WWW for April 29, 2009

What's the news across the nation?
We have got the information...in a way we hope will amuse you!
We just love to give you our views. :)

Ladies and gents, Knitty gives you the news!

[see what happens when I write these posts late at night? I get punchy.]



Baltimoreans! Come out and see me
tonight!



The 2009 KNIFTA awards are out. How many have you seen?



Another knitted bag made from bags!



When you buy Alpaca fiber from The Alpaca Spinner, you get a little card with the face of your alpaca on it!



The fascinating periodic table of knitting. An interesting work in progress!



Knitters and spinners, may we present The LambCam!



Help cover The Skye Bridge in knitting!



Up for a challenge? Try a recreated pattern for Sanquhar gloves, created by the fabulous team at Tata-Tatao!



Brenda Dayne wants to know what you want to know about knitting!



And finally, you can buy your very own village...handknitted, of course!

What is a person to do with all this technology?

I loves me some new technology. Shiny is good. And I have fallen for Twitter in a huge way. Writing a blog post can take an hour, depending on how much info I need to share. Writing a Tweet [a single twitter post, no longer than 140 characters] takes less than a minute, if even that. Perfect for short-attention-span girl. And perfect for communicating silly things and even important things quickly.

It's getting so that Twitter will spread news faster than the conventional news media does. It's an amazing thing to be witnessing, the birth of this new medium of communication.

Anyway, I'm *not* abandoning the blog; not at all. But I am blogging less frequently. So in order to provide ongoing evidence that I am still alive -- and to share little tidbits of news, some Knitty-related and some not -- I've added a Twitter feed to the right sidebar. It's under the little blue birdie icon. It'll show the last three things I've posted.

Big stuff and the WWW will continue to appear on the blog. And should I feel all expository, there will be actual real blog posts. I just didn't want to leave anyone wondering.

---

While I'm here, a few things of interest:

- I'm going to be at the Maryland Sheep & Wool festival for the first time ever [!] this weekend, and I hope to see you there! I'll be toting shwag [new buttons!] and if you are too shy to ask, just don't be. Come up and say hi. That's why I'm there! My homebase for the weekend will be Jennie the Potter's booth, so if you really need a button fix, that's where to hang out.

- I'm also going to be doing some cool pre-festival stuff at Lovelyarns. I've got my own button on their front page! [giggle] Anyway, I haven't been out that way since 2004 [!], so if you'd like to hear my No Sheep lecture and ask questions -- about No Sheep stuff or anything else Knittyish, please come and fill the auditorium! Details are on the Lovelyarns site. And if you'd like any books signed, just bring them with. I'll be glad to pull out the sharpie after the lecture.

- On the needles, because people like to know, is a chemo cap for a friend's mom who's just started radiation. I found this pattern and the mom in question liked it a lot. As I swatched, though, I couldn't imagine having garter stitch against a sensitive scalp, so I switched to stockinette and matched the gauge. It's a great pattern and swaps easily into stockinette, and worn with the smooth side in, it'll look quite similar to the picture anyway. And I'm knitting it in a variegated colorway of Fixation, so I don't even have to change colors. Knitting chemo caps is such a bittersweet thing to do. I'm sure we'd all love never to have to knit another one, but being able to help in a small way is a good thing.

- I'm also going to cast on another sweater. Another Liesl, this time with the higher neck and in a totally different yarn. Liesl is the sweater I find most flattering on my body and the one I never hesitate to reach for. So I should have another. I was going to use the Mission Falls cotton I have stashed, but a morning newsletter from Lettuce Knit suggested Rowan Summer Tweed for the sweater, and that's a brilliant idea. In fact, I have a sweater's worth in Brilliant [a super-sexy deep pink] and am going to cast on as soon as the chemo cap is done.

Okay, I've got prep to do for the trip, so I'll sign off. See you soon!

Watching the world shift a little...

It's easier with new glasses, sort of.

I have a great optician and visit him when I need new [multi-focal, very super expensive] glasses. The non-name-brand I'm currently wearing cost, no exaggeration, $600. A little of that cost is the photochromic lens that makes these work as sunglasses too, but it means I can see in all light, anywhere.

But those of you who wear progressives [aka invisible bifocals] know that working on computer or reading for an extensive period of time is a super-huge pain in the butt with the tiny reading area progressives give you. Lots of head-turning to follow a sentence or to see all of my laptop's 15" screen in focus. The only option is single-vision glasses that are set with a focal distance that matches where my computer screen sits in relation to my face. But they aren't cheap, especially if you like a nice-looking frame. And I do. Not surprisingly, I don't have $150 [and up!!] to spend right now.

