who showed me months ago how to do the same on another blog).

For those of you who have been doing this for a while it is probably not a big accomplishement. Right now for me it is a big accomplishment. The next time it won’t be nearly as much of a challenge.

The best part of this experience is that I now have more freedom to customize all of my blogs.

A bit Egotistical Perhaps?

Yesterday evening I spent a bit of time going through some FO’s and took pictures of them. Here are some I would like to share, just for the fun of it and because now I can do so.

This was made using some scraps of yarn from my stash. It is an 8 inch square.

May each of you have a Happy New Year!!

2007 Knitting and Crochet Goals

I have been thinking about my goals related to knitting and crocheting for the upcoming year. This includes projects to finish and do; books and other items to buy; changes to make to my blogs; and new yarns/threads to try.

I would like to finish:

    • Weaving in loose ends on and mail squares for a group project in which I am participating.
    • The scarf on my needles for the Red Scarf Project
    • The pair of socks started last year
    • An afghan for myself started a couple of years ago.

Some items I would like to buy are:

    • A digital camera.

Here is a list of books I want to add to my collection of fiber related books:

    • Any and all of the Harmony Guide to Knitting found here or here

Most of the fiber related tools and books will come from a favorite LYS or nearby bookstore.

I want to try out some of the novelty yarns that I have not been able to purchase while I was not working. The list is long and will change as I explore some LYS’s and other places.

Another goal is to post to all of my blogs more regularly and often. Purchasing a digital camera will make it possible to post pictures of projects while making them and once they are done.

Some of the items I want to make this year are:

    • Scarves for the Red Scarf project
    • At least one more pair of socks after completing the unfinished pair
    • At least a dozen dishcloths for my sister
    • More dishcloths for my household
    • Keeping up with the Monthly Dishcloth KAL
    • Trying out patterns in my copy of the Mason Dixon Book that I have not yet tried.

This list does not include other items made that go to charities. My philosophy is to keep charity giving a private matter, with two exceptions. The first is my support of the Red Scarf project. The second is that I will discuss it with a charity related online group to which I belong.
Some techniques I would like to learn or improve my skills with are:

    • Knitting lace. This might be a scarf or shawl. I don’t know yet, but my favorite LYS will be able to help with this project.
    • Tunisian Crochet
    • Sock making
    • Use of double pointed knitting needles
    • Intarsia knitting and crochet

The year 2007 promises to be a very busy people and fiber filled year. It sounds like fun. :)

What about yours?

Year In Review

I have been thinking about this past year this week. It has been a busy exciting year full of changes. Some of the changes include:

  • I have resumed knitting.
  • We have two functioning vehicles.
  • I began blogging and have five blogs on WordPress plus others.
  • I returned to work as an RN.
  • I kept a Needlework Journal.
  • My yarn purchases were limited with the result that my stash has decreased by a small amount.
  • I now belong to some online knitting and charity groups.
  • My household was introduced and switched to Firefox as its’ default web browser.
  • We also did the same as the above with Thunderbird.
  • We replaced my computer with a more current model and operating system.

It has been a most unique year in many ways. One of my hopes and prayers is that life can settle down a bit in 2007.

Busy Weeks

Life has been very busy in the past month. Some of the things that have happened are:

  • Me returning to work full time.
  • An early winter ice storm hitting our area and leaving a lot of us without electricity for days. Some people were without it for more than a week.
  • Knitting dishcloths in my spare time.

This doesn’t sound like a lot until homeschooling, keeping up with a household and trying to answer email are added to the mix. It has kept me very busy.

Blogging Goals

My goals for posting here have certainly not been met. I have been spending so much time adding links to Dish and Wash Cloth Mania that even knitting and crocheting have fallen by the way side.
That blog has grown more than I thought it would. I even managed to give it a custom header. Doing that made for some interesting learning.

I will try to get back to working on some charity projects later today or tommorrow. The priority project is a pile of hats with loose ends waiting to be woven in so they can go to new homes. Then there scarves and more hats to be made for others for the winter.

Busy!

I realized a few minutes ago that I have not been writing about knitting or crocheting here in the past several weeks. There are a few reasons for this which all come down to life getting in the way.

The hard drive on the computer quit working the Friday of Labor Day weekend. My plans were to gets a lot of things done on the computer that weekend. We have a ‘new to us’ computer purchased from my favorite store: EPC. They are the best in our entire area in my opinion.

Another reason for not posting is that I have not been knitting or crocheting very much. We have been taking a lot more family time for talking, playing games like Scrabble and family reading. We are home schoolers and those activities take priority. There are times when I knit or crochet during family times, but I have not done so recently.

The last reason for not posting here is because there is a new blog in my life. It is:
Dish and Wash Cloth Mania. I am collecting lists of free Dish and Wash Cloth patterns found on the internet. When I began the project my original site was here:Dish and Wash Cloth Mania.
The lists of patterns grew very quickly and I chose to move it to a home that would allow for its growth. My free time is being spent adding to it. At the moment it mostly has knitted cloths on it. I am working on adding more crocheted ones to it. This weekend a lot were added. It is taking longer than planned because there are only so many hours in a day.

Hard Drive Quit

Wow!!!
The past few weeks have been so very busy. It’s hard to believe that it has been so long since I have written anything here.

The main reason for this is that my old hard drive quit working on the Friday of Labor Day weekend. That was a real bummer because my original plan to to spend lots of time on my blogs over that weekend. Oh well….Life happens like that sometimes.

Instead of lots of computer time for me and lots of video game time for the guys, we had lots of family time. That was a very good thing. Since the computer is home now, I am getting caught up on blogging and emails.

I have been busy knitting some ballband dishcloths to replace my supply of dishcloths that are wearing out. Crochet projects include weaving in some loose ends on squares for a charity project. There are also a bunch of hats with loose ends waiting to be woven in before it gets any cooler outside. Those are going to a local charity.

New Site

I decided to move my new site Dish and Wash Cloth Mania to a new home because of the difficulty finding a template that fits my goals for it. You may find it here :
Dish and Wash Cloth Mania.

 

This is still my main site for fiber arts. and other topics.
I haven’t done much knitting or crocheting done in the past few days. I spent a bit of time on Saturday evening weaving in loose ends on some squares that need to be mailed in the next or so. I have also been working on another Mason Dixon Ballband dishcloth. I’ll post pictures of that when it is done. At the rate I am going, it will be a few days.
This evening after my husband gets home from work we are spending the evening mowing the lawn and doing some basic yard cleanup. Today is being spent working on blogs, doing dishes and straightening the house. They aren’t exciting things, but still need to be done.