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Trish–1, Yarn Ball–0

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mitered square made with Noro Kureyon yarn

mitered square made with Noro Kureyon yarn

I declare victory! I finally finished my first square of my Noro Mitered Squares Babette (Ravelry link), after two false starts and frogging due to totally inept counting on my part. Sheesh! Now at long last I can move on to the second square. I think I’m probably going to take years to finish this project, because it can be something I just pick up between projects and add a square here or there, or maybe add one each time I come across a new Kureyon colorway that excites me.

You know? There’s something to be said for easy-peasy garter stitch. It seems to be the perfect antidote to stress. It’s calming to be able to knit the same thing over and over, to be able to knit without looking or thinking, or to get into a calming rhythm. I know there are people out there who really don’t love doing garter stitch, because the monotony of it drives them batty. But the thing is that I don’t think I am one of those people.


Check Out This Blog!

Susan B. Anderson's Itty Bitty Blog

Susan B. Anderson's Itty Bitty Blog

My knit buddy Rhoda sent me a link yesterday for an adorable stash-busting little animal called Elefante, which turned out to be on the blog of Susan B. Anderson, author of one of my favorite books, Itty-Bitty Hats: cute and cuddly caps to knit for babies and toddlers. Why oh why have I not paid attention to this site before? Susan’s books are among my most favorite because the patterns are just a-DORABLE, and this site is like an extension of the books. The photographs are beautiful, and there is a plethora of free and for-sale projects to choose from. I’ve already found several things I’d like to make, including the bunny and chick seen in the screenshot. If you like making cutie pie kid things, definitely check this site out!

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How Long?

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I’ve been concerned for a while now about how long it takes my blog to load. I’ve heard that several things can affect this, including the number of data calls, the plugins I use, and even the hosting service I use, which might be to blame.

I’ve disabled a couple of what I think are the most time-hogging plugins, and have asked a few others to display less information. I’m hoping this will improve things around here a little. There are a couple of plugins that I can’t do without though, especially my Ravelry progress bars.

So, how long does it take for my blog to load for YOU? Thanks for letting me know…

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‘Nother Test

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I think I did it! I wanted to create a blog page on a white background, and thanks to some contributors to the Mandigo Wiki, the answer was right there. So, instead of having a blog that looked like a page of something on a colored background, I got rid of the “page” look and turned the background white. Then I turned the background for my posts a shade of purple (of course!), because too much white is well, too much.

Which of course then meant I needed to update my image script, because I like drop shadows, and a drop shadow image has to match the color it’s sitting on. Thusly:

sample photo of Kauni yarn

sample photo of Kauni yarn

So now, let’s see if this works correctly. Feedback welcome! Does everything look right? Let me know!

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Knitting the Ribbing!

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The Hat Ribbing in Progress

The Hat Ribbing in Progress

Were it not for a slight accident this morning with the needle slipping out of the stitches and quite a few more than I would have wanted being dropped, I might be writing the Finished Object Report instead of just a run of the mill progress report. But, such is life when we’re knitting, eh? I’m not sure if I’ve ever knit a project that didn’t have at least some major mishap involved.

When I originally envisioned this hat I thought it might make a nice Christmas present for my daughter. Then I started it so early that I thought she’d get to wear it some this fall. And now? Well it looks like it’s regained it’s Christmas present status again. Oh well, at least I feel like I’m on track for something now!

Last night, we went around the kitchen table and each of us said what we liked best about the holidays. I asked the kids to ignore the obvious (presents!) and to pick their other favorite thing. Here’s what everybody said:

Diana: The Food
Steven: Making Christmas Cookies
John: Looking at All the Lights
Trish: Christmas Music

WordPress Upgrade And Other Site Stuff

Yesterday I upgraded this site to WordPress 2.7. So far, I love it! If you’re thinking of upgrading, there are a couple of things to consider. At least there are a couple of basics that I did that helped make things go smoothly. First, I made sure that the theme I’m using is 2.7-compatible (it is). I grabbed the latest version of my theme, installed the upgrade, then disabled all my plugins, and let my hosting company do the automatic upgrade. Then I went in and reactivated my plugins. That’s all there was to it!

I’m finding that it’s hard to maintain three separate blogs, so I’m going to do some more general type blogging here from time to time. I’ll still keep my family blog, but even that needs a serious update. But I’m going to add a page for my writings and stuff that I had intended to develop at my long-neglected personal blog.

This blog will still be a knitting blog, but you might notice a couple of other sections in the menu over time. I’m just finding it harder and harder to even think about keeping up with three blogs. Let me know if you have any feedback on this issue! For now, I’ve uploaded an article I wrote for my college newspaper, more than 20 years ago. Even though my life is in a completely different place now, this article captures how I’m feeling right now:

Doing Yesterday’s Work Tomorrow

Enjoy!

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