Knetted Socks

Wow I disappeared huh? Didn’t mean to do that! Last week just got crazy. I did finish yet another pair of socks as we watched the final days of the Olympics. They are the Knetted socks from the Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Rockin’ Sock Club September 2010.

First of all, I LOVED the colorway of these socks. As usual, great stuff coming out of Blue Moon Fiber Arts.The colors represent fall perfectly and it makes me wish I had started these socks back when they came! I wasn’t so sure about it in the skein, but once I started knitting with it I fell in love.

I knit the small size in the pattern and went up to a size 2 needled. This pattern was challenging in a good way to me. Cat Bordhi has such a unique style to her sock construction. The heel was one I’d never done before as was the toe. I was nervous about how they would fit, but they actually fit pretty well. Would I ever knit the pattern again? I don’t really know at this point. I have a lot of other sock yarn to knit through.

This makes four pairs of socks for this year so far! Two more and I’m caught upon the Rockin Sock Club!

In the Garden Socks

Next week we will have more than just knitting content. I promise.

Until then. I have another finished pair of socks! These socks are the In the Garden socks from July 2009 in the Rockin Sock Club from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. They were knit on size 2 needles with the colorway Heirloom. I can honestly say I was not a fan of the top portion of these socks. Despite being on size 2’s they were really tight to knit. The pattern recommended 1s or 0s!

I loved that the pattern taught us how to cable without a cable needled. That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I did miss the going down a needle size for the purl portion of these socks so they are a little bulkier on the top and inthe middle than they should be.

I loved the colors of the yarn and they really do fit with the pattern. The socks were a very quick knit since they have a pretty short cuff. This was nice because I was able to knock them out in just a week and a half!

I’m slowly working my way through last years Rockin Sock Club. I did skip the March socks, and I’ve started the September ones. I’m hoping to make a lot of progress on those this weekend!

Stripey Socks

When I first started knitting socks, someone mentioned Blue Moon Fiber Arts. My first trip to the website and I knew I would have a hard time not buying. I purchased the Sherbet colorway.

Knitting it in my normal sock pattern, I didn’t like the way it was striping up alone. I headed back to Blue Moon Fiber Arts and picked up the Stormy Weather colorway. At first I started knitting a Chevron scarf. After awhile I came to the realization that I was never going to finish a scarf on size four needles that didn’t involve lace. This yarn was destined to be striped socks.

I cast on 64 stitches and did a 2×2 rib for the cuff. At the end of every row I twisted the yarns and picked up the next color. The heel is a short row heel, since I did one of the socks toe up… and the other top down. These socks were knit over a year’s time as I picked them up and put them down. I wasn’t a fan of working with the two colors to make it stripe, but I knew ultimately I needed to finish the socks.

I finished the socks last weekend in the midst of my sock kick. They were knit on size 2 needles and fit a woman’s 9-10 foot. I’m glad the socks are done and honestly I probably won’t go back and knit another pair of socks the way I knit these. It was an experiment to see if I would like it and ultimately I didn’t. I do love the socks though and they’re fun to wear around.

Swiss Hat

About 10 months ago, my friend Jessica decided to go to Switzerland as an Au Pair. She put in her knitting request of a hat for winter with the Swiss logo on it, semi-matching the Swiss flag.

I decided it was the perfect chance to break out the double knitting. That lasted for about 5 rounds and decided it was better to straight knit the hat with the cross in white. The hat was knit with Cascade 220 Superwash so it could be thrown in the washing machine and still fit correctly. It was knit on size 7 needles with 116 stitches in the round.

The hat was originally supposed to make it to Switzerland before it got cold. Another project got in the way and I had to push it back a little bit. At that point I decided I wanted to get it to Switzerland before the Olympics!

The hat arrived in Switzerland about two weeks ago and is now working to keep her warm. Overall the hat was a fairly quick knit once I got passed the cross portion of it. It was a matter of sitting down and finding time to get it done. She now can support both the US and Switzerland as they compete for gold in the 2010 Olympics.

Change Is GOOD!

