(If you want to skip the background and go to the actual queries, they are at the bottom of the post.)
I’ve not posted a blog entry since the end of May. It’s not that I don’t have things to write about – I have knitting to show you, I have writing projects to talk about, I have cello insights to muse on.
The problem is the actual device I use for blog posting because I now have an iPad.
I’m not an early adopter of technology. I’m an eventual adopter. I get around to the latest thing once I’m convinced it has some staying power in the world, won’t be a waste of money, and really will be useful to me.
Tablets seem to have some staying power. (Am I the only one who thinks Douglas Adams’ description of the actual Hitchhiker’s Guidebook sounds awfully like an iPad or a Kindle? And does anyone remember the portable device that Picard would sometimes read things on in his ready room? Looked rather like a tablet thingy.)
Anyway, I got an iPad because there were several things I wanted to do more portably – research, read, and write. I don’t always want to sit at my desk to do these things, especially reading, and laptops are still clunky enough to be a pain to move elsewhere.
I’m happy to say I do all three things on the iPad and then some. I read ebooks from Kindle and iBooks. I write my Morning Pages brain dump on 750words.com. I use Skype to chat with my mom. I watch stuff from Netflix. I post messages on Twitter and Facebook. I use the Evernote app to store novel outlines, research notes…and blog post drafts.
And then things come to a screeching halt. I have never had problems with Blogger itself as a site on which to have a blog, which is why I’ve stuck with it for so many years. However, importing text and images and links to Blogger on the iPad is Painful. I mean, Paaaaaiiiiiiinnnnnfuuuuuullllll. It’s a very fiddley and slow process.
So that means I end up having to do the actual blog publishing work on my laptop, which makes my shoulders sag at the very thought. I would love to get rid of my laptop, but unfortunately, there are still some word processing things that can only be done, or can be done more easily, on a laptop or desktop computer. Mores the pity.
I have a backlog of blog posts, and absolutely no desire to fire up the laptop to post them.
Here are my queries: Do you blog from a tablet device? If you do, do you do it directly on the site from your tablet or do you use an app? If you use an app, which one?
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
nice to meet you, Genet
If you asked me to describe my childhood, it would be all about the books, since I wasn't overly sociable or sports minded. I don't remember much else about growing up, but I could tell you which books I read at what age (gives new meaning to "bookmarks"). Lots of Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary from age 6 to 9. Little Women and the Little House books at age 10. Dear Mr Henshaw and Starring Sally J Friedman as Herself and the Katie John books at age 11. The entire Nancy Drew series and Madeleine L'Engle at age 12. Shakespeare, Austen, Dickens, Plath, Hughes, Thomas, the Brontes, biographies, and bits of French and Russian lit from 13 through 17. Anne Rice and Kate Chopin and Lawrence and Atwood at 18.
Somewhere along the way after childhood, my daily intake of the printed word diminished quite a bit because I got interested in other things. I discovered art and photography, and then re-discovered knitting (which I'd briefly learned and played with at age 12), and then cello. And writing took up more and more time as well. So did having to work to earn a living and maintain order in my digs once I moved out on my own.
I can still read large chunks of writing fairly quickly, when I get the chance to do it, which seems rare these days. I read Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad in one sitting while the repair person fixed my air conditioner, and I got through a Campion novel during a particularly bad rainstorm that was keeping me awake in the middle of the night. Now that e-books are available, it's made reading a lot more portable, and I get a kick out of being able to carry around the complete works of Oscar Wilde and Shelley and Austen and a few Wodehouse novels and the letters of Sylvia Beach on my iPhone. It means when I have a few minutes here and there, like standing in line somewhere or waiting for the previous student to pack up so I can go into my teacher's studio for my cello lesson, I can read a bit, and the software even marks my place.
Still, that's just reading in spurts when the opportunities present themselves. For awhile, I've been searching for some way to get back to a more regular reading routine. And then I came across a documentary recently on Netflix called Paris Was a Woman. It's about the women artists and writers of Paris between the world wars.
