Fiber Fool

Knitting & Spinning:

• Have you heard about the new e-mag premiering this fall? Anne Podlesak and Lori Law have teamed up to put out Ennea Collective that has a handspinning bent. I can’t wait to see the first issue!
• Speaking of handspun, check out this gorgeous handspun Cirrus Shrug on Ravelry. The pattern is still free if you are inspired to cast-on some handspun yourself!
• And, how about recycling some newspaper into yarn?
• And check out this recycled necklace featuring interchangeable focal images, including an adorable sheep! I actually like many of the designs in that Etsy shop.
• While I was poking around Ravelry I saw this lovely, wear with anything version of Tesni.
• If you wonder how designer write knitting patterns, Kristen TenDyke of the newly launched Caterpiller Knits walks through her Excel process.

More Crafty:

• I’m having visions of snarky outtakes of my pattern photoshoots with some of these DIY chalkboard speech bubbles! What fun they would be!
• I’m totally scarf obsessed and have found the wearing of them to be quite therapeutic for my neck troubles, even when I don’t think I’m chilled. This looks like a fun project that is stylish, quicker then knitting and I’d get to learn to use elastic thread!
• And these vintage-inspired flowers are great! I’m envisioning hair adornments, brooches and maybe even a bib necklace with varying sizes!

Photography:

• If you have a photographer on your gift list, check out these must haves for under $25!
• Are you aware of the rights you are giving away when you post your images online? (This is one of the reasons I watermark).
• Prime lenses give a closer end result to what you see with your eyes, but in the field a zoom lens can be more versatile. Did you know you can calibrate your zoom lens to capture what your eyes see?
• I recently downloaded an app for my phone where I kept running into references about hyperfocal distance and did a little digging. It seems it gets kind of complex with the varying sensor sizes in digital cameras so lots of the current photography books skip over it. This DPS article gives a brief introduction to it.

Food

• Rodale has some tips to keep your kitchen cool as we ride out these last hot days of summer. (Not canning would be at the top of my list. )
• We’re big eggplant fans around here and we’re going to have to try these Eggplant Salad Toasts from Smitten Kitchen! Yum!
• This looks like a great dip and might be a way to sneak a bit more veggie into kids too!
• Lilyella has a round up of some great food blogs in case you are looking to expand your food reading.
• Almost 8 years ago, we should have a wedding cake like these.
• If the recent egg recall and all the various jargon on egg cartons has you confused, check out Rodale’s run down of what common labels really mean about the eggs inside the carton.

Humor:

• I laugh at this, because if I didn’t I’d have to cry because it is a little close to the truth about working from home.
• As usual, The Panopticon comes through with a phrase one should be very careful about uttering in public! Especially around muggles!
• This very unfortunate sign outage is hilarious. I’ve since learned it has been that way for years. I don’t think it would last long around here.

Since Carole is off on vacation there is no Ten on Tuesday this week. Though I think I shall stick to that theme with my linkity this week… A mashup of 10 interesting things I stumbled across this past week.

1. Having lived in North Dakota for five years I think it fair for me to get a laugh out of North Dakota Bois. The singing isn’t terribly great, but the lyrics and visuals are pretty good.

2. Having trouble wrapping your head around the recession? Check out this graphical representation of the unemployment rates by county from January 2007 to near present. It is kind of haunting, yet powerful.

3. Always in need of motivation to get out to the gym, especially when I’m under time crunches, this article about exercise and creativity may be enough to get me moving again once my ankles are in a happier place.

4. My Adorama e-mail this past week couldn’t have been timed better! It is about powering down your flash unit. Until I read this I had relied on creating more distance between my subject and I and only stepping down the flash a couple clicks. But I practiced a bunch of what I read in Saturday morning’s photoshoot.

5. A few weeks back I talked about some jelly filters for camera phones. Well, now you can get lenses for your camera phone too! How cool is that?

6. On the knitting front, Rosemary Hill posted a great tutorial on the tubular cast-on if you are in need of neat and stretchy starts for things like socks, mittens, gloves or even top-down necklines!

7. These Zand Gebek shortbread based cookies sound right up this Scandinavian’s alley! I can’t wait for the weather to cool down just a bit more when heating up the oven just because I want a make a recipe (rather than because I have zucchini or what not that has to get used) is not such a luxury.

