After a four and a half year hiatus, I have decided to start blogging again.
What brought about this change?
To put it simply, I miss it. I enjoy writing, I like the power of words, and a blog gives me an outlet to write. As I'm not sure that anyone actually will ever read this, it is mainly for me.
Also, I got a new laptop. I've been using my iPad and my smart phone for years now as my primary access point to the internet. I'm on a computer all day at work, so I didn't really feel much of a need to have a computer at home; however, there are some things that a tablet just doesn't do well. And anything that involves large amounts of typing is one of those. Husband and I decided that it was time to take the plunge and purchase a family laptop. And by "family laptop," I mean a laptop for me, since Husband has his work laptop that travels back and forth to work every day.
I haven't fully thought out my plans for my reentry to the blogging world. I know I want to continue to write about my knitting, with such fun days as "WIP Wednesday" and "FO Friday," and I'm certain that I'll review books I've read, and my other current plan is to start to chronical my journey towards my AAP Certification (more on that in a later post), mainly hoping that it will help hold me accountable to a study schedule as I prepare for the test in October. I'm sure there will be a story or two about my toddler (recently turned three) and my life in small town Wisconsin. I'm sure there will be more as I go along.
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Massive Writer's Block
It’s been awhile on here, but to be completely honest, I’ve suffered from a bit of a writer’s block. And by a bit of a writer’s block, I clearly mean one that could encompass the state of Texas in its shadow. Lots has been going on, but nothing to write about. There have been several times that I’ve set down, determined to write a post, only to discover that there was nothing going on in my head but a tumbleweed blowing around, putting words on paper (or in my case, on a laptop screen) seemed to be an impossible task.
But, I figured, the only way to move past this was to sit down and actually write something, anything. Actually get words onto the paper (or screen). So here I am, staring at the screen, waiting for words to come to me, and I’ve got nothing. Zip, zilch, nada. So we’re just going to go with some general life updates and hope that the writing muse comes back to me.
Life at the bank is still going pretty good. I’ve now passed the 90 days of work mark, which means not only to I now get PTO, but I also am able to sign money orders and sell prepaid gift cards. Now there’s a reason to get out of bed in the morning. As time passes, I’m feeling more and more at home with my co-workers. It just takes a while for me to warm up to new people. And every day I feel more and more like maybe I might know what I’m doing (which is usually followed by a moment where I do something so unbelievably stupid that I feel like a complete and total moron). Overall, I’m feeling much more comfortable, and it seems much less likely that I’ll search too terribly hard for a teaching job come fall. I’m content to have a job to fill somewhere between 30 and 40 hours per week, supply Husband and I with decent benefits, and leave me with free time to do things I like to do (you know, like write blog entries).
Most of my free time lately has been absorbed by my latest toy, Husband finally gave in and let me get an iPad. Since its arrival at the house, I’ve spent lots and lots of time getting it set up, learning how to use it, and finding apps to make my life easier (or just apps that do cool stuff). I have found some apps that quickly became indispensable in my life, but that’s most likely a whole separate post (yay, stuff to write about!).
I’m also planning out a garden for this spring. The spot Husband and I have picked out for it was rather low lying, so I think we’re going to put a little extra effort into it and build a raised garden. After my excellent experiences with canning last fall, I’m excited to grow my own stuff to can for next fall. Especially the ingredients for salsa, that turned out super yummy! I’ll also be either digging in or building a flower bed for some lilies in front of our fence, but that should be easy enough to do. I also took a little time to read the Hunger Games trilogy. Despite no longer being a teacher, I haven’t lost my fascination with literature geared toward young adults, just my primary excuse to read it (however, one of the beautiful things about a Kindle, or other e-reader, is that no one has any idea what you’re reading).
Despite being enamored with the iPad, I have, of course made at least a little time for knitting. I have discovered that I’m deeply unhappy with the current socks I’m working on. I intend to frog them, but somehow just haven’t gotten around to it. I’m waiting for inspiration to strike on what socks I’m going to make next, so for the moment, they are just sitting on the needles, waiting. I finally finished the Sheetcote pullover and cast on for the February Lady sweater, which was a personal victory, because I bought the yarn for it a long time ago and it’s been on my Ravelry queue for even longer than that. I’m extremely pleased with how the Sheepcote pullover ended up, and somewhere between pleased and annoyed that it turned out I could have made it at least one size smaller.
Speaking of one size smaller, my new year’s quest to become healthier was going great, but I’ve hit a bit of a stumbling block as of late. I had been consistently making it to the gym, at least three times a week, and doing yoga at home on a less consistent basis. I managed to drop almost 20 pounds and about 2 inches, but then hit a wall. I wasn’t feeling the greatest for a couple of days, compounded with an increased number of evenings where I’m scheduled at work until later, and my gym attendance dropped. I’ve made a promise to myself to get back into the habit of going, however. I’ve just got to grit my teeth and get through it on the days I don’t feel like going and adjust to going later in the evening on days when I work later. I’ve just got to renew my commitment to a healthier lifestyle and stick to it.