One of the writers featured was Janet Flanner. She wrote a weekly column for The New Yorker for decades called "Letter from Paris" under the pen name Genet. I liked what I saw and heard of her in the documentary, so I decided to check out her writing. It turns out that her New Yorker contributions are collected in four volumes. Because I am a writer, and because I am strange, I decided to get myself some copies of these books for my birthday, and it gave me a reading project idea.
The books arrived last week, and while flipping through them, it occurred to me that I could read a letter a day to get back some of the daily reading habit I used to have. The "Letters from Paris" start in 1925 and go through to 1970, so it will take awhile to get through them. I think it will be a good reading ritual. I might even tweet about them now and then - "on this day in 19__, Janet Flanner wrote about..."
The first entry in the first book is about Josephine Baker's debut in Paris in 1925. While the entry is short, it reads as though Genet was impressed. And in her blunt style, Genet points out that "Paris has never drawn a color line."
This is going to be fun and enlightening.
Somewhere along the way after childhood, my daily intake of the printed word diminished quite a bit because I got interested in other things. I discovered art and photography, and then re-discovered knitting (which I'd briefly learned and played with at age 12), and then cello. And writing took up more and more time as well. So did having to work to earn a living and maintain order in my digs once I moved out on my own.
I can still read large chunks of writing fairly quickly, when I get the chance to do it, which seems rare these days. I read Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad in one sitting while the repair person fixed my air conditioner, and I got through a Campion novel during a particularly bad rainstorm that was keeping me awake in the middle of the night. Now that e-books are available, it's made reading a lot more portable, and I get a kick out of being able to carry around the complete works of Oscar Wilde and Shelley and Austen and a few Wodehouse novels and the letters of Sylvia Beach on my iPhone. It means when I have a few minutes here and there, like standing in line somewhere or waiting for the previous student to pack up so I can go into my teacher's studio for my cello lesson, I can read a bit, and the software even marks my place.
Still, that's just reading in spurts when the opportunities present themselves. For awhile, I've been searching for some way to get back to a more regular reading routine. And then I came across a documentary recently on Netflix called Paris Was a Woman. It's about the women artists and writers of Paris between the world wars.
One of the writers featured was Janet Flanner. She wrote a weekly column for The New Yorker for decades called "Letter from Paris" under the pen name Genet. I liked what I saw and heard of her in the documentary, so I decided to check out her writing. It turns out that her New Yorker contributions are collected in four volumes. Because I am a writer, and because I am strange, I decided to get myself some copies of these books for my birthday, and it gave me a reading project idea.
The books arrived last week, and while flipping through them, it occurred to me that I could read a letter a day to get back some of the daily reading habit I used to have. The "Letters from Paris" start in 1925 and go through to 1970, so it will take awhile to get through them. I think it will be a good reading ritual. I might even tweet about them now and then - "on this day in 19__, Janet Flanner wrote about..."
The first entry in the first book is about Josephine Baker's debut in Paris in 1925. While the entry is short, it reads as though Genet was impressed. And in her blunt style, Genet points out that "Paris has never drawn a color line."
This is going to be fun and enlightening.
Friday, April 20, 2012
knitter in training
The London 2012 Olympics are less than 100 days away.
In the knitting world, there is an activity called the Knitting Olympics, with an offshoot called Ravelympics. The idea is to cast on for a project at the beginning of opening ceremonies, work on it while watching whatever events interest you, and then finish it before or by the end of closing ceremonies. The Games start on 27 July and end on 12 August - 17 days (if I did my math right).
On Ravelry, you can sign up for specific teams depending on what you're working on and post updates. Overall, it's a fun knitting community phenomenon.
During the last Olympics, I managed to finish a blanket that had been languishing for far longer than I care to admit. I had all the squares made, but it was a matter of sewing them all together and there were more than 100 of them.
This time, I'm thinking of working on a project that is London- or British-related. So far, I've come up with a few possibilities.
One is the Hitchhiker Scarf by Martina Behm, which was inspired by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, who was British. Ideally, you end up with 42 points on your scarf (in the book, 42 is the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything). I've made this pattern once already, and enjoyed it a lot, although I only ended up with 36 points. However, the pattern is flexible enough that if you run out of yarn before you get to 42 points, you can bind off wherever you need to and still have a nice scarf. I have a skein of yarn that I reclaimed from another project that I think would be enough for 42 points. Theoretically, the knitting of this could be divided up to work on a certain number of points each day, although because of how it's knit, the rows get longer the further into the project you get. So it would be a matter of doing more points early on, maybe.
