So I'm switching over to Wordpress. I think the change of venue might help me figure out what I actually want to get out of this blogging thing. So update your bloglines and booklinks and come join me over at http://myboringblog.wordpress.com.
(Hopefully I'll work out the kinks over the next week or so)
Harry Potter:
Lookie what arrived at 7am today via USPS!
I even had a little helper to keep my book open.
I just finished it and it was about what I expected. I'm not going to give any hints or spoilers so no worries. I'll just say that some of the events during the journey were not completely expected, but the ending is pretty much what I had envisioned from when I finished Book 1. After reading book 4 I lost interest in the series and considered not finishing. But being over halfway through, I thought I finish them up. I don't love her writing style and I think some of the books could have been shortened a lot. I also don't think young children should be reading them as there is a lot of violence and death and that can be hard to comprehend. I read an interview once where the author herself said she had intended these to be adult books. You can have your own opinion and that's fine. I don't mind. This is mine. This book will soon be whisking its way to my parents so they can enjoying finishing up the story as well.
New Blog?
I've never been terribly happy with the name of my blog. Or with how clunky blogger is to use and edit. Last night I opened up a Wordpress account and started a new blog here. Not sure if I'm going to totally switch over yet. Do you like the name? Anyone on Wordpress that knows Blogger and has an opinion. Since my readership is low, I feel like it's not a huge deal to switch links.
Stash issues:
So I think that I'm inherently a low-stasher. I Do like lots of yarn and the colors and all, but once I see it built up, I start getting nervous. I know that I change my mind quickly about what colors I find inspiring so hoarding yarn is probably not the best for me. I lost a lot of ground with my neck issues as I couldn't knit for almost 3 months. So what now? I think that I'll just keep my stuff for trade/sell on Ravelry and see what happens. If the mood strikes, I'll pull yarn from that pile and make something up with it. But if someone else wants it first, I won't be upset. I'm going to chug away at the main stash for the rest of the year adding maybe a little Yarntini or Wollmeise if the opportunity arises, but I think any large enhancements are going to have to wait until a large dent is made. Having my dream beach house when we're ready to settle somewhere is a little more important than having some yarn now that may or may not ever get used.
Off to get some rest from my hard day of reading!
http://yarngiftbouquets.com/
;-)
You yarnies may want to pass this link on yourselves.
Ravelry and Stash Reduction:
So Ravelry sucked up more time yesterday. I was 22 groups and I went down to 16 so I'd see fewer forums. I may still remove myself from a few more, but not sure yet. It's just too much to see so much information from people. And a lot of it isn't really information. This is why I never got into any other knitting forum. I'm a fairly solitary knitter so this is a stretch for me. But I did go through my stash listing and picked out several things to trade or sell. If you're on, check it out my stash. If you're not (Andie) I'll post a pick or two later. Because maybe (Andie) you want to trade me my Bearfoot for some of your Lorna's. Maybe. :-)
Titania:
I just finished the leg this morning. I'm ready to divide for the heel flap. The foot is so interesting that I shouldn't have much trouble staying focused on it.
MS3:
Clue 4 came out today and I have it printed and ready to go. I've never done a lifeline in my life, but Melanie says to do one in this clue. Hmm. I guess I'll do it, but I'll be grimacing the whole time! ;-) I measured the stole at at the one-third part, I'm 30ish inches. That means I'll have 90" stole if I don't do the shortened instructions. So I'm doing the short ones. Since I'm 64" tall, this might still be a tad long for me. I may be gifting this if I can find a good caring home. I think I'll have an extra skein of Sea Silk left at the end as well. and the place I bought the yarn seems to only to store credit within 30 days of purchase. Wonder what I'll do with the extra skein?
Peaches:
Peaches in the window on her cat stand. Both cats like this spot. They can watch the patio and cars in the front of the house. Peaches likes to close her eyes for pictures and Callie likes to stare at the camera. Callies picture didn't come out well so you only get Peaches with her svelte 8 pound body.
Harry Potter:
In my defense, I started reading HP before it got huge at the recommendation of a friends mom who was a teacher. I like book 1-3, hated book 4, sort of am ok with 5 and 6. I pre-ordered book 7 and I'm tracking it on UPS as it should be delivered tomorrow. I'll read it quickly and then I can emotionally detach myself from the series. No more HP. The book will go to my Mom and Dad next.
Canning:
Does anyone have any helpful tips for canning blueberries? I know that sometimes you have to add extra sugar to get the skins to pop. I think. Or maybe I can just heat twice? Doesn't help that this is my first canning attempt next week. I'll be googling later on I think.
Don't join Ravelry if you like to knit. Total time suck! I knit maybe 10 rows yesterday. Ugh. I've given myself a time time to be on-line this morning and I'm closing in on it now. So here's Titania's progress. With any luck I'll be past the heel today.
And here is the cool thing that UPS delivered yesterday! Interlocking foam blocks to use for blocking knitting. I ended up using SoftTiles. The price was good and the shipping was fast. I picked up 20 1'x1' blocks and with shipping was right around $30. Everything I'd seen on Amazon or toy stores was more expensive, larger, insane shipping charges or those alphabet blocks with pieces that pop out. You can get these in colors other than black. I just wanted a neutral color to better show my knitting while blocking.
