Wagging The Dog
Often when writing this blog, I find that my knitting, spinning and fiber-related activities are dictated by needing material for a blog post.
Do I Write The Blog or Does the Blog Write Me?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought to myself while knitting, “If I just do another few rows, I’ll be able to blog about this.” Or, “A $3 purchase of a pile of vintage knitting booklets would be well worth the price just for the ability to blog about it.”
For those of you who write blogs, I know you know what I’m talking about, and for those that don’t, I’m sure you can imagine.
Don’t get me wrong, even if I didn’t write a blog, I’d be doing quite a bit of knitting and spinning and other fiber-related activities. But to be honest, I think my production is somewhat higher due to having some audience watching my progress.
Current Knitting/Crocheting
All that being said, this past weekend was one of those “one step back” types of weekends when it came to my knitting, and I blame it on the blog.
I decided to work on my alpaca jacket. I had about 16 inches knit on the back, and I was just about to do shaping for the sleeve openings. Due to pictures of the garment that I took to show progress here on the web site, I realized that there was a significant color differentiation on the bottom of the fabric.
I decided I needed to pull it all out and start again.
I now have about 3 or 4 inches completed, but the color change will be much less noticeable now (I alternated between two balls of yarn every other row).
Readers’ Comments/Questions
Ted asks, “Which software do you use for distilling PDFs, and for editing images?”
For image editing, I use PaintShopPro. I downloaded a free version of it years ago, and got used to using it. I ended up buying the software after I had already gotten my money out of it. For creating PDF files, I used to use freeware that uses a print driver to create a PDF document, called PDF995. It worked pretty well, but recently, I found out my company accidentally assigned me a license for Adobe Acrobat Professional, which allows me to create any kind of PDF file, so I will use that from now on.
Evelyn asks, “What’s a nep?”
This is one of those questions where I’d refer you to Google. This article is something I found using such a search engine.
Andy’s Crafts asks, “What kind is cormo yarn?”
Again, another lazy question where Google could have provide many answers, such as the web site linked here.
Thanks, Joe, for pointing me to that highly informative article. You’re right, I guess I could have googled it myself. I appreciate your clarification.
Ah, another person that gets irritated when others ask you to act as their own private search engine. Annoying, isn’t it?
What’s even more annoying is when you provide the link and they leave a comment asking where you got the information!
Three cheers for curmudgeons! 😉
Yeah, and this Curmudgeon can’t figure out the intrinsic laziness of some people.
For those who are truly lazy, get the Google Toolbar. That way, you don’t have to favorite it or even type in the URL. You can Google right from it. If that’s not too, too much.
“Do I write the blog or does the bog wirte me?” You’ll have to change your name to PoMoJo if you keep this up. 🙂 But it’s a good question, and your answer is one I’d concur with. As for the googling, you’re much too n ice. I’m afraid that my response would have been “Google is your friend.”
I don’t think they are lazy answers at all. You went through the trouble of actually finding the answers and allowing them to read the source.
But in defense of the “neps” question, it’s one of those things where if you didn’t know what it is, Googling won’t help. Google on “neps” and you get unhelpful answers in the first several results pages. It’s not until half way down the 3rd page that you get the relevant answer. It’s something that all search engines are working on, but it requires contextual references, which people are leery of.
I did try dictionary.com and google and didn’t come across a relevant definition, so I asked. And Joe kindly answered. No need for anyone to go all superior. I was interested to learn more about the ins and outs of yarn.
Glad to see the photos! Sometimes when my own knitting is slow (or non-existent), I live vicariously through yours. I know…get a life!