Another other option is the Tudor Grace scarf by Anne Hanson. The Tudors were a ruling family in England (starting with Henry VII and ending with Elizabeth I). It's a lace pattern that has a six-row repeat and purl rest rows on the wrong side. It's a lovely pattern that I've been eyeing for awhile. But would I be able to pay attention to the events and knit at the same time without messing up the pattern? That is the question.
There is also the Miss Woodhouse shawlette by Wendy Johnson. It's a very pretty piece, and the name reminds me of Jane Austen's Emma Woodhouse. However, Emma is my least favorite of the Austen novels, so I'm not sure I want to go that route.
I was also thinking of a Dickens-related project, seeing as this year is the centenary of his birth. However, I've not come across anything that appeals to me.
Since these are the summer Games, I'm not inclined to knit something heavy like a sweater or another blanket. Hence the scarf or shawl option. It's a matter of what can I get accomplished in two and a bit weeks of knitting, which will mainly be evening knitting. Any of the above mentioned patterns would probably just squeak in under the deadline.
Any votes or other pattern ideas?
In the knitting world, there is an activity called the Knitting Olympics, with an offshoot called Ravelympics. The idea is to cast on for a project at the beginning of opening ceremonies, work on it while watching whatever events interest you, and then finish it before or by the end of closing ceremonies. The Games start on 27 July and end on 12 August - 17 days (if I did my math right).
On Ravelry, you can sign up for specific teams depending on what you're working on and post updates. Overall, it's a fun knitting community phenomenon.
During the last Olympics, I managed to finish a blanket that had been languishing for far longer than I care to admit. I had all the squares made, but it was a matter of sewing them all together and there were more than 100 of them.
This time, I'm thinking of working on a project that is London- or British-related. So far, I've come up with a few possibilities.
One is the Hitchhiker Scarf by Martina Behm, which was inspired by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, who was British. Ideally, you end up with 42 points on your scarf (in the book, 42 is the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything). I've made this pattern once already, and enjoyed it a lot, although I only ended up with 36 points. However, the pattern is flexible enough that if you run out of yarn before you get to 42 points, you can bind off wherever you need to and still have a nice scarf. I have a skein of yarn that I reclaimed from another project that I think would be enough for 42 points. Theoretically, the knitting of this could be divided up to work on a certain number of points each day, although because of how it's knit, the rows get longer the further into the project you get. So it would be a matter of doing more points early on, maybe.
Another other option is the Tudor Grace scarf by Anne Hanson. The Tudors were a ruling family in England (starting with Henry VII and ending with Elizabeth I). It's a lace pattern that has a six-row repeat and purl rest rows on the wrong side. It's a lovely pattern that I've been eyeing for awhile. But would I be able to pay attention to the events and knit at the same time without messing up the pattern? That is the question.
There is also the Miss Woodhouse shawlette by Wendy Johnson. It's a very pretty piece, and the name reminds me of Jane Austen's Emma Woodhouse. However, Emma is my least favorite of the Austen novels, so I'm not sure I want to go that route.
I was also thinking of a Dickens-related project, seeing as this year is the centenary of his birth. However, I've not come across anything that appeals to me.
Since these are the summer Games, I'm not inclined to knit something heavy like a sweater or another blanket. Hence the scarf or shawl option. It's a matter of what can I get accomplished in two and a bit weeks of knitting, which will mainly be evening knitting. Any of the above mentioned patterns would probably just squeak in under the deadline.
Any votes or other pattern ideas?
Saturday, March 31, 2012
gotta have faith
My cello teacher decided we should have a little break between study books, so at the moment, I'm working on a standalone piece called "La Foi" ("The Faith") by Goltermann. It's a nice, flowy, smooth piece for piano and cello, with plenty of opportunity to practice vibrato.
My vibrato has come a long way. First finger is still giving me fits, and if I'm not careful how I place my pinky finger, I get a slight shooting pain. Otherwise, it sounds like I may sort of perhaps quite possibly know what I'm doing. Kind of. If I squint my ears real hard.