For their sixth birthday Facebook launched a new look to their website. The new look rolled out over a period of a week and Facebook uses slowly were able begin to use the new site. As new users began to use the new site, the status messages started showing frustration and groups such as BRING BACK THE OLD FACEBOOK started forming, again. Deja Vu?

Every time Facebook rolls out a new look, people get upset, frustrated, and form groups. I don’t understand it. Very few websites remain exactly the same over a period of six years. When it comes to websites and design, change is usually good. Think about it. If we kept websites the same for years and years on end, we would still have our sites in tables with the pipe border around each table with each cell being a different color. I bet Facebook would look great with the old table look, circa 1997.

Change is generally good. Most websites such as Facebook are making changes behind our backs every day. They are upgrading server functionality, they’re changing code to make the site run just a little bit faster, and they continue to build upon the pieces of the site that are already in place. People never complain about the site moving faster do they? By creating the new layout, Facebook is actually making it easier to navigate in the long run. It now only takes one click once you’re logged in to see your friends profile updates. Before, it was two. Ideally we’d all become accustomed to the new design over night, but it takes a  little bit of time and eventually we realize that Facebook just made it easier for us!

Facebook has taken a great approach to the design change. Looking over Facebook’s archive of designs, you will see the color scheme has always stayed the same, the homepage has had two major overhauls in terms of layout, and the inside of the website generally matched the header and footer of the outside. They’re staying consistent. It would be a major problem if every time they did the redesign the navigation moved, the colors changed, and the functionality changed. Facebook slowly rolls out new functionality and eases us into the change. They didn’t go from the 2004 look to 2010 look over night.

Think of it as the evolution of the Pepsi Logo. In the 1970’s the Pepsi logo was sharp and fit with the times. Forty years later the logo still has the circle and says their name, it just moved with the times. Like Pepsi, Facebook hasn’t changed its overall brand with the new design, they’ve upgrade it to move with the times. Very few companies can get away without change. It’s a part of life and over time the new Facebook layout will be appreciated. For now, click through it and stop complaining. It’s not that hard to learn!

Fraggle Squiggle Socks

With the Rockin Sock Club 2010 club shipments coming out for January, I decided it was time to finish the ones from 2009. I got on a sock kick and finished the May club from last year. The socks are the Fraggle Squiggle Socks by J.C. Brier. The colorway is Pepe La Plume.

I started these socks when they came in back in May and had completed the first sock back in November. I finally picked them back up and finished them last weekend. They were knit on size 2 double point needles.

The pattern wasn’t hard, but there was a lot to remember with it, so I never really put down the pattern. That’s not a bad thing though because the socks kept my mind busy but had small enough repeats that I could work on it in a group setting.

I adore all yarns that come out of Blue Moon Fiber Arts. They are so easy to knit with, so soft, and wear really well. The color doesn’t fade and I haven’t had a problem with the socks wearing out. While these have a bit of lace in them they should still hold up pretty strong.

I’m excited to move forward with the rest of the yarns from the sock club last year, as well as the ones from this year!

Why is that?

As Georgia lost a teammate during training yesterday the games were off to a somber start. Last night, amidst the magic of the Opening Ceremonies we were reminded of the reality. Usually the most memorable moment of Ceremonies for me is the lighting of the torch. Last night, it wasn’t the torch (probably to the delight of the Olympic Committee), it was when the team from Georgia walked in. Not a smile on any of their faces, but probably the biggest supporting cheer of the night. Watching everyone in the stadium stand up and applaud in support, knowing the tragedy from earlier in the day. Being able to watch athletes from countries who didn’t know him wear black bands around their arms, the stadium share the moment of silence, and watch the lowering of the flags all in Nodar Kumaritashvili’s honor really showed the world coming together. To me, that’s what the Olympics are all about.

It’s not just for the sports either. Every four years the Yarn Harlot organizes The Knitting Olympics, so knitters can test their skills like the athletes do. For 16 days your push yourself on a project and in the end either achieve that gold medal or not. For the 17 days (starting with the Opening Ceremonies, ending with the Closing Ceremonies) you knit with the motto Citius, Alitius Fortius.

