Back again

I haven't blogged in ages, but I'm still knitting.

I think I'm probably moving in December, so I'm trying to do some clean up. So I've been going back to the UFO's I have laying around and finishing them off, as well as work from my stash.

I finished all the projects I had on the needles in April, as well as some new ones.

(Aren't the buttons just ADORABLE?)





I only finished my friend's scarf last week. I blocked it last night and gave it to her at church today. I must admit I was gratified to see her so pleased about it!
I forgot to take a photo of the stealth swap project I was working on. I started knitting up the KnitPicks Fedora I bought in April. I'm so enamored with steeking that the only thing I could decide about the pattern was that I was going to knit it in the round and cut it up the center to make a cardigan!

I've decided to make Pink Lemon Twist's Bristow Cardigan, but the construction is so different I guess the only Bristow part is the stitch pattern. The rest of it is just a percentage sweater from EZ's Knitting Workshop. I think I might try to do the seamless set-in sleeves, because I already have two cardigans with a round yoke. I've finished the body and I'm about halfway done with one sleeve. It's been holding lately while I finish UFO's from my basket.

Itchy fingers

I've got so many things on the needles that need to get done: a pair of socks for a lady at church, a scarf for my best friend, a non-bloggable project for my Loopy Ewe swap partner, my tangled yoke cardigan, and who knows what else. But all I want to do is start swatching for a new sweater!

I just got some yarn in yesterday from KnitPicks--the Merino Style in Fedora--and I think I'm going to make the February Lady Sweater.

But this yarn is DK weight, and FLS calls for worsted weight yarn. So I'm going to have to tweak the pattern, and that means knowing my gauge.

But I have to finish the other things first. Well, maybe not the scarf, but definitely the ??? and the socks. And I ought to finish one sweater before casting on for another.

What Makes a Good Blog?

90% of the blogs I read happen to be blogs about knitting or spinning. Cara of January One pointed out a blog post by Kathryn about the Knitting Blog Class of 2005. Kathryn went through a Bloglines report from April 2005 and made a list of the knitting blogs that were linked on the site (there were over 1700 of them!) and followed the links to see how many of them were still being actively updated and how readership had changed in the last four years. Only about 1/3 of the original list were left. I've heard of most of them and read several. (Update--I misunderstood the original post, and incorrectly thought that Margene had done all that hard work--thanks for the correction, Kathryn!)

So what makes these blogs last when the majority of them died out? I have several ideas. My blog certainly hasn't been very good lately, so these thoughts are mostly for my own benefit.

I think that the most important thing is that the author updates frequently. Probably no matter how witty and entertaining and informative the posts are or how beautiful the pictures, no one is going to regularly come back if you only post once in six months. (Ahem.) RSS feed readers do almost give you a second chance; if someone likes what they see they can just subscribe and your posts are automatically sent to them. If they had to manually come back and you never updated, you'd be simply out of luck. However, the RSS readers aren't a guarantee of readership. I know that every few months I go through the list of blogs in my reader and thin out the ones I don't remember reading lately.

A second important factor is that the author of the blog actively posts and comments on the blogs of other people. It's free advertising—often if people like your comment, they'll follow the link back to see if they like what else you're writing.

Third, the blogs that I tend to keep in my RSS reader are the ones that I have some connection with. Either I really like the quality of the author's work—the things they make or how they photograph them, or that the way they write about them is clear and clever and humorous. The blogs I read that aren't knitting blogs tend to belong to family and friends. They're things like places to update family photos and read the news about what's going on. One blog is by an artist friend from college who has the most beautiful, deep, thoughtful posts. I love reading what she has to say—I always feel enlightened and refreshed when she posts something new!

I don't yet have any library blogs in my feed reader, but I imagine that that the same kinds of principles will apply—are they well-written, with info that inspires or teaches me something new? Are they kept current, especially if they contain information about events that apply to me? Do they link to places that really are of interest to me? Does the author respond to reader feedback—can I make some sort of connection with the author—whether it be an individual or someone acting on behalf of the library?

If so, it's probably a good blog.

Weekend Knitting

My little sister got married this past Saturday (Congrats, sis!)

I got to spend a lot of quality time with family that lives far away from me.

And I got to spend hours and hours sitting and knitting--in the airport, in the plane, in the car. I finished up a garter-stitch scarf in handspun and started a new pair of socks.

I'm also working on the Mystery Beret (Ravelry link) in some bubblegum pink handspun.

Baby Blankie

The sweater I was working on has been put on hold for the last couple of months to work on a baby blanket for a former coworker. Several of us at work put our money together to buy the blanket, and one of the girls wanted to learn how to knit, so she's making one stripe and I've done the others.

Now I'm trying to decide whether I want to put the stripes I've knit together to form diagonal squares of color, or more randomly. Any thoughts?

New Semester, New Sweater!

Sorry, no photos today.

Classes started up again last week. I've decided to cut back on my job and go back to school full-time. At the rate I was going, it would have taken me six years to finish a two-year program.

What that means for me is lots and lots of reading time, so I've started a new sweater. This time around I'm making Elizabeth Zimmerman's Fair Isle Yoke Sweater. I still need to get the book that the yoke pattern is in, but I still have time. The body and sleeves of the sweater are from the Knitting Workshop book, which I have. When I finish that part of the sweater and am ready to start the color work, then I'll check with the library or buy the book.

Happy Birthday, America!

From my back patio, I can see a pretty good fireworks show on the Fourth of July. It's by no means a professional show, but whoever it is setting them off buys the BIG ones. It's rained all day, so it was nice to sit under the shelter of my upstairs neighbor's balcony and still get to see the fireworks display.

I have always been happy that I was born and raised and live in the United States of America. This year, as I watched the fireworks, the thought struck me that I am very grateful, too. I am grateful that the sounds of explosions and rockets whizzing through the air are not accompanied by air raid sirens. I am grateful that they shoot harmlessly into the sky, not into the homes of families in my neighborhood. I am thankful that they are set off in joy and fun and celebration, rather than in malice and hatred and revenge.

I am reminded again that this is a wonderful place to live, and I am grateful to be here.

Long may our land be bright,
With freedom's holy light,
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King.