I got the hang of the first page of the piece pretty easily. The second page - not so much. Frankly, the second page annoys me. It's a hell of a lot of shifting, although a large section of it is only on the A string and not at an overly fast pace. In theory, that should make things easier. In practice, it does not. Not to mention that one has to hold the right bow arm up for rather a long time, which can be tiring. Also, I've noticed that my A string sounds awfully bright compared to the other three strings, so it's a bit jarring when I get to that section in the piece. (Don't start in about changing out the A string for a new one. Cello strings are not cheap. I've got to work with what I have.)
I'm hoping the third page of this piece will be less annoying. I would like to be able to play the whole thing at least somewhat respectably. Right now, it's a trudge.
My vibrato has come a long way. First finger is still giving me fits, and if I'm not careful how I place my pinky finger, I get a slight shooting pain. Otherwise, it sounds like I may sort of perhaps quite possibly know what I'm doing. Kind of. If I squint my ears real hard.
I got the hang of the first page of the piece pretty easily. The second page - not so much. Frankly, the second page annoys me. It's a hell of a lot of shifting, although a large section of it is only on the A string and not at an overly fast pace. In theory, that should make things easier. In practice, it does not. Not to mention that one has to hold the right bow arm up for rather a long time, which can be tiring. Also, I've noticed that my A string sounds awfully bright compared to the other three strings, so it's a bit jarring when I get to that section in the piece. (Don't start in about changing out the A string for a new one. Cello strings are not cheap. I've got to work with what I have.)
I'm hoping the third page of this piece will be less annoying. I would like to be able to play the whole thing at least somewhat respectably. Right now, it's a trudge.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
4S Saturday: glorious
My grandmother loved her shawl. My aunt loved it, too, and kept trying it on. I'm adding some additional projects to my gift knitting queue this year, so the paternal aunts will get some lace at some point.
My mother also liked my grandmother's shawl and asked for one as well, instead of a mark II of the Fernfrost scarf that the wind took away from her last year. I started working on that with the yarn that was intended for Fernfrost the Second, and I added a pattern repeat on the middle section to make it bigger. However, I misjudged the amount of yarn that I would need for the size increase and ran out, so the project went on hold until the additional yarn I ordered arrived. I finished the middle section at my knitting group session today, so there's just the edging left to do, and yet I still may be short on yarn to get it finished. Generally, I'm pretty good about making sure I have an adequate amount of yarn for a project, so I don't know why this one is different. And I can't show you any progress pictures of it because my mom reads this blog.
I can show you this, though:
This is the Two-Thirds Shawl by Wendy Johnson from her Wendy Knits Lace book. The yarn is a tight twist superwash merino wool fingering weight from Fearless Fibers. The colorway is called Glorious Green. Indeed.
I had tried two other shawl patterns with this yarn, and neither worked. Third time appears to be the charm. I like the pattern so far, and I've had no problems following the charts. I'm already through the first section and well into the second set of charts. I have just under the amount of yarn the pattern calls for, but I'm making this on a smaller needle size as well, so I think it will be okay. I may regret saying that, given my recent struggles with yarn amounts.
There are quite a few patterns in this book that I would like to make, so it may be an additional knitting goal this year to work through a bunch of them. I started the Stacy Shawl awhile back, but ran into problems with the pattern. I thought I'd worked out a fix, but it was still giving me fits, so I put it down for awhile. More people have made the pattern now, so I'm hoping I can find some help to figure out where I'm going wrong.
I also made this recently:
The pattern is Minnie by Jumper Cables Knitting. The yarn is Waverly by Bernat in the Breath of Blue colorway.
The other scarf I'd been wearing had stretched out too much and was curling on the long edges, which doesn't provide much protection from wind and cold. It was driving me nuts. I thought I'd put in enough garter stitch so it would lay flat, but apparently not.