8. Who would have guessed Sharpie would come out with a liquid pencil whose markings become permanent after 24 hours? I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised as they’ve made some great new products in the recent past such as the pens that don’t bleed through paper but are permanent and smudge-proof. I’m not sure if I have need/use for a liquid pencil, but the idea is interesting and they are sure to be much better than those horrible erasable papermate pens of my childhood that never dried and always smeared.

9. Knit designer, Laura Nelkin had a great recipe for oven dried sungold tomatoes. I’m wondering why I didn’t think to dress up my oven dried tomatoes like that. It seems like something we’d typically do for an antipasto night, yet I didn’t. Though I guess we used out in taco salad and a few other things where basil wouldn’t have been appropriate I guess.

10. If you are in need of organizing your kitchen you may like these free downloadable PDF decals. There are a few different styles, most kind of retro or vintage feeling and the colors are pretty easily editable to match your particular decor. I think they are a lot of fun, too bad we don’t have an ink jet printer anymore :-( (Note, the giveaway of that post is closed, alas I didn’t stumble upon these until it was already over as well)

There are many more interesting links on my Tumblr. Chris also had a great linkity this last Friday if you are wanting more.

I sort of covered the blocking in Saturday’s August Break post. If you didn’t see it, I ended up pinning each point. I just couldn’t find a good place to thread the points together. It meant I procured 3 more boxes of T-pins, bringing my total to 5 (only 4 pictured as I didn’t need to dip into the 5th but only because the blocking kit included 20 pins).

I put the names into a spreadsheet in the order they were received, then used the random number generator to choose the winner - #12 Deb! I’ll send you a copy of the pattern when it is available to the public.

Okay, onto Monday Musings! Beginning of months are kind of crazy around here and even more so with wrapping up this design so it’ll be another somewhat brief one this week.

Crafty:

• I love this use of chalkboard paint - adornment on pots for plants so you can label the contents!
• Lots of great ideas from the archive of a fairly new-to-me blog, mostly for DIY jewelry, but also some good gift ideas as well.
• For you handspinners and designers or wanna be designers have you heard about the Hello Yarn/Southern Cross Fibre/Spunky Eclectic 4 Ounce Challenge?

Cooking:

• Some great Italian Ice ideas to help you keep your cool.
• Rodale had some great gift ideas from your garden in two different posts, most of them cooking/canning/preserving related. Even if you don’t have a garden a lot of these could be done using local produce/flowers etc. from your local farmer’s market!
• Peach Brown Betty from Cook’s Country via Cook’s Illustrated.

Photography:

• Check out this illustrated walk through of a photo shoot set-up! It is a great look into lighting and ways to save time for your subject!
• This way of simply tagging photos seems interesting and something I’ll have to try!
• Another great post from Photofocus - 5 things you can do in 6 hours to become a better photographer.

Humor:

• How Knitting Clubs and Bad Neighborhoods are Alike - I ran into a comment that both also have stashes!

Things to Think About:

• Would you patronize a coffeeshop that did not allow e-books or computers?
• Vampire Wire rants about file sharing - all her arguments can also be applied to knitting/crochet pattern, photography e-books, music files and pretty much any other downloadable product.

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No real progress to note on reading except another audiobook thanks to canning on Thursday evening - Cherry Cheesecake Murder by Joanne Fluke. I broke my usual rule and dove right into this one after the previous book because of the cliff hanger about Hannah’s personal life. Of course there was no real resolution in the next book on that matter, LOL! I’m now revisiting a series I haven’t read in quite some time with Miss Julie Stands Her Ground by Ann B. Ross. I’m kind of thinking I may have outgrown this series. We’ll see. I’m only ~1/3 of the way in I think. I listened to it during part of the shawl blocking process.

I also checked out a Booktown Mystery book from the library on Friday, but now that I’m about 1/2 done with it have discovered I accidentally skipped a book. I hate when that happens, but I suspect I’m far enough into this one that I should just continue. Though I’m totally flummoxed as to how it happened as I’m pretty good about consulting the series listing on LibraryThing.

I went to the library to pick up a fairly new canning title, Homemade Living: Canning & Preserving with Ashley English: All You Need to Know to Make Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Chutneys & More I had requested through ILL. I think I’ll post a real review of it in the next week or two. So far I’ve only skimmed the info and drooled over a few of the recipes.

Last week was a big week! It was my mom’s birthday and the one year anniversary of Brandon’s arrival in our family. I think we’ve all come a long way since he joined us. And overall it has been worth the numerous times he has peed on me when I’ve returned home from running errands as a day does not go by that he doesn’t make me laugh out loud from the very tips of my pee covered toes. He is quite the character and full of so much personality that I couldn’t have guessed he possessed when I first met him.

