Category Archives: Favorite Things

New Harmony Slippers

10 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by in Favorite Things, Knitting, Pattern, Ravelry, teaching classes

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

, , , , , ,

Don’t you stay at home of evenings?
Don’t you love a cushioned seat in a corner, by the fireside,
with your slippers on your feet?
[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.]

New Harmony Slippers

Last weekend was the annual knitting retreat at the Barn Abby in historic New Harmony, Indiana. I love that little town, its shops, cafes, historic sites, botanical displays…

The New Harmony Slippers is the project I developed for part of this year’s program. The knitters who attend have been to countless classes so I had trouble thinking of something that wouldn’t be a repeat. I finally designed these slippers merely for their interesting construction. They have no sewn seams, but are not knit in the round in a way that socks are customarily knit. They are also a fairly brief project so those who were interested could finish at least one in the time we had together.

These slippers can also be worn in shoes like commercial footies or socks. The size is easily adjustable and the slipper toe can be knit in a decorative pattern. Plasti Dip or another synthetic laytex can be used to treat the soles if you intend these to be used as slippers instead of footies.

Pattern Features

  • Knit back and forth on two needles
  • No sewn seams—3-needle bindoff at heel
  • k2tog and ssk decreases
  • lifted stitch increase
  • slipped edge stitch
  • k2tog join at toe
  • 3-stitch attached icord

Yarn

Sock-weight yarn

Tools

Two US #2 (2.75 mm) needles (or size that gives gauge), yarn needle with eye, scissors

Gauge & Measurement

19 rows/2″ (5 cm) and 14 sts/2″ (5 cm)

The pattern is offered for $2.50 on ravelry.com at this link

New Harmony: Barn Abby

New Harmony: Barn Abby

Puppy Love

01 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by in Favorite Things

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

There is no psychiatrist in the world
like a puppy licking your face.
[Bernard Williams]

Teddy and Jake

 

Teddy and Jake are eight-week old brothers, who have moved into my home to keep me company and give me puppy kisses. Right now I can pick them up with one hand when I take them outside every two hours. I am figuring out how to take care of them and train them. So far, they are doing well with a wire crate and periods of freedom. They will be big enough to leash train about the time the snow flies, but I need the challenge. Since they are peakapoos, they will be small dogs as adults.

Pinteresting

24 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Favorite Things, Other Favorite Sites, Review, Technology, Thoughts

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

,

Mama, you should try Pinterest.
It is like receiving a new magazine every day.
[Rachel Smith]

Pinterest

I’ve had a long line of personal computers since 1982. Computers fascinate me and are now my main tool in my work. I spend hours standing in front of my Mac fiddling in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. I don’t use a cell phone. Frankly, I like being out of touch. I’ve never felt pressed to answer a ringing telephone. I maintain 5 wordpress blogs and I am working on revising my website, but I am not a member of Facebook or Twitter. In other words, I try to be a gatekeeper to filter that which bombards me from the outside world. Then came Pinterest.

Of course it has been around since 2010, but didn’t reach out and grab me until now. Oddly enough, a tip for cleaning the buildup off of my gas stove grates pushed me over the edge. In addition to shiny grates, I now have an unclogged shower head and plenty of advice for training my two new puppies. The industrial design section convinces me once again that humans can create instead of destroy. The gardening section almost makes me want to pull weeds. Pinterest reminds me of the 10-inch thick dictionary on the stand in my third-grade classroom—whenever I look something up, I am in constant danger of getting completely sidetracked.

 

ArtWorks, The Galleria of Fine Art

17 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Favorite Things, Other Favorite Sites, Review, Thoughts

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , ,

Art enables us to find ourselves and
lose ourselves at the same time.
[Thomas Merton]

ArtWorks

Last Friday was girls night out for my niece, Katherine, and me. After supper, we shopped at Jefferson Point (Fort Wayne) and then went to the opening reception for the art show, “City Blox,” at ArtWorks. I was delighted from the start since Joel Fremion’s landscapes were displayed just inside the door. His craftsmanship, his technique and his vision have fascinated me for several years. He creates fabric collages in great detail and with amazing effect (above left). Among the paintings and objets d’art of other artists were paintings by watercolorist Diana Miller-Pierce. Her crisp technique, sense of geometric balance, and eye for detail drew me into her work (above right). Eighteen artists were represented in the show making it well worth one’s time to stop in and browse this lovely gallery.

 

Contrasts

17 Tuesday Jun 2014

Posted by in Favorite Things, Thoughts, Writing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, ,

There is no quality in this world that is not
what it is merely by contrast.
Nothing exists in itself.
[Herman Melville]

Peony

Four posts down from this one is a photo of my Saturn Sky sitting between two five-foot snow banks. There was a peony bush sleeping under the nearest snow bank. It not only survived sub-zero temperatures and deep snow, it also survived being trampled.

The winter temperatures and snow weight demolished my garage. While it was being rebuilt, the peony tried to sprout though the thawing soil but was repeatedly stepped on. I finally put a little fence around the damaged shoots and they were able to grow into a lovely bush. It finally bloomed two weeks later than usual, and its sweet scent filled my sun room.

The contrast between what I considered a dreadful winter and welcome summer is brought home to me in this delicate bloom. I’m glad peonies are the Indiana state flower.