I didn't like the idea of doing a beginner-looking garter stitch scarf, but I did want something that wouldn't curl. I poked around on ravelry and came across this pattern and had a hallelujah moment. It has the needed garter stitch, but it also has the bobbles and lace edging to make it more interesting. You start at one end with only five stitches and you gradually increase stitches on one side only until you have it as wide as you want and then start decreasing on the same side - that gives you a long, narrow triangle shape. Easy and fun to knit, and I like how it turned out. Exactly the sort of scarf I wanted.
My mother also liked my grandmother's shawl and asked for one as well, instead of a mark II of the Fernfrost scarf that the wind took away from her last year. I started working on that with the yarn that was intended for Fernfrost the Second, and I added a pattern repeat on the middle section to make it bigger. However, I misjudged the amount of yarn that I would need for the size increase and ran out, so the project went on hold until the additional yarn I ordered arrived. I finished the middle section at my knitting group session today, so there's just the edging left to do, and yet I still may be short on yarn to get it finished. Generally, I'm pretty good about making sure I have an adequate amount of yarn for a project, so I don't know why this one is different. And I can't show you any progress pictures of it because my mom reads this blog.
I can show you this, though:
This is the Two-Thirds Shawl by Wendy Johnson from her Wendy Knits Lace book. The yarn is a tight twist superwash merino wool fingering weight from Fearless Fibers. The colorway is called Glorious Green. Indeed.
I had tried two other shawl patterns with this yarn, and neither worked. Third time appears to be the charm. I like the pattern so far, and I've had no problems following the charts. I'm already through the first section and well into the second set of charts. I have just under the amount of yarn the pattern calls for, but I'm making this on a smaller needle size as well, so I think it will be okay. I may regret saying that, given my recent struggles with yarn amounts.
There are quite a few patterns in this book that I would like to make, so it may be an additional knitting goal this year to work through a bunch of them. I started the Stacy Shawl awhile back, but ran into problems with the pattern. I thought I'd worked out a fix, but it was still giving me fits, so I put it down for awhile. More people have made the pattern now, so I'm hoping I can find some help to figure out where I'm going wrong.
I also made this recently:
The pattern is Minnie by Jumper Cables Knitting. The yarn is Waverly by Bernat in the Breath of Blue colorway.
The other scarf I'd been wearing had stretched out too much and was curling on the long edges, which doesn't provide much protection from wind and cold. It was driving me nuts. I thought I'd put in enough garter stitch so it would lay flat, but apparently not.
I didn't like the idea of doing a beginner-looking garter stitch scarf, but I did want something that wouldn't curl. I poked around on ravelry and came across this pattern and had a hallelujah moment. It has the needed garter stitch, but it also has the bobbles and lace edging to make it more interesting. You start at one end with only five stitches and you gradually increase stitches on one side only until you have it as wide as you want and then start decreasing on the same side - that gives you a long, narrow triangle shape. Easy and fun to knit, and I like how it turned out. Exactly the sort of scarf I wanted.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
5S: again with the socks
Scarf/Shawl/Sock/Sweater Saturday (or Sunday)
I finished my time traveling socks:
These really give me a giggle. I mentioned in a previous post that the colorway was derived from one of the scarves that the fourth Doctor wore. I watched some of the Tom Baker episodes on Netflix while I worked on these. Seemed appropriate.
I'm really impressed with the yarn. It's Knit Picks' Felici fingering weight yarn. It's 75% superwash merino wool and 25% nylon, which is a good combination for socks to make them soft, long-wearing, and stretchy. The yarn has great stitch definition, too. (I used a garter rib pattern.)
As soon as finished them, I started another pair in the same yarn, but a different colorway, and a seed stitch rib:
The colorway is called Mixed Berries. I'm not a fan of pink (especially after this week's news), and the pink in these reminds me of Pepto Bismol (which one might have needed after this week's news). However, it's only one stripe of pink amid four stripes of varying values of purple/lavender, so I can live with it, and it makes me happy to knit on these.
After I get these finished, I think I'll go back to less variegated/stripey yarn because I'm getting tired of doing afterthought heels to preserve the striping sequence. Although clever, it's a fiddley process, and I'd sooner go back to Wendy Johnson's gusset heel since it's easy and doesn't require anything fiddley.
Why do I suddenly have the urge to play a highland reel on the cello?
