Category: Golightly Meta Blogs

First, thank you to everyone who left a comment yesterday.  I appreciated the thoughtful words you all shared. 

Now, some math.  If there more than a few comments to this post, I’m pretty certain we’ll have a winner for my little "2,000th on the 300th" contest.  There’s something attractive about reaching both of those numbers at the same time to me.  I like when numbers align.

I had to align some numbers myself today.  Last week I diligently knit the first part, you know, before you join, of the Cozy V-neck Pullover from Fitted Knits.  I did all thirteen repeats before I got off my lazy tush and found a tape measure.  The pattern calls for 3.5 spi.  I had 5 spi.  My math-addled brain said, "fine, missy.  You’ll just make a smaller size and be fine.  You’re just off by a little."  After Blog-free Kim and Blogless Sara messed around with the math for a few minutes, they reached the same conclusion at the same time.  Wanna know what it is?

Beverly is a ding dong and totally, as Noelle might say, a math-impaired Barbie.

I was convinced my gauge was off the wrong way.  So I ripped, and then I did some algebra.  I took all of the places in the pattern where numbers of stitches (S) occurred, divided said number by 3.5 (pattern gauge), then multiplied it by 5 (my gauge).  I penciled in the new numbers and cast on again.  Sixty-nine stitches instead of forty-eight.

In formulaic terms:  S / 3.5 x 5=NSN (new stitch number).  Now that ain’t so tough, is it?  I’m not math-impaired at all.  In fact, I’m a bit clever about math.

What’s made you feel rather clever in your life lately?

I’m less than 100 comments from reaching my 2,000th, I’m about to celebrate my second blogiversary, and I’m less than ten posts from reaching my 300th on this blog. 

Seems like prizes should be awarded, no?

If you make the 2,000th comment on my blog, you’ll get a little something special from me.  Shall we say, yarn, maybe? 

If you make the 2,000th comment and it happens to be on my 300th post, I’ll sweeten that prize with a nice little handmade sumpthin’ sumpthin’. 

For me, tomorrow will be the last day of the Encyclopedia of Me meme, as started by Cassie.  While some of my entries have been stretches, I’ve had fun with the theme and wonder what the heck I’m going to write about once it’s over.  Good thing there are lots of knitting projects I want to start! 

I rarely get spam comments, but today I got three, so I’m turning on my Catchya feature for a while.  I know it’s a pain to have to put in the string of letters when posting a comment, but I also know you’d agree that spam is a bigger pain.

To try to make it up, let me share the onion pie recipe I made yesterday.  It was delish, but I credit that to the fresh onions from the Garlic Farm.  I made one pie, and I left out the hot sauce.  I’ll make this one again all summer long!

As dinner baked in the oven, I wrote a long post in which I reviewed a number of books I read recently.  As I hit publish, it disappeared into the ether, or where ever writing that disappears goes.

Since I first started using computers when I returned to college in the mid-1990s, whenever I lose something I’ve written, it immediately becomes the best thing I ever wrote.

I swear, the reviews were insightful and witty, and I’m just not going to be able to recreate them.  I’ll give it a whirl tomorrow, though.

Now I have to work on my Sockapalooza Monkey sock.  Have I mentioned yet that I adore this pattern?  I know, I know, who doesn’t adore it, right.

Stay tuned for a slightly less brilliant book review post.

Blog-free Kim just got back to me, and the final contest results are in.  We decided on two winners, one for dog stories, and one for cats.  The winners are *drumroll*: JessaLu and Katy.  The choice was a tough one, but in the end, I couldn’t resist a dog shaking like a crack whore (not that I want to know of sick dogs…just a funny image to me) or a cat who craps on her vet bill.  Smart creature, that!  So I’ll be e-mailing the winners, and thanks to everyone who entered.  BF Kim’s going to have a taste for this blogging stuff, I just know it!

Oh.  As promised yesterday. Yes, actually, I will be a fool just to make my friends laugh.

WordPress is not my friend.  I tried to play nice with it, and when Scout’s involved, we get along just fine.  But there’s not much between us otherwise.  So.  I shelled out the dough, and I upgraded my account, and The Seemingly Dis-Organized Elf will be back here by the end of the weekend.  You see why I need this project?