Now I'm going to flip through a few more group forums. And oh yeah, I signed up to go see the Yarn Harlot in Burlington. Looked like it would be a fun outing with the new gals (and guys) I met this week. Carpool anyone?
Ahhh:
I misread an email and we have family coming not this weekend, but the weekend after. That means more time to paint and organize. Which is good, because we need more time. And we sold the old china cabinet today! So now there will be space for a sewing desk once it comes off of back order.
Scraps:
I was hoping that UPS would be here by now, but no luck. So instead, you get to see these yarn scraps. Aren't they pretty?
I picked up two more plastic bins so I could have enough space for all my yarn. I actually have extra space so I could add a little more if I wanted to. ;-) This gave me space in this leather bin to throw my sock yarn scraps. What's the plan? A log cabin blanket or two from the scraps. I'm not going to pay much attentions to colors, just going to knit. I grabbed a size 2 needle and threw it into the basket so I could pick it up and knit whenever. Just need to be careful about the superwash vs non-superwash. That's going to be a bit of a sticking point. Must think think think.
Titania's Revenge:
I started sock two of Titania. It looks much the same as the first so no picture until I get to the foot.
Ravelry:
I met so many people on Monday that I can't remember them all to add to my Ravelry friends. Oops! I can say that my friend list has tripled since that meetup. Hopefully next week I'll remember more people. Feel free to ask to be my friend if you remember me! :-)
Time to do dishes. Ugh!
I meant to post about this for the people that know Peaches and Callie and I forgot in the previous post of the day. So if you'd like to see knitting, go to the previous post. Otherwise, it's time for a P&C update! :-)
I picked a new vet in town based on location. It's a five minute walk and they are next to a store that sells the food I've been buying for them. As it turns out, people love this vet. I've seen good reviews online and my upstairs neighbor says that he's good with cats and works with a rescue. So I was happy. He was good with kitties. Callie is horrible with vets and she managed to only hiss badly twice and didn't take any swipes at him. He kept calling her 'Misses'. It was cute. Peaches turns into a total wuss at the vets. She trembles and curls up and lets anyone who wants to hold her get away with it because she thinks she can hide in their arms. She's normally a one person cat and only I can hold her.
So the visit went well. Peaches has a couple of tooth issues but should be fine for a while still. Callie has been stress grooming on her belly a tad so she'll hopefully stop soon. It feels like it's growing in so it might have been from staying at her Grandmothers house (sorry Mom). And they both got their weight down from two years ago! Callie was a plump 14 pounds and is now at 10lbs 15oz. The vet says that she's good where she's at and we can now maintain. Peaches as at 11 or 12 and was having trouble grooming. She's now at 8 pounds and was told that she's definitely at a maintenance point. Both seem happier and more energetic. They got rabies and FelV shots and both seem good today. Not too lethargic.
We'll keep an eye on Callies grooming and Peaches teeth, but they both got a thumbs up until next year.
So last night I went to the Lazy Redliners SnB in Cambridge Common. IT. WAS. SO. MUCH. FUN!!! The weather was great and people were nice. I talked to someone other than Hubby for once. :-) Can't wait to go again. We even went out to Finale afterwards for a little food and drink. I wasn't hungry so I did drink much of my drink and most of dessert is waiting for me to eat it this afternoon. But since I don't do social knitting well, I decided my best bet was an easy sock. Therefore I connected the new skein of German Regia to the end of the Garter Rib sock so I could finish it up. Turns out I had to buy a new skein so I could knit that little bit of yellow at the end. Oh well. Hubby said that he doesn't care if the other sock is identical or fraternal, but I think he'd be happiest with a mostly identical. And with the second skein, I have a better chance of getting the stripes to line up how I want.
Weekly Goals:
Some weekend plans have been changed slightly so we're going to rush through and try to finish painting the kitchen and bathroom this week and finish moving in. I don't know what that'll do my Titania plans, but I have high hopes. The sewing isn't going to happen this week I believe. Oh well. We'll be done with the condo at least and that's huge! (Except for my sewing desk which is still back ordered)
MS3 Clue 3:
Peaches thought that she might help me take photos today. She says here that she's happy to help out. Notice the open mouth.
She wants to know if I'd like her to wet the shawl while she bathes her arm.
Admiring the blocking wires while showing the Clue 3 part on her left.
Closeup of the yarn overs.
No lace was harmed during these photos. They are fairly gentle with knit items.
New Birks:
So I did get some new Birks on Friday. I picked up these Milano ones. And against the advice of Andie, I walked maybe 11 or so miles in them this weekend and another 3 in my running sneakers. They didn't do much new damage to my feet, but they certainly aggravated some old blisters. So this week I'm going to try to take it easy and let all those blisters heal up. I'm going to try the advice she got to stand in them with wet feet to try and smooth the pile of the foot bed. I'll be doing it with my leather Tevas as well so I can have a choice of sandals for the rest of the summer. For some reason my running sneakers have become very uncomfortable in the heel for walking so I'm not sure what to do with those. Of course I have lots of time to sit and knit while resting my feet. Finishing Titania this week shouldn't be an issue.
Week crafty goals:
1: Finish second Titania sock
2: Add new border to Block-of-the-Month quilt
3: Do as much of Clue 4 on Friday as possible so I have Saturday to read all of Harry Potter book
I'd better get started!