I finished my time traveling socks:
These really give me a giggle. I mentioned in a previous post that the colorway was derived from one of the scarves that the fourth Doctor wore. I watched some of the Tom Baker episodes on Netflix while I worked on these. Seemed appropriate.
I'm really impressed with the yarn. It's Knit Picks' Felici fingering weight yarn. It's 75% superwash merino wool and 25% nylon, which is a good combination for socks to make them soft, long-wearing, and stretchy. The yarn has great stitch definition, too. (I used a garter rib pattern.)
As soon as finished them, I started another pair in the same yarn, but a different colorway, and a seed stitch rib:
The colorway is called Mixed Berries. I'm not a fan of pink (especially after this week's news), and the pink in these reminds me of Pepto Bismol (which one might have needed after this week's news). However, it's only one stripe of pink amid four stripes of varying values of purple/lavender, so I can live with it, and it makes me happy to knit on these.
After I get these finished, I think I'll go back to less variegated/stripey yarn because I'm getting tired of doing afterthought heels to preserve the striping sequence. Although clever, it's a fiddley process, and I'd sooner go back to Wendy Johnson's gusset heel since it's easy and doesn't require anything fiddley.
Why do I suddenly have the urge to play a highland reel on the cello?
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
not-quite-S: hands not idle
The past two months have been...interesting. Is it something in the air or the water? Is it the violent solar flares I keep hearing about? It's been a whirlwind that included bumps and bruises and worries and a huge mistake, and I am only recently feeling recovered.
I kept my hands busy throughout, in an attempt to keep some form of normal routine going. This week, I'm going to show you the projects that don't fall into the S category - that is, none of them are scarves, shawls, socks, or sweaters. I'll get back to showing those next week.
Mom and I both worked on crocheted blankets while she and Steve were here for the holidays. She finished up a zig zag blanket I'd barely started I don't know how long ago:
And I got it into my head to do a crochet version of the Moderne Log Cabin Blanket. I got this idea because while I like the look of the knitted version, committing to that much garter stitch has always given me pause, not to mention hearing and reading complaints from people about how bloody long it takes to make. It required some gauge swatches and math (and a false start that had to be ripped out) to figure out a crochet version, but it turned out well. I adjusted the pattern a bit to suit the color placement (the color inspiration came from a sweater I've had for years), which was easy since the whole thing is made up of blocks that attach to other blocks.
A few people have mentioned that it looks like a Mondrian painting. I wish I'd thought of that sooner because I would have outlined all the blocks in black.
The cats like both blankets:
I also made a quick cowl out of some handspun yarn that owldaughter sent me (yes, she spun it herself):
It's a blend of blue-faced Leicester wool and hand-dyed tussah silk.
I'd made a cowl out of it soon after she sent it to me, but I had the feeling the pattern I'd chosen hadn't done justice to the yarn. Eventually, I unraveled it and started looking for another pattern. I finally found Anne Hanson's Poinsettia pattern, and it was off to the races. It only took a few hours to make, and I'm pleased with how it turned out:
I think the pattern shows off the yarn a lot better.
I also have enough left over yarn to make another cowl. I have quite a few possibilities saved in my ravelry queue.
Warning: There will be a small parade of brightly colored socks next week.
I kept my hands busy throughout, in an attempt to keep some form of normal routine going. This week, I'm going to show you the projects that don't fall into the S category - that is, none of them are scarves, shawls, socks, or sweaters. I'll get back to showing those next week.
Mom and I both worked on crocheted blankets while she and Steve were here for the holidays. She finished up a zig zag blanket I'd barely started I don't know how long ago:
And I got it into my head to do a crochet version of the Moderne Log Cabin Blanket. I got this idea because while I like the look of the knitted version, committing to that much garter stitch has always given me pause, not to mention hearing and reading complaints from people about how bloody long it takes to make. It required some gauge swatches and math (and a false start that had to be ripped out) to figure out a crochet version, but it turned out well. I adjusted the pattern a bit to suit the color placement (the color inspiration came from a sweater I've had for years), which was easy since the whole thing is made up of blocks that attach to other blocks.
A few people have mentioned that it looks like a Mondrian painting. I wish I'd thought of that sooner because I would have outlined all the blocks in black.