Why am I up until the wee hours?  Looking for wedding dresses online.  Mind you, I have no intentions of wearing white or ivory or any virgin-esque color.  I want me a pink, green, or pink and green dress.  And I want it to swing up high when my new husband twirls me around the dance floor (he likes my gams, he said so).  Most likely I’m going to have it made by Nina, the designer near my sister’s job in TN.  I sort of have an idea of what I want, but here’s what I’d like to ask you:  do you have any good on-line resources that show pictures of different shaped dresses?  I want to be able to show Nina things that are close to what I’d like.  Sort of like when I cut out Nicole Kidman’s picture and ask Peter my hot hairdresser to make me look like that.  It hasn’t worked yet, but I think it might with the dress.  So help a girl out, will you?  And I promise, I’ve searched to the best of my 1:15 a.m. abilities.  I know the power of google. I want the power of bloggers.

Finally, did you catch Scout’s kudos over at JenLa?  Flat Scout and Dye-o-rama both made the list. 

I read about World Blog Day in a few different places and thought it was a good idea.  Here are the guidelines if you want to post on your own blog (and if you do, please leave a comment so I can take a look at the sites you list).

BlogDay posting instructions:
1. Find 5 new Blogs that you find interesting
2. Notify the 5 bloggers that you are recommending on them on BlogDay 2005
3. Write a short description of the Blogs and place a a link to the recommended Blogs
4. Post the BlogDay Post (on August 31st) and
5. Add the BlogDay tag using this link: http://technorati.com/tag/BlogDay2006 and a link to BlogDay web site at http://www.blogday.org

So.  Here are my five new blogs:

1.  43 Folders.  I just found this today through the latest Whip Up post.  I’ve downloaded and listened to the podcast, which I like quite a bit.  The site is dedicated to personal organization and productivity, one of those things that come and go in my life (I want it to come back, by the way). 

2.  Indie Shopper.  Also found through Whip Up (apparently my resource for everything!), this site is great if you’re interested in buying goods from Indie companies.  My ex started an indie recording studio/label over ten years ago, and since then, I’ve tried to support indie businesses over big corporate giants, and this site gives me more resources.  Plus there is that adorable embroidery bag tutorial that I MUST make!

3.  Turkey Feathers.  I’m smitten with a thrift/sewing/vintage-y kind of feel in blogs of late, and this is one I’ve been enjoying.  Everything just looks so pretty on her blog.

4.  Bella Dia.  From the adorable illustrated banner (hmmm…I like those illustrations!) to the lovely photos of her studio, and again with the thrift/vintage, etc. feel, this site has some good tutorials, too.  Um.  That was a really poorly written sentence.  Sorry.  The sentences on Bella Dia are not poorly written.

5.  Needle Book.  Another discovery just today, found from clicking on Bella Dia’s blogroll.  ‘Cause that’s how I like to spend my time once in a while.  Clicking the blogrolls of others.  So Needle Book makes lovely illustrations (including her wedding invitations…go look!), and she also makes really pretty sewn, knit, and crocheted items. 

I’ve got other things to post about later, but do leave me a comment if you participate in World Blog Day, ok?

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post.  Margene posted the 500th comment and will be getting something special in the mail.  Notice I’m not specific about what that something is…I’ll see what comes off the sewing machine tomorrow.

I appreciate all the cashmere felting advice.  I promise the sweater I’ll be felting is fugly and that I purchased it at a thrift store just so I could make some super soft accessories…pin cushions, needle cases, notions cases.  I’ll let you know what works, although I think Trek’s idea would have been the most successful if the sweater didn’t already know that I wanted it to felt.  You might find me with a plunger just for Cookie.  We’ll see how desperate I get.

Thanks for playing!  There will be another contest when I reach my 100th post, so stay tuned!

I like to look at my blog stats.  I’m already thinking about what to do for my 100th post, which is coming up soon.  In the meantime, some lucky person will soon leave the 500th comment on this blog.  Lucky, why?  you may ask.  On account of I’m going to send a sweet little handmade prize to my 500th commentor.  Or should that be commentator? 

I’ll even give you a question to answer:  What’s the best way to felt cashmere?  I have a few 100% cashmere sweaters that I want to recycle as the world’s softest felt.  Any tips or tricks?

Stop lurking, you.  Take a chance on winning my contest, willya?