Friday, February 22, 2008

Power Tools and Tool Bar download from the Library


Are you a person who likes to use the library?
Do you like to know all the cool new stuff before everyone else?
I thought so.

The Columbus Metropolitan Library has just added a Power Tools Page and a tool bar for download! The tool bar is in beta, so there might be some bugs. I like the RSS for the new materials. :) It separates it out by genre, dvd, audio, adult and juvenile. Go and download it! I don't want to give all the features away.

You can follow the embedded links or this link http://tinyurl.com/2w73sj
or go directly to the page from here:

Feel free to share this great information with anyone you know who uses the library. And share what you think about it on the website or post it here.

Yes, you can reserve knitting books at the library. and crochet books. and books-on-CD to listen to while you're knitting, and cookbooks, and fiction books and art books to inspire your knitting and poetry to have read to you while knitting and hair styling books because you know you're thinking about that spring hair style, aren't you, and you can find books for your kids to read to you while you knit (or cook or sleep for that matter) or that math book to help your teenager do her algebra homework that you don't understand, or that travel guide that outlines the great places in England that you want to see (like knitSB and I did), or... You get the idea. The possibilities are almost endless...

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

New Blog Discovered!

I'm certain that I'm the only person who hasn't seen The Other Andrew 's blog. And since there are 10 readers out there, I thought I would share the blog.

I've added him to the blogs I read.

BTW:
The Y Knit podcast is quite good. Great audio quality, good questions for the guest and focused so the podcast doesn't ramble. And the gentleman doing the podcast are awfully nice. I sent my fan email to them both praising them for the good work on the podcast. And they both responded.

Tunes on Tuesday

I've always heard that the music you are listening to between the ages of 16 and 25 is the music you'll listen to for most of your life. I have not searched through books to prove this is true or not, but it does apply to me. Does it apply to you?

One of the songs I recall listening to when I was in high school was I Ran (So Far Away) by A Flock of Seagulls. The song came out in 1982. It was the synth pop that was just was my young(ish) ears needed. It was unlike the other music that was around at the time. My family did not have MTV, so I only saw the video a few times visiting friends. The video is here for your viewing pleasure.



There. That takes me back. And I like still like the music today. In fact, the entire album A Flock of Seagulls has quite a few tracks I enjoy. It takes me back to when I didn't worry about paying bills, when I was going to eat my next meal, or what I wanted to be "when I grew up." (What's a bit scary is Mike Score's hair on his myspace profile.)

Of course, the '80's are a great era for covers like this one from Bowling for Soup.


I've been knitting on my EPS sweater for the class at the LYS while listening to the album again. I just completed the toes for SPiT's socks for the sock exchange. I think I've decided on the yarn and some of the colors. It's the pattern that is giving me a bit of a challenge. You don't mind color do you SPiT?

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Ceremony Party!

HPIM2952.JPG

On Saturday, February 16, 2008, knitSB and I enjoyed a celebration in honor of our commitment ceremony in England on November 1, 2007.

It was a wonderful day. A few photos can be found on the flickr account here.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Tunes on Tuesday

I've been knitting on my EPS sweater for the class that I'm teaching and listening to music and a podcast or two.

One of my favorite albums is Savage by Eurythmics. The album came out late in 1987 when I was in college. It was a really great time for me to hear this album. I was single and out. I was living alone (and loved it). I'd been going out to the bars, working hard on my class projects and enjoying the focus on getting my own "voice" in artwork.
The voice of the album was definitely darker than the previous albums. The music and lyrics work well to create a complete album that remains one of my favorites. The dark mood comes through the video album. The Beethoven (I Love To Listen To) video shows Annie knitting at the beginning.
No, this isn't one of the group's most popular albums, but it remains a stable feature when I want to have the five disc mix.
The album tracks include:
1. Beethoven (I Love To Listen To)
2. I've Got A Lover (Back In Japan)
3. Do You Want To Break Up?
4. You Have Placed A Chill In My Heart *you've probably heard this one. A beautiful song that R1 and I danced to at the bar a few weeks after we met.
5. Shame
6. Savage
7. I Need A Man *and this song is also a staple for Eurythmics fans. I thought about performing this song in karaoke, but haven't done it.
8. Put The Blame On Me
9. Heaven
10. Wide Eyed Girl
11. I Need You *This is a simple song musically with lyrics that cut right through the crap.
12. Brand New Day *a very refreshing way to end the album. The entire album is dark and troubled. This song is like the sun coming out after a rainstorm. Refreshing. Just like after you have a "good cry." You know, you've been there right?

And I bought the cassette of Savage because I didn't have a CD player or turntable. I listened to it non-stop for months.

and you can find out the history of Eurythmics on the wikipedia page.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Starstruck

Enjoyed some BFF time with Songferret last night. (if you follow me on Twitter, you would have caught that.)

Here's a song from the Movie Starstruck. Very 1980's (1982, in fact) and very enjoyable.


and "theres a monkey in me."



I've not been able to find the soundtrack on Amaz0n but Songferret has it on vinyl.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Another gone

Dzined yarns is going (almost gone) out of business.

Which is sad because I just cast-on for a pair of socks using the toe-up method. Nice yarn.

The Fidget. Loved it!

Fidget Buttons

I found this pattern by linking from a link on Micah’s Reality blog.

The pattern was good and I enjoyed the stitch pattern. I adjusted the pattern by do a 20 st cast-on. Row 4 ended with k2.

This took about 3.5 hours to knit from start to finish.

The yarn was a new knitter gift from Kay in New Mexico. (Thanks Kay) She wanted to make sure that I knew what “good yarn” felt like. The purple yarn has been on display in my house for 5 years. I finally found a pattern to show off this wonderful yarn.

You can knit one of these quickly and from one of those amazingly soft yarns! Go knit one. Really. I'm going to knit another. Here's another picture. Fidget Worn

Lunch with Ma!

I scheduled the day off and knitBS and I went to have lunch with mom. We had a good time and chatted a lot.

We did talk a little about knitting. In fact, there is a group at her church that is knitting prayer shawls. They seemed surprised that her son knits. She, quite proudly, told them that I knit and knit a lot during family events and times when there are family times at hospitals and such. She told them "he knits socks, a lot." So they ask "is your son still knitting socks" when they see her. I think that's a sign that my mom likes the fact that I knit.

So, I'm thinking of knitting a prayer shawl. The pattern is here. Have you ever knit one? I'm interested in your experience.