The cats like both blankets:
I also made a quick cowl out of some handspun yarn that owldaughter sent me (yes, she spun it herself):
It's a blend of blue-faced Leicester wool and hand-dyed tussah silk.
I'd made a cowl out of it soon after she sent it to me, but I had the feeling the pattern I'd chosen hadn't done justice to the yarn. Eventually, I unraveled it and started looking for another pattern. I finally found Anne Hanson's Poinsettia pattern, and it was off to the races. It only took a few hours to make, and I'm pleased with how it turned out:
I think the pattern shows off the yarn a lot better.
I also have enough left over yarn to make another cowl. I have quite a few possibilities saved in my ravelry queue.
Warning: There will be a small parade of brightly colored socks next week.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
2012 revolutions
As I have done for several years now, I have a list of specific things I want to do in the coming year, rather than things I think I should do, and that makes resolutions easier to keep. And actually enjoyable. Here is this year's list:
Gardening
I learned many gardening lessons last year - namely, that wildlife may be cute, especially the way they come right up to the windows to chat with my cats, BUT THEY ARE ROTTEN LITTLE SEEDLING THIEVES, TOO! Two gardening goals this year are to get things planted earlier and GUARD THE CROPS!
Cello
I am thisclose to starting a new study book, and the first piece in it is the Breval Sonata. I'm already quaking in my boots at the thought of it, because I've heard things about it. Things that make me shudder.
My teacher has informed me that there will also be some non-study book pieces as well, just for a change of kicks and giggles, because, as he frequently reminds me, we're doing this cello thing for FUN!
Travel
Scotland in May. More details to come.
Also might go see the Dickens exhibit in London, since I'll be passing through. It's his 200th birthday this year. I feel the urge to re-read Bleak House all of a sudden.
Knitting
Catalog the stash and knit down more of it. I knit, and finished, a lot more projects last year, and yet, the yarn stash didn't seem to get any smaller. That may be because the lace projects didn't require as much yarn as something like a sweater or blanket project would need. Lace projects usually require only a skein or two of yarn, whereas a blanket or a sweater can use up to a dozen skeins or even more.
I've already put aside stuff for the next yarn swap, which will reduce the stash somewhat. I didn't buy much new yarn this year, mainly because I didn't go to the Sheep and Wool Festival in May owing to a monster of a sinus headache that weekend. My LYS had a big sale on its birthday this summer, so that added about two projects' worth. Most of the other yarn I bought or acquired from last year's yarn swaps went directly to a project, often for someone else, so it was in and out of the stash pretty quickly.
I may even assign projects to yarn, just to see if that gets them knit quicker.
Writing
It's a revision and publishing year, I think. I have complete drafts of several novels that need revision, and they're piling up. Now that I (more or less) have the hang of e-publishing, I have a good excuse to clear out the backlog before the stories get so stale they aren't worth reading.
My sonata novel is still missing "that certain something," and I think I've figured out what it is. My cello teacher explained the sonata form to me recently, and it's given me ideas for what I hope will be the final re-write of this novel. It may prove to be disasterous, and I'll have to take it all out again, but I'm curious to see what can be done.
Career
I have a new job as a medical information specialist for a small pharma company. I start this week. I was getting stale and mushy-brained in the old job, and feeling bored and increasingly useless. The new job scares me a little, because it's bigger than I am, and I'll be back into hardcore clinical science. I like the idea of growing into a job, though, and my brain will hopefully soak up the science and feel more alert and challenged.
I've also been musing on the crazy idea of another master's degree, this time in public health or clinical research. I probably won't start this until mid-year. Even I know that starting a new job and a science-heavy master's degree at the same time can only end in madness and tears. Best to get used to the new job first and figure out which degree would be the most useful for it.
Purely for Entertainment
Audiobooks! My commute time to work is going to double. Given the nature of my job, as well as the looming possibility of a master's degree, not to mention dealing with more heavy downtown traffic than I am used to, I suspect I will need the mental indulgence of fiction being read to me. I've already saved an embarrasingly long queue of books on the Maryland Digital e-Library Consortium page via my county public library system. I'm working my way through the five books in Anne Perry's World War I series, and they have a lot of her other books as well. (Yes, I know who she is and what she did as a teenager. No need to tell me. I still admire her writing.) I noticed that audible.com has the first of Gyles Brandreth's Oscar Wilde series on audio finally, so that's been added to my to-be-listened-to list as well.