For 17 days every two years (Summer and Winter Olympics) we can put the fighting, the politics, and all of the junk going on in the world behind us and come together as one. As we sit in our living rooms or in front of our computers we watch as miracles happen and life long dreams are achieved. For the next 16 days, it doesn’t matter what your country’s government is doing, it doesn’t matter what religion you are or what color your skin is. For the next 16 days there will be plenty of excitement as we come together as one world.

Let the games begin!

Most people pay attention through the main portion of the commercial and move on by the time the commercial is ending and showing their contact information. While I didn’t watch the end of every commercial that was on, I noticed something different in a lot of commercials… their Social Media information. For companies to list just their website, I’m sure they draw traffic in after the game, but how about listing their Twitter name. It is no secret that Twitter was buzzing during the game with comments about the players, the plays, and even the commercials. Using a mobile version of Twitter it’s not hard to do a search for the name and click follow. Simple as that, a company could gain hundreds of new fans.

Social media icons are slowly popping up around websites where people can find a businesses full list of contact information. Yet it has been lacking on TV. Nine times out of ten I won’t visit a website that is mentioned on TV, but I’ve found that I follow a lot of businesses on Twitter simply because I know they post daily updates and it’s all in one place. With the mention of them on TV I can pick up my phone and add them to my account and receive updates immediately.

With the more frequent updates on their social media account, viewers are more likely to turn around and follow them on social media than visit their website everyday. In turn this will continue to force their brand name in the viewers eyes whether they realize it or not. It’s a smart move for all businesses who are running any form of ad on TV or even on YouTube. The more traffic the better; the more people see a brand the more likely they are to buy it. Ignoring the fact that some businesses will pay millions of dollars for a 30 second to 1 minute ad during the super bowl, it’s worth the extra time to turn around and add one extra bit of contact information in.  Adding that one extra bit of text with their Twitter username could turn a whole lot more profit than it took to edit the commercial and add the text.

If businesses are planning to create new commercials in the future I think it is a wise decision to add their Social Media information in there by default. They don’t need to list everything down to their MySpace page, but something as simple as @BusinessTwitterAccount could turn their business traffic around in ways they could only imagine.

I’ve never really been a fan of tablet computers; I never really saw the point of a tablet verses a normal laptop. I do not own an iPhone and I do not own an iPod touch. I love my iPod Classic and my Mac Book Pro. The one thing that I’ve hated since Apple released the iPhone, is that I do not have access to use the applications in the iTunes store. The iPad makes it possible to get not only the apps from the iTunes store but get additional apps that are not in the iTunes store.

I’m a person who’s all about traveling and being out and about. I love taking my computer with me, but at times it’s a lot to pull out when you’re in an airport or hanging out with friends at a local coffee shop. While a mobile phone serves the purpose of the instant email check or a Google search, I’m not about to write a blog entry on a phone. Additionally, as Rae Hoffman mentioned in her article, Preparing for the Age of Mobile, not all websites are mobile friendly. The iPad takes the iPhone and gives me a larger mobile device that will allow me to update my blog, use the iTunes app store, and visit websites that are not necessarily mobile friendly. Finally, I will not have to be required to pay a monthly fee if I don’t want to.

What about flash?
One of the biggest complaints about the iPad is that Apple is still not offering flash support. I don’t see a need for flash support within the iPad. It is not meant to fully replace a computer. Yes, it would be nice to be able to visit every single website out there, but you’re always going to run into compatibility issues with at least one website, no matter what browser you’re using. Very few websites I visit on a daily basis are flash based. Those that are, I’ll check on a computer.

Will it replace my Amazon Kindle?
While Apple is pushing the iPad as a new eReader, I will not let it replace my Kindle. One of the biggest reasons I chose to get a Kindle over any of the other eReaders is because of the screen. It is not a computer screen. I spend all day in front of a computer screen; if I want to curl up with a book, I want something that will be easy on my eyes. The Kindle is easy to read off of and it’s attached to my Amazon account. The iBook won’t be as easy to read off of since it will still be a computer screen. The eBook portion of it will not have the books I’ve already bought from Amazon. If I’m that desperate to read my Kindle books on an iPad… I’ll download the Kindle application.