Brown-thumb alert

12 Wednesday Feb 2014

Posted by in Favorite Things, Reading, Thoughts

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

,

I want it said of me by those who knew me best,
that I always plucked a thistle and
planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.
[Abraham Lincoln, birthday February 12, 1809]

Orchid

A friend who knows me well enough to know that my gardening thumbs are not green gave me this orchid for my birthday last November. I’ve always wanted an orchid but figured it would only last a week if consigned to my care. I’ve posted this to prove my lovely orchid is just as pretty after two and a half months!

Valentine gift advice: Buy her an orchid. It lasts longer than cut flowers and is so elegant (like her, I’m sure).

Side effect warning: I’ve developed an urge to read all of the Nero Wolfe books I can find (Rex Stout wrote over seventy). Both Nero W. and Rex S. were orchid lovers.

Fond Farewell: my best buddy

20 Monday Jan 2014

Posted by in Favorite Things, Thoughts

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

I do not at all understand the mystery of grace—
only that it meets us where we are
but does not leave us where it found us.
[Anne Lamott]
TOBY

As I sat in the pet emergency room during the wee hours of last Wednesday morning, the thought struck me that Toby was the best example of God’s grace I’ve encountered in my earth-bound life. His love was freely given and required nothing in return. His quiet, gentle presence enriched my life.

“There’s an app for that…”

19 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by in Favorite Things, Learning to Blog, Reading, Review, Technology, Thoughts, Writing

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

One must be an inventor to read well.
There is then creative reading
as well as creative writing.
[Ralph Waldo Emerson]

iPad-apps

Since I live in relative solitude, my blog gives me a place to share things that one would normally share with a person in the same room. This is a, “You’ve just gotta see this…” post. The thought has crossed my mind that I’m likely the last to learn all of this, but I’ll share it anyhow. I’ll make bullet points of my disjointed thoughts.

  • The image is a screen shot of one of my iPad folders.
    • I’ve never seen non-Apple devices, but am confident that they have reasonable counterparts to this.
    • It is worth the effort to learn how to organize apps in folders so you can find your stuff easily on one screen.
    • The desktop image is either (a) my backyard or (b) a tourist stop near Cardiff, Wales (UK). HINT: I have no backyard.
  • About the first row of apps in the image—these are primarily text readers. iBooks reads books from the Apple store, Nook reads Barnes & Noble books, and Kindle reads Amazon books. The apps are free and many books can be obtained without cost as well. There are also sale priced books available from such sources as BookBub.
  • The second row of apps in the image—these are specialized readers. Audible (an Amazon company) is an audio book reader and not only reads books from Audible.com, but also reads non-Amazon books from iTunes. Overdrive accesses the local public library. Using my library card, I check out both text and audio books using Overdrive. GoodReader could also be called Knitter’sHelper. I use this for my PDF knitting patterns because it allows me to easily mark my place and make notes.
  • The third row shows apps from Blackstone. These audio books are well produced and are now available with a built-in player as apps—one book per app. I bought these in the App Store for reasonable prices. There are many choices. One of my favorite mystery writers is Louise Penny. Her books, set in Quebec, present characters in such depth and with such sensitivity, that they make me want to jump into my little roadster and drive to Canada in search of imaginary friends.

Christmas & Mothers

16 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by in Favorite Things, Thoughts, Writing

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

,

But Mary kept all these things,
and pondered them in her heart.
[Luke 2:19]

Christmas 2013

At Christmas time, my thoughts always turn to Mary. My first child was born close to Christmas and, while we were stalled at a rail crossing on the way to the hospital, I thought of Mary. I was so thankful I wasn’t riding a donkey. While I was admitted to the hospital, I thought of Mary being cold and hungry with no place to rest in comfort. I cringed at the thought of going through labor and delivery in the conditions described in the Bible. Mary was made of sterner stuff than I am. Ever since then, motherhood and Christmas have been inextricably linked in my mind.

Speaking of mothers, the rocker in the photo was my mother’s. I bought it for her as a Christmas gift with my first Navy paycheck 50 years ago. Sitting in Mama’s chair is Maisey, my grandmother’s doll. Grandma got her for Christmas 130 years ago (here’s a link to that story). As I decorated the tree last weekend (and shoveled snow), I thought of Mary and Mama and Grandma.

I love these apps

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by in Favorite Things, Other Favorite Sites, Review, Technology

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Any sufficiently advanced technology
is indistinguishable from magic.
[Arthur C. Clarke]

My first criteria for a good app is, it is simple. I’m a graphic designer and not a computer scientist. I look for apps that behave themselves (they work without bugs), and apps that are intuitive to use (they have a small learning curve). I spend my main self-education time keeping myself up to speed with my major software tools. I want my smaller apps to be more like a manual screwdriver than an electric drill with multiple bits. These two apps fit the criteria and are affordable.

CalculatorMyScript© Calculator is magic for sure. It was free! How does Vision Objects© do that? Also it works well and is fun to use. Write numerals and function symbols (+, -, =, etc.) with a finger on a touchscreen and then watch your writing change into real equations with the correct answer. It even charmed my five-year old grandson. When I used it in a knitting class to help people figure their stitches and rows from their gauge, it was fast and accurate. Some students even downloaded the app for their smart phones during class.

TaskTimerDesktop Task Timer by Erik Asmussen is also a winner in my book. I track my design time for billing purposes. In the past 30 years, I have tried using a number of methods to accurately record time and translate it in to an invoice. This app ($0.99) is the best I’ve found so far. I’ve even started tracking my non-chargeable tasks just out of curiosity.