I fell behind in blog reading this past week. I’ve been working feverishly on a design that I’m anxious to get off the needles and photographed. I’m quite excited by it though it has taken much more time than I originally anticipated and am very glad to have taken the journey with it. In catching up on my reading in the wee-est hours of Monday morning I stumbled upon the mention of August Break via Jeanine at four rooms. I really like the idea of being more present and using the camera to aid in that goal and to not feel pressure to write to go with the photos if I don’t want to. So, I think I’m going to keep this week’s linkity somewhat briefer that past weeks and for the month of August, if I don’t feel that I have much to say I’ll do so with a photo!

I think I can safely say there will be the usual food post every Wednesday this month anyway. Last Monday I processed over 300 photos - the vast majority of which were food photos! One advantage of the CSA is that it is forcing me to cook more at home, despite the heat. And the CSA cooking is sparking other cooking and baking adventures as well. Of course all of this kitchen activity is making my yoga pants a bit more enticing… Must find time (and to be honest, motivation) once again to hit the gym!

Crafty

• I’m in love with the idea of these lace adorned lamps, but I think I’ll have to make them with handknit lace… (via Craft)
• These homemade twist ties using wire and Japanese masking tape are a great finishing touch to goodie bags and easy to make!
• Ever made yarn from wolf? Deb got to meet several and make some yarn and shares the experience on her blog.
• I’m loving these homemade sandals using cheap flip-flops and a recycled tee as the starting point. As a bonus, flip-flops are on clearance or will be soon!
• How could my Swedish heart not love these gnomes?

Food & Drink

• We’ve been feeling the pain of hot summer sun and what better way to get over that than with some no-bake cookies!
• Or cool down with some herbal sun teas and simple syrups!
• If like us you have a plethora of zucchini, summer squash and cucumbers (we don’t have any of these right now) check out Tea & Cookies wrap up of recipes for Cukes and Zukes week of Summer Fest.

Photography

• Some great tips to minimize memory card data loss in two parts with a third to come yet.
• If you were amongst the many who loved my suggestion of a photowalk as an activity to take the place of some TV watching, you may find these 5 ideas for shooting close to home helpful.
• Who knew the US is out to get photographers’ wallets upon reentry?
• Find triangles in food photography to make the eyes take in the whole scene.

Humor & Misc

• I ran into this early last week and it has been pretty viral in getting out there, but if you haven’t yet taken the time to watch Jane Austen’s Fight Club, you really should!
• This list of best and worst job prospects in Urban Fantasy in 2011 is quite amusing (via Chris, co-author of the post)
• Speaking of Chris, she posts linkity posts covering many topics, some though provoking and informative, some about making things, some just amusing or cute each Friday.
• And, it was Chris who turned me onto a great blog for e-book readers - Books on the Knob. Each day posts appear alerting readers of free and low-cost e-books from a variety of sources, including Kindle formatted books!

Reading Update

Not much to say here other than to mention that I finished Peach Cobbler Murder by Joanne Fluke and that it has such a cliff hanger I broke my usual rule and queued up Cherry Cheesecake Murder on the iPod next.

Progress in print and e-book reading has been slight. Mostly due to my new fascination with hidden object games on my iPhone. I played The Mystery of the Crystal Portal and Paranormal Agency this week - oops! Of those two, Crystal Portal was quite well done and was what sucked me in. I had a lot of little complaints about Paranormal Agency such as the fact that it was obviously not written by native English speakers so list of object to be found became a bit of a guessing game at points.

I did take a bit of relaxation time yesterday and soaked in a tub with The Memory Collector and finally made some decent forward progress on it, but I expect another frantically paced work week so we’ll see if I keep it up.

Donna Druchunas’ latest book, Successful Lace Knitting: Celebrating the Work of Dorothy Reade has a sock pattern of mine in it, Mendocino Socks. She has interviewed me for her blog and will we posting that interview tomorrow, July 27th so don’t miss it!

