30 January 2007

My discovery

As you may have guessed, I'm not the most up to date person on gadgets and technical things. In my defense, it was the way I was raised.

My Dad is one of these people who never buys electronic stuff when it first comes out. His reasoning? Because in a short period of time, it'll be obsolete.

We didn't have cable tv until the mid-late 80's. We didn't get a VCR until around the same time period (and the only reason we got one, was because my Mom went out and bought one). My Dad didn't get a computer until the late 90's. So, you see, it's how I was raised.

So, for Christmas, my Mom gave me an iPod (she won it at her work Christmas party). I love love LOVE it! I can load all of my favorite songs onto it and listen to them. I like songs from several different decades and genres. With my iPod, I can play all of them - randomly! It's so awesome.

Well. I was reading Dave's blog. He asked his readers to tell him which podcasts they listen to. Then, a few days later, he mentioned the women at Lime & Violet. That gave me an idea. I could load my audiobooks onto my iPod and listen to books while I"m knitting.

I spent about 5 hours on Sunday, listening to The Magician's Nephew (from the Chronicles of Narnia) while I knit!

This got me thinking that I should check out this podcast thing & see what all the fuss was about.

Why didn't anyone ever tell me about these things????

I mean, sure, I've read about podcasts - like when Grumperina talked about the It's A Purl, Man podcast - but why didn't anyone ever tell me how much I would like them???

I love them! I spent something like 6 hours yesterday, loading podcasts into my iTunes. I now listen to podcasts while I knit (did you know that it makes your knitting go quicker?).

So far I have about 300 songs and almost 60 podcasts on my iPod (some of the podcasts are video podcasts). I figured that my iPod memory (or whatever it is) would be at least half used up (I have the 30GB iPod). I've only used a little over 2GB!

I know some of you are probably shaking your heads. You have to understand (and with that last paragraph, you probably do understand) that I have no concept of giga bytes. I also have no concept of square feet (as it pertains to a living space). So if you tell me that you just bought an 8,000 sqare foot house, I have no idea if that's alot of space or not. Same with computer terminology. I had no idea that 30GB is so much!

I know I've been promising knitting pictures. I have taken some - I just need to load them onto my computer. I haven't had time to do that because I've been downloading podcasts! :-) Actually, since I now have these podcasts, by the time I get pictures on my computer, you may have 50 finished objects to look at - or alot, anyway!

MAKE it a great day!

22 January 2007

And now it's winter.

Remember a few weeks ago, when I posted about how spring-like the weather was? And how the trees had buds on them? And spring flowers were coming up?

Yeah. Well. Now it's winter here in South Central Pennsylvania. We got some snow yesterday. Just a "dusting", really. But this morning, most of the schools had a two-hour delay. I think the delay was because the roads were icy early this AM. By the time I took the QP to school, the roads were just wet. Some were even dry.

The QP was so thrilled this morning. She got to help clear the snow off the car. She said it was the best day ever. She feels very grown up now because she used to "just sit in the car" while I cleared off the snow & ice. But now she can help me. How long do you think it'll take her to decide that clearing snow off of cars is NOT fun??

I was happy for the school delay because I was up until 2AM. Why? Myspace. Is anyone else addicted to myspace? You see, my best friend lives in California. I get to "talk" to her online alot more often now - thanks to myspace. The only problem is, California is three hours behind PA (which means it's barely late for her but really late for me!). Oh. And then we were also "talking" to a guy we went to high school with (I started high school in CA and finished it in PA - so this guy is from the school in CA). I need to take naps during the day, or something!

That's all I have for today. I've been knitting, but don't have any pictures (the sky has been greay here for days). I can't wait to show you some of the things I've been working on (there was some intarsia involved!)!

MAKE it a great day!

16 January 2007

Hat knitting.

Lately I've been "into" knitting hats. I really like to knit them. They're quick and easy. They're useful.

Today (yes, I'm behind on my blog reading - and missed out on ALOT) I read that there's a woman who is collecting chemo hats for kids in the Boston area. The kids love hats made from eyelash yarn (like Fun Fur). Well. A few weeks ago, I was going through my stash. I have quite a few skeins of Fun Fur (from when I first started knitting), and I wondered what I would ever do with it all. Now I know! I'll make some chemo caps for kids!!

As if that's not enough, Cara (January One) is donating some prizes (Socks That Rock yarn!). Click here to read Cara's blog entry about the prizes. Click here to learn how to sign up to knit the caps.

So, go! Sign up to make some hats! Use up the Fun Fur you have laying around (come on now, I KNOW I'm not the only one who has some!).

Stay tuned for some finished objects, some new projects, and some intarsia knitting!

MAKE it a great day!

09 January 2007

Wait, what's this?


Why, it's 2 items that are finished! Can you believe it? I know. I'm having a hard time believing it, too.
This first item is a French Market Bag (or Basket, can't remember it's exact name). The pattern is from Knitty (sorry - don't have the link). The yarn I used is a wool/alpaca blend. The outside that you see is actually the inside, but I liked the nubby texture better than the smooth texture of the actual "outside" of the bag. So I turned it inside out and now the inside is the outside (did ya catch all of that?).
I now use this bag as my "knitting bag". Anytime I go somewhere, I grab this bag. It holds alot of stuff. Here's what I have in it:
*Knitter's Companion (book)
*various knitting patterns
*sock that I'm knitting
*baby bib that I'm knitting
*yarn & needles for a hat I want to knit the QP
*2 "notions" bags
* Magic Loop instruction book
*a pack of Puffs to Go (it's still allergy season here!)
And there's still plenty of room!





This baby bib pattern is from the Mason Dixon book. I love it! It's so simple. I've already cast on (& almost finished) another bib. It's knit using cotton yarn (I used Sugar & Cream). You can easily make one bib out of one ball of Sugar & Cream yarn. **I still have to add a button, but other than that, it's finished!
That's all for today. More finished items are on the way! MAKE it a great day!


06 January 2007

Springtime in PA


Hello. Happy New Year. And welcome to Springtime in South Central Pennsylvania! Temperatures today were in the high 60's with some areas getting up to 70 degrees (F).
I took a walk around the yard today, and look what I saw:
Buds on the red maple tree.
Flowers poking up through the dirt.
Buds on the pussy willow tree.
Buds on the walking stick tree.
Buds on the other pussy willow tree - in fact, I think this one even has a little pussy willow (if that's what those little fuzzy things are called).
We went to the park, so the QP could play on the playground. My Mom & I had our knitting along, of course. The park was crowded.

Here's the QP. She doesn't look too happy here because the friend she was playing with (who happened to be a girl she knows from summer day camp) had to leave.

Yes, it was a beautiful April spring day! But wait! It's only January! That means that my Mom's birthday and the Farm Show are coming up. One (or both) of these events usually bring us snow (it's a fact!).

So, break out the inhailers, the antihistimines, the antibiotics, and the decongestants and buy facial tissue by the truckload because this never-ending allergy season still isn't ending!

MAKE it a great day!