Don’t you want the camera?
I have a digital camera that takes great pictures and my phone takes pictures. Is there a reason to have yet another device that takes pictures? Many people are complaining about not being able to use it for video conferencing. If I were going to use a device for video conferencing, I’d rather get my laptop out and use that. The memory is better, the web cam would be a better quality, and there’s not as high of a chance of it overheating. It also allows me to use other applications while doing the video conference.

In my opinion, the iPad is a great product that Apple has put out. It may or may not be the most competitive in every market but I think they definitely have a market out there that will make the iPad successful. Mobile browsing, no monthly subscription, and a keyboard big enough to write from… all are great reasons to buy an iPad in my book.

Twitter as a Personal Tool and a Resource

A friend and I have an on-going debate… what’s the point of Twitter? He is constantly telling me that there is no reason to use Twitter, it is worthless, and it is a waste of time… I told him I’m going to write a blog entry and prove to him there’s a point to using Twitter.

I joined twitter in May of 2008… I tweeted for one or two weeks and that was it. I used Facebook status updates a whole lot more and didn’t really see too much to Twitter. I came back to Twitter within the last year and realized how much more is out there. Twitter has grown from a personal status update to a whole library of data. If you follow some of the right people you can get more articles and blog entries than you could imagine.

A few examples:

Guy Kawasaki – Guy posts all sorts of content. Most of the articles he posts are ones that he has taken, done a short review of on his blog, and linked to the full article. The articles range from latest tech news to weird things people have done. His tweets aren’t personal by any means, but they give you a whole bunch of news and information in one place.

Lisa Barone – Lisa does a great job of mixing business and personal life on Twitter. Her tweets are hilarious to read, yet most of the time bring up very good points. She often shares interesting links to other articles and her own opinions as she writes for Outspoken Media.

Beebow – Lauren spends her days writing blogs for her company and sharing tons of information on Search Engine Optimization. Her tweets range from other SEO people to follow to articles and blog entries.

A day has not gone by in the last six or seven months where I have not found at least two articles from Twitter worth reading. Instead of having to Google a specific subject to find the information someone else starts up a discussion about it. Different subjects you might not have thought of can come up just by watching what people tweet. The more time I’ve spent on Twitter the more I’ve learned about social media, search engine optimization, and the benefits of using both to market a website.

Yes, Twitter can be used as a personal tool, but don’t turn away just because people are tweeting about what they ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Twitter can worth your time if you use it the right way.

K’s daughter has been in the adoption process for two years for a little boy, R, from Haiti. They’ve been working with the Three Angels orphanage in Haiti and all of the paperwork was done, they’ve just been waiting for a number of months for it to be processed through the state. K’s daughter has made many trips down to visit R and they’ve grown close and they were ready to bring him home.

Last week the world watched as Haiti crumbled after an earthquake shattered their world. Among those affected were over 300,000 orphans throughout Haiti. R was one of them. K began to send email updates to us letting us know that he was okay. With all the talk of the adoption papers being lost for so many of the orphans, the 26 kids at Three Angels were incredibly lucky… they had backup copies.

Over the last week we’ve been getting email updates from K about the status of R. Monday morning we got an email telling us that K’s daughter had an email to pack her bags, he would be in the USA soon, she would need to meet him in Florida. Last night at 5:00 another email came in saying K’s daughter was on her way to Florida as she typed the email, R was going to meet her there. The flights were donated by privately owned planes to bring the kids home.

Walking into Bible study this morning it was exciting to hear the news that R was united with his mom by midnight last night, and all 26 of the orphans from Three Angels were united with their families!

Red Cross is taking donations to help Haiti rebuild, and so is the Three Angels orphanage. They will be rebuilding to help a whole new group of kids find homes. Not trying to jump and force anyone to donate, but if you have a little bit of extra cash laying around… it is providing some wonderful opportunities and joy in the midst of all of the disaster.

