Don't look back

The comment problems are over and the Wordpress version of Yarn Is My Metier is open for business. To receive notification of blog updates, you'll have to change your subscription.

Thanks for everything. Now go catch up on the latest post!

I can take a hint

Breaking up is hard to do, especially if you were best buddies in the beginning. I loved me some Blogger - so much so that I even got the hoodie and wore it proudly. Those were the salad days before Google and big development budgets.

Now they're pulling the plug on support for those of use who publish our blogs via FTP. They may just as well have said, "We don't care where you go, but you can't stay here." This is just the push I needed to revisit migrating to another publishing application. I tried it about 3 years ago but back then, this snappy export tool didn't exist. Makes the once-onerous task a whole lot easier.

I've spent the past few days putting the new blog together. You can take a peek if you like. I'm still having issues with comment notification but if you post, there is a way for me to see them. I do welcome your feedback.

There's another little hitch. I was able to import all previous posts and comments, but I cannot update your syndication subscription. If you want to get a jump on things, you can go ahead and subscribe to the new site by using the new feed. Aside from the "It's Alive!" message, this is likely my last post from Blogger.

Although this migration has taken the lion's share of my time, I did manage to finish one of the legwarmers. The second one is already on the needles. I know this falls under the category of "crossing the bridge before coming to it," but I couldn't resist the charms of "Citron" by Hilary Smith Callis. My only question now is should I make it in fuchsia, pale yellow or wine?

Instant Recycling's Gonna Get You

I was mere inches away from finishing the first of a pair of Lisa Gaskell's Les Cables de Faux (Rav) legwarmers for a frosty friend in Calgary. Feeling pretty proud of myself, I was. Though it is a simple pattern easily memorized, my Swiss-cheese memory seemed to keep getting erased after each 3-row segment.

Once it clicked that I was over-complicating things by merely thinking I couldn't knit without referring to the instructions, I was on cruise control. Then I re-read her email with the sizing information and discovered something that the back of my monkey brain stored but refused to acknowledge: calf circumference is 14 inches. Fourteen. And I was on my merry way making a 9 inch circumference legwarmer. I know she asked for snug but that size could impair one's circulation.

Ripping ensued until I realized I could cheat rewinding to smooth out the bumps by re-knitting as I unraveled. It's not like I was making a different pattern that required smooth stockinette. There will be bumps. I may not enjoy having to play do-over but I think this instant recycling could catch on. Details when I'm actually done. Maybe she'll even model them for us (hint, hint!).



Remember crochet?

I was hoping I'd have a chance to do a few squares from "200 Crochet Blocks" compiled by Jan Eaton. When I originally got the book, I went through it like a mad woman, placing sticky notes on every page that I thought might possibly, remotely be used for some future something or other.

Then the call came in early January. I finally had the chance to break out my Clover Soft Touch hook (size F / 3.75 mm) and get busy. Not sure what I'll make but oh-you-kid, I'm loving the simple tactile experience of Textured Bluebells.

There is downside, and that's the fact that my hands are so out of practice with the hooking and whatnot that they cramp up after working too long. The only way to get past the cramping is to get back into crochet on a regular basis. Until then, it's rest 'em and rub 'em.