If you have audiobook recommendations, let me know, and can someone please ask Richard Armitage to record some more Georgette Heyer novels or other novels in general? I'm afraid I've become addicted to his reading voice.
Gardening
I learned many gardening lessons last year - namely, that wildlife may be cute, especially the way they come right up to the windows to chat with my cats, BUT THEY ARE ROTTEN LITTLE SEEDLING THIEVES, TOO! Two gardening goals this year are to get things planted earlier and GUARD THE CROPS!
Cello
I am thisclose to starting a new study book, and the first piece in it is the Breval Sonata. I'm already quaking in my boots at the thought of it, because I've heard things about it. Things that make me shudder.
My teacher has informed me that there will also be some non-study book pieces as well, just for a change of kicks and giggles, because, as he frequently reminds me, we're doing this cello thing for FUN!
Travel
Scotland in May. More details to come.
Also might go see the Dickens exhibit in London, since I'll be passing through. It's his 200th birthday this year. I feel the urge to re-read Bleak House all of a sudden.
Knitting
Catalog the stash and knit down more of it. I knit, and finished, a lot more projects last year, and yet, the yarn stash didn't seem to get any smaller. That may be because the lace projects didn't require as much yarn as something like a sweater or blanket project would need. Lace projects usually require only a skein or two of yarn, whereas a blanket or a sweater can use up to a dozen skeins or even more.
I've already put aside stuff for the next yarn swap, which will reduce the stash somewhat. I didn't buy much new yarn this year, mainly because I didn't go to the Sheep and Wool Festival in May owing to a monster of a sinus headache that weekend. My LYS had a big sale on its birthday this summer, so that added about two projects' worth. Most of the other yarn I bought or acquired from last year's yarn swaps went directly to a project, often for someone else, so it was in and out of the stash pretty quickly.
I may even assign projects to yarn, just to see if that gets them knit quicker.
Writing
It's a revision and publishing year, I think. I have complete drafts of several novels that need revision, and they're piling up. Now that I (more or less) have the hang of e-publishing, I have a good excuse to clear out the backlog before the stories get so stale they aren't worth reading.
My sonata novel is still missing "that certain something," and I think I've figured out what it is. My cello teacher explained the sonata form to me recently, and it's given me ideas for what I hope will be the final re-write of this novel. It may prove to be disasterous, and I'll have to take it all out again, but I'm curious to see what can be done.
Career
I have a new job as a medical information specialist for a small pharma company. I start this week. I was getting stale and mushy-brained in the old job, and feeling bored and increasingly useless. The new job scares me a little, because it's bigger than I am, and I'll be back into hardcore clinical science. I like the idea of growing into a job, though, and my brain will hopefully soak up the science and feel more alert and challenged.
I've also been musing on the crazy idea of another master's degree, this time in public health or clinical research. I probably won't start this until mid-year. Even I know that starting a new job and a science-heavy master's degree at the same time can only end in madness and tears. Best to get used to the new job first and figure out which degree would be the most useful for it.
Purely for Entertainment
Audiobooks! My commute time to work is going to double. Given the nature of my job, as well as the looming possibility of a master's degree, not to mention dealing with more heavy downtown traffic than I am used to, I suspect I will need the mental indulgence of fiction being read to me. I've already saved an embarrasingly long queue of books on the Maryland Digital e-Library Consortium page via my county public library system. I'm working my way through the five books in Anne Perry's World War I series, and they have a lot of her other books as well. (Yes, I know who she is and what she did as a teenager. No need to tell me. I still admire her writing.) I noticed that audible.com has the first of Gyles Brandreth's Oscar Wilde series on audio finally, so that's been added to my to-be-listened-to list as well.
If you have audiobook recommendations, let me know, and can someone please ask Richard Armitage to record some more Georgette Heyer novels or other novels in general? I'm afraid I've become addicted to his reading voice.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)