That’s pretty much the highlights of what’s going on now. Let’s hope I also get over this writer’s block and back into the habit of regular posts.
But, I figured, the only way to move past this was to sit down and actually write something, anything. Actually get words onto the paper (or screen). So here I am, staring at the screen, waiting for words to come to me, and I’ve got nothing. Zip, zilch, nada. So we’re just going to go with some general life updates and hope that the writing muse comes back to me.
Life at the bank is still going pretty good. I’ve now passed the 90 days of work mark, which means not only to I now get PTO, but I also am able to sign money orders and sell prepaid gift cards. Now there’s a reason to get out of bed in the morning. As time passes, I’m feeling more and more at home with my co-workers. It just takes a while for me to warm up to new people. And every day I feel more and more like maybe I might know what I’m doing (which is usually followed by a moment where I do something so unbelievably stupid that I feel like a complete and total moron). Overall, I’m feeling much more comfortable, and it seems much less likely that I’ll search too terribly hard for a teaching job come fall. I’m content to have a job to fill somewhere between 30 and 40 hours per week, supply Husband and I with decent benefits, and leave me with free time to do things I like to do (you know, like write blog entries).
Most of my free time lately has been absorbed by my latest toy, Husband finally gave in and let me get an iPad. Since its arrival at the house, I’ve spent lots and lots of time getting it set up, learning how to use it, and finding apps to make my life easier (or just apps that do cool stuff). I have found some apps that quickly became indispensable in my life, but that’s most likely a whole separate post (yay, stuff to write about!).
I’m also planning out a garden for this spring. The spot Husband and I have picked out for it was rather low lying, so I think we’re going to put a little extra effort into it and build a raised garden. After my excellent experiences with canning last fall, I’m excited to grow my own stuff to can for next fall. Especially the ingredients for salsa, that turned out super yummy! I’ll also be either digging in or building a flower bed for some lilies in front of our fence, but that should be easy enough to do. I also took a little time to read the Hunger Games trilogy. Despite no longer being a teacher, I haven’t lost my fascination with literature geared toward young adults, just my primary excuse to read it (however, one of the beautiful things about a Kindle, or other e-reader, is that no one has any idea what you’re reading).
Despite being enamored with the iPad, I have, of course made at least a little time for knitting. I have discovered that I’m deeply unhappy with the current socks I’m working on. I intend to frog them, but somehow just haven’t gotten around to it. I’m waiting for inspiration to strike on what socks I’m going to make next, so for the moment, they are just sitting on the needles, waiting. I finally finished the Sheetcote pullover and cast on for the February Lady sweater, which was a personal victory, because I bought the yarn for it a long time ago and it’s been on my Ravelry queue for even longer than that. I’m extremely pleased with how the Sheepcote pullover ended up, and somewhere between pleased and annoyed that it turned out I could have made it at least one size smaller.
Speaking of one size smaller, my new year’s quest to become healthier was going great, but I’ve hit a bit of a stumbling block as of late. I had been consistently making it to the gym, at least three times a week, and doing yoga at home on a less consistent basis. I managed to drop almost 20 pounds and about 2 inches, but then hit a wall. I wasn’t feeling the greatest for a couple of days, compounded with an increased number of evenings where I’m scheduled at work until later, and my gym attendance dropped. I’ve made a promise to myself to get back into the habit of going, however. I’ve just got to grit my teeth and get through it on the days I don’t feel like going and adjust to going later in the evening on days when I work later. I’ve just got to renew my commitment to a healthier lifestyle and stick to it.
That’s pretty much the highlights of what’s going on now. Let’s hope I also get over this writer’s block and back into the habit of regular posts.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Adventures in Pattern Writing: Episode 3, Perfectionism Rears Its Ugly Head (Again)
I'm what you might call a selective perfectionist. Some things I can just slap together and not care, but when it comes to knitting, I'll redo, redo, redo until I'm happy with the results.
While this tendency can product some particularly excellent results, but it also has been the cause of massive amounts of frustration, and copious amounts ofinappropriate, foul, colorful language.
After finally conquering inserting my charts from Microsoft Excel into Word, I started working on importing all of the heel charts (numbers 0 to 9) into the pattern. Then I looked at my Matthews jersey, hanging on the drying rack, I looked at the 52, I looked at the charts for the 5 and 2, I looked back at the 52, back at the charts. They didn't look the same.
Sure, the 5 and 2 I charted looked like a 5 and a 2, but not like the ones on the jersey. The numbers on the jersey were, blockier, had more straight edges. At that point, I already knew what was