The Blues and Purples Blanket

Looking back on 2009, I don’t feel like I accomplished a whole lot when it comes to knitting…. I took on two really big projects, my best friends wedding blanket and the Dr. Who Scarf. Between these projects I fell behind on a lot of other knitting I wanted to accomplish.

In the midst of all of the knitting I started a few different projects and very few of them were finished. 2010 is going to be a year of finishing…. I hope! My goal for 2010 is for every two projects I finish, I can start a new one. Why am I writing this in the blog? It will never get done if I don’t put it in writing. I really would like to get a good chunk of these done this year, but I know that I will not complete all of them without starting at least 10 or 15 new projects along the way!

I would love to say that in 2010 I’m only knitting for myself. I said as soon as I was done with Christmas presents that would be the case, and it lasted an entire day! For that, I just have a goal of finishing some of my current projects. So what is on this long list of things, you ask? Here is the current WIP* list.

Will all of these actually get finished in 2010? Probably not. I’d like to make a dent, especially in the blankets. All four of them will be amazing when they are done and I can’t wait to use them! On that note, I better go pick up a pair of needles.

Happy New Year!

* WIP  = Work in Progress

The first hat was the bunny tail hat. I knit it up in the brown to make it work for both boys and girls as it could be a bear or a bunny. The hat was knit fully out of the Dreambaby on size 6 needles. The size was for 0-6 months and came out adorable!

The second hat was the Stripey Stocking Cap. This was knit out of a mix of Dreambaby and Comfort on size 6 needles. I wasn’t sure how they would work since they are technically two different weights but they worked really well together. This was a 6-24 Month size hat.

The final hat that I’ve knit was for an cutie pie named Allie. The snowman was the name of the hat and once again, was knit out of a mix of Comfort and Dreambaby. She is six months old so the hat is the 6-18 month old size, hopefully should fit her through the winter. If nothing else, it fit her for Christmas!

Since my grandmother passed away in 2001, the stockings had been put on hold. There hadn’t been any new kids to the family so it wasn’t a huge deal. A few years ago I asked my aunt and uncle if they knew what had happened to the stocking pattern. I was just getting into knitting and wanted to make sure we still had it somewhere. They were able to find it and mailed it off to me at college. While there wasn’t anyone to add, I had them for when we would need them.

In the last two years we have added two great-grand-kids to the family. My cousins welcomed a little girl and a little boy into the family. For Christmas this year I knit up their two stockings using Red Heart. They don’t match necessarily in color to some of the older ones, but they aren’t supposed to, each generation has a slightly different shade of colors and as the years go on they will fade to.

What are your holiday traditions?

Adrienne and Josiah’s Stockings:

Overall the book was a lot more about making money then it was gaining the motivation I needed. Granted, it was still a good book and helped me put a new perspective on life. I’m generally a person who plays by the rules, or sticks close to them. One of the best quotes that from the book was “If you can’t solve a problem it’s because you are playing by the rules.” It seems like a simple quote and a simple answer, but it made me step back and think a little bit about everything. This book was far from a book teaching readers how to play by the rules. In fact it was encouraging readers not to.

When I say not playing by the rules, I’m not referring to going out and robbing a bank. His advice was focused on making people take you seriously and making them listen. At the same time, he was encouraging readers to be realistic about things. For example, one of the headlines is “Don’t promise what you can’t deliver”.  A headline not too much further on in the book is “Don’t take no for an answer”. Both are two great pieces of advice and both go hand in hand when working with anyone. The book is more focused on a work environment, but did a great job of advice for all aspects of life.

The design of the book was also well done. It’s a smaller book so it was easy to throw into a computer bag without taking up too much room. The font was bigger so it wasn’t squinting to read and there were plenty of pictures to illustrate his points. This book was not your every day self help book, it was far from it but it had some great advice to offer and of course, was filled with some great quotes!

Some interesting advice he had to offer at the end of the book was “Present on Tuesday”. Why is that? You’ll have to pick up a copy of the book to find out why!