So when I heard about GlassyEyes, I checked it out. Summary: if you wear single-vision glasses and don't need a brand name, you can have new glasses for $30 a pair. Including delivery. This is not a misprint. The GlassyEyes blog is all about just this thing and is very informative.

I found the frame above [I picked #16 -- black with turquoise] for $19. The anti-glare coating and delivery brought the total to $30.

I have heard good and bad about ordering online eyeglasses [mostly from Stefanie, who's had mixed results with the glasses she ordered], so I went into this knowing what came in the mail might be crap.

They came yesterday. They are absolutely perfect. The RX is right on [it helped that at my latest eye exam, I asked the doc for a detailed RX for single-vision glasses for computer, because there are fussy measurements she took for me that made the difference, I'm sure]. There was no duty or tax on the package.

That same eye doc warned me VERY STERNLY about ordering progressives from online companies. She said the measurements required are so specific to every frame that it's unlikely they'll be even close to what I would need. And yet, I just might take that $100 gamble, if I find myself with a spare c-note in my pocket at some time in the future.

But I did want to urge you to take a look at this as an option if you wear single-vision glasses. Zenni supposedly has a mixed reputation. However, in two transactions with them, I've been very pleased, and would go back to them again.

Nothing will ever replace the service and precise result you get from visiting an optician. But if you can't afford to see one, at least this way you're not walking into doors or getting headaches.

The Knitty LYS shwag shop is open!

It all started back here. LYS owner Stacy wrote with a brilliant suggestion that now is a tangible thingy. At the brand-new Knitty LYS Shwag Shop you'll find 4 and 6-packs of Post-its, pre-customized to make referring folks to Knitty patterns as easy as possible! You'll also find brand-new window clings and this year's edition of the 1" Knitty button.

Sure, this stuff is meant for LYSOs. But the window clings and buttons? Any red-blooded Knitty knitter just might want some of those for themselves. Anyone is welcome to place an order.

Let's hear it for shwag!

stop envying...just come!

Every time I tweet about a new Yarn Roundtable event, people get all greenish, covered in envy.

Well, I've just put up the next three dates, ready for your RSVPs, at the Knitty Yarn Roundtable Nights blog, so it's your chance to actually GET HERE and join in the fun!

At March's event, we had a group of online friends [knitters, yes, but they met through a non-knitting online community] schedule a meetup around our event. Everyone came from all directions, descended upon Toronto and had a blast of a weekend, with the Yarn Roundtable as the kickoff event. We had more new faces that night than return visitors!

Whether the evening is full of old friends or new faces, it's always a blast. We ransack the Knitty prize cupboard and pull out great stuff for the door prizes. And all that is in addition to the hands-on yarn experience you get with yarn you may never have seen before. Oh, and there are treats, too.

So, are you coming already?

WWW for April 1.5, 2009

April 1.5 because none of this is April Fool's madness. It's all true. As far as we know.



Are you one of those lucky knitting geeks with an iPhone or iPod Touch? Check out these knitting apps [some free, some not]:

Stitch Counter can manage up to 6 projects at a time, counting whatever unit you want [decreases? increases? rows? up to you!]

Stitch Minder, the original free app for knitting -- simple and elegant. Big fan base.

Measure gauge without a ruler. Brought to you by the lovely folks at Ashland Sky.

Knitting Yarn Calculator helps you figure out how much yarn you'll need if you want to knit a drop-sleeve sweater.



Looking for a not-inexpensive vacation idea? [Lucky you!] How about a cruise? Find knitting cruises, handspinning cruises and there's even a crochet cruise that leaves this Sunday!



This YouTube video of LED-covered sheep has made the rounds on the internet. Me, I don't believe it's live-action footage. There's some serious computer work involved to get those sheep moving in unison. But still, it's neat to watch.



A neat-looking folding travel wheel...the Bee. Has anyone spun on one of these yet? What do you think of it?



Adorable finger puppets to knit.



A new blog from the Knitting Out Loud audiobook people!



The author of this great article in the latest issue of Knitty is having a fundraiser. She's running a raffle on her blog to support the Canadian Cancer society -- and her husband's ride in the Ride to Survive, from Kelowna to Vancouver in one day. Prizes include Seasilk, Wollmeise [!] and more.



Have a great week and I hope the weather is fabulous where you are! My scooter is out of winter storage and I'll be on 2 energy-efficient wheels from now until the snow falls again next fall. Let's hear it for 70 mpg!