Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Blog Contests, podcast on 27 July 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Haruni is progressing, but v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y, so no progress to report there. 
No victory on either the Evolving Sock Knitter or Paddy Pants giveaways, but Vegan Craftastic is offering vegan ‘ice cream’ giveaway (no, really, this sounds yummy, you should go look) and Knot Cha Cha has a series of four awesome offerings. (Just don’t ask for the handspun, that’s mine) Way cool!
Ramblin Ambler is now up to two posts, so, yay for that! I might be picking up a little speed.
Posted in cooking, tagged jelly on 21 July 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I picked up a mix of hot peppers from the farmers’ market last week, mostly cayenne, but some hot bananas and jalapeno’s as well. I finally got around to making hot pepper jelly yesterday. I modified this recipe from Allrecipes.com. I’m letting it set on the counter top right now, but all signs point to successfully made preserves (not really jelly, since I left the bits and seeds floating about – yum!).
It’s really hot to be making jams and jellies now, so the experience was a bit more demanding than is ideal, but there’s something fun about ‘roughing it’ on occasion.
I’m looking forward to the cream cheese and crackers suggestion from Allrecipies, but it’s also really awesome as part of a glaze for roasts or chicken.
Posted in yarnwork, tagged Blog Contests, Haruni, podcast on 18 July 2010 | 1 Comment »
So, starting on part B of Haruni, and the stitch count seems to be off (unless the ‘stem’ isn’t supposed to line up consistently). Need to go very very slowly on this one.
In other news, I’ve started another Word Press blog, this one is an audio journal recorded while on weekly walks (because I really need something to get me taking regular walks). Ramblin Ambler podcast.
Since I’m here anyway, I’ll follow up with some blog contests. Didn’t win the Lorna’s Laces from Kim Werker (currently reposting articles she wrote for the now defunct make and meaning blog). I didn’t win the Puffy Mondaes from Darcy’s Knotty Knitter (someone named Turtle did). Nor did I win “The Art of Knitting Lace”, but Knit-A-While has another book giveaway (I didn’t enter this one, but you might want to).
On the other hand, The Evolving Sock Knitter is giving away a copy of “The Sock Knitter’s Workshop”, and is about to launch a sock knitting tutorial. Paddy Pants is giving away a skein of tardis colored sock yarn (can you tell what I want to knit?)
Posted in photography, yarnwork, tagged Haruni, Knit Picks, lifeline on 14 July 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Earlier I published the calculations of yarn size vs. yardage, and found that when I’d knit half the Claudia’s Handpainted Mohair the yarnball would be 176mm in circumference. This morning I finally finished with chart A, and found that the yarnball circumference was 180mm. Pretty good, right? 
There should be enough yarn left over that I don’t have to worry about getting a second skein, but clearly NOT enough to start another pattern repeat. Yay me!
You can clearly see the knitpicks connector in the photo., and you can just make out the lifeline, which was added while knitting that final row.
This picture looks much oranger than the actual shawl (though there are some orange undertones). A side effect of playing around with the light levels on the camera.
Posted in photography, yarnwork, tagged a series of tubes, lace, lifeline, shoes on 12 July 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Found my camera, yay!
Before I lost it I took a couple of pictures. There’s one from the inside of the car while driving my husband to work. There are a couple I took on a walk. Then there’s this one, of my new sneakers (because I’d killed my old ones over the course of a few years. They came with the two pairs of shoelaces, as you see. Since then, I’ve updated with a different two lace method from Ian’s Shoelace Site, because this is the internet and you can find anything…
Nothing new to report on the Etsy site yet. Made some progress on Haruni, but I’m going to need a longer lifeline before I can finish part A.
Posted in beadwork, photography, tagged Etsy on 11 July 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Well, we’ve got the Etsy shop set up, with a dedicated e-mail account for it. I’ve contacted an Etsy Street Team, and designed a minimal banner and avatar (which I plan to redesign once I’ve got some product pictures). I went out and bought a mini tripod for my digital camera to take said product pictures, I used to own one but fidgeted it to death, so this time I’ll know what I’m doing…
I’m saving the ‘formal’ announcement until we’ve got something in the shop to sell, but even so I’m beginning to feel some excitement about this. Now I’m just hoping I can turn some of that optimism into results.
Posted in beadwork, tagged Etsy on 8 July 2010 | Leave a Comment »
My M-i-L is about to start her own Etsy story (still in the coming up with a name stage) to market her handmade jewelry. She’s got some truly lovely stuff. I’ve agreed to help with the setting up process, and make a few pieces of my own to add to her inventory. She would very much like a partnership arrangement, but I’m a bit leery of going into business with a friend/relative. I really want to set things up so that if I should lame out/become overwhelmed I’m not going to leave her in a bad position.
Wish me luck!
Posted in yarnwork, tagged Blog Contests, frog, Haruni, Knit Picks, knitting, lace, library, lifeline, mohair on 6 July 2010 | 3 Comments »
Well, as I was nearing the end of the last round of lace repeats in part A of Haruni, I realized that there was a BIG problem. The first ‘stem’ was really, tragically, misshapen. I finally realized that there was no way to delicately work back on this one, there was nothing for it but to frog back to my lifeline.
Remember how I said I didn’t much liking with the Claudia handpanted mohair, but I’d probably start to love it by the end of the project. Yeah, I was loving it, up until I started to frog. Then it turned into this cobwebby, goopy, grabby ooze of a yarn. That, and it broke (so I spit spliced it). That was just, well, a really gross tactile experience.
On the other hand, now that I’m back at the lifeline, with all the stitches neatly picked up again and my Knit Picks cables neatly linked together with that little adaptor I picked up, I’m prepared to start loving the project once more. Hopefully I’ll be back where I was soon, then I’ll check the size of my yarn ball (expecting the 17x mm circumferance or more), and get on to the excitement of knitting that lovely border.
In other news, it’s damn hot here. And my A/C is broken. Posting from the computers in the public library (did I ever mention that I love my library?).
Edited to add – I found a blog contest which gives away a skein of Lorna’s Laces (I’ve always wanted to try that!) Check out Kim Werker’s blog.
Posted in photography, tagged Blog Contests, Haruni, secret freqency, yarn swap on 4 July 2010 | 1 Comment »
Short update, wishing all in the US a happy 4th of July, and Peace on Earth to everyone, wherever they might be!
Also, a belated post here (posted on Ravelry last week) about the $10 movie yarn swap I was in in June. Nicolle really went overboard. I got a box! And Stuff!
…actually, it’s not just loot, it’s a movie name game of loot, and KnitPicks sock yarn, which is terriffic, and I’m trying to decide what it will become. Much much fun involved with this one. July’s swap is picnic themed, and I’m trying to decide whether to join that one or sit it out…
But while I’m dithering on that, I’m decided about the blog contest at Darcy’s Knotty Knitter. She’s promoting Puffy Mondaes, an awesome LYS in Idaho.
The Secret Frequency is producing a podcast version consisting of the highlights of the 49th annual congressional baseball game for charity. Yes, we were that close to the field (as you can see, the Nats stadium was pretty nearly empty, so it’s not so amazing). It was lots of fun.
Still chugging along on my Haruni. Almost done with part A, then I expect things will speed up some. I’ve been checking the ball circumference and I seem to be right where I should be.
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