Crafty:

• Create your own one of a kind bottle stoppers - I think I need to make some of these to close the bottles of my homemade beauty products! But a great idea for the next time we give away bottles of homemade liqueur too.
• While we’re on the subject of homemade gifts, why not make your own gift bags too? I did this in high school a bunch. But I formed mine by wrapping around a box that had the same footprint I wanted my bag to have. I made bags from wallpaper sample books, clearance wallpaper rolls, contact paper, and stenciled or rubberstamped kraft paper.
• This is a really cute One Hour Bag pattern that I’m sure would take me more than an hour, but I might just have to take the time this week as I dust off my sewing machine for something work related this week. (via Craft)
• If you are new to handspinning or ready to learn more, Amelia at Ask the Bellwether has a great breakdown of many of the titles and what area(s) of spinning they cover. I definitely agree on her categorization!
• FossilGirl recently finished a great looking 2nd pair of Herringbone Rib socks!

Food & Drink:

• Tea & Cookies has a great post on salad dressings and salads in general which is helpful in the heat of summer.
• NPR shares 4 recipes for shredded salads (think slaw, some with a twist).
• How about a raw kale salad? I stumbled upon this while looking for ideas for some of the CSA produce we’ve gotten recently. I’m not certain if I’m brave enough for raw kale… Maybe…
• The same week I posted about grilling pizza, Cook’s Illustrated’s weekly newsletter did as well. We gave their crust for grilled pizza a try last night (with some really unusual toppings) and it was quite good.
• As real donut lovers, I’m not certain if muffins that taste like donuts is a good thing for our household or not… it might be too easy to justify “one more” if they are a muffin rather than a donut.
• The Scandinavian coffee lover in me (and the designer) loves this limited edition poster print of a graphical definition of 20 different coffee-based drinks from Plaid Creative.

Photography:

• Ed Verosky, author of the 100% Reliable Flash Photography e-book appears at DPS with 8 On-Camera Flash Tips.
• Diane Gilleland is back at Craft sharing some Cheap and Simple Tools for Better Blog Photography, mostly covering some DIY lighting solutions and backdrop tips.
• I know you knitters will understand - there is no “perfect” bag so you just have to keep buying and trying because surely the next one will be an improvement right? It is the same with camera bags. I’m in lust with both the Shootsac and the Kelly Moore Bag and the Epiphanie line is still a bit intriguing too.
• In a bit more affordable category are these extra long and wider camera straps from VMJESS made to allow you to wear your camera diagonally across your body more comfortably. My sister got me one for my birthday back in April and I’m loving it! It really takes the strain off of your neck.

Reading Update:

Well, last week I finished both my e-book and audiobook that were in progress, but I found little time for print (and even e-book) reading last week. The heat kept me up pretty late most nights and I’m working furiously on a few different deadline projects which frequently cuts into reading.

On the e-book front, I finished Unravel Me by Christie Ridgway. This was one I made time to read, it sucked me in that much. Plus it was on my iPhone so I could easily grab a few minutes here and a few minutes there which really ultimately adds up. I really enjoyed it and it made for the perfect summer reading. I almost wanted to turn around and buy the next one right away, but I keep reminding myself that I’ll enjoy the next one even more if I read at least a few other books in between.

This was also my first book read in the new iBook app that is standard with iOS4. I liked the app, they took a few clues from Stanza, my preferred e-book app, that Amazon still needs to take such as info about how far you are to the end of a chapter. It does not have as many controls for the display though so I think whenever possible I will continue to stick with Stanza as my primary e-book book reader on my phone. In this case, the book was a few dollars cheaper through Apple than Amazon or Barnes & Noble and it was unavailable from the other e-book retailers I frequent from time to time. So, it was a perfect excuse to give it a spin.

On the audio front I finished A Bone to Pick by Charlaine Harris. This was the second in the Aurora Teagarden series and downloaded via NetLibrary. I think I enjoyed the first book a bit more than this one. But I didn’t read as many books in between as I like to. I find if I take a bit of break I not only pace myself so I don’t run out of books too soon, but I also get a chance to forget an author’s habits and common plot devices and such which allow me to enjoy the books better. I’m not 100% sold on the idea that more time would have caused me to enjoy it more. It was still a fine read and kept me and my knitting good company. I’ll definitely be checking out the next in the series.

Currently Being Read
- E-book - Bulls Island by Dorothea Benton Frank, was free for Kindle a while back
- Audio - Peach Cobbler Murder by Joanne Fluke, downloaded via NetLibrary
- Print - still on The Memory Collector by Meg Gardiner, sluggish progress on this is not likely the fault of the writing, but when I’m in a heavy knitting phase holding hardcover books doesn’t help me recover from the knitting so I opt instead for the e-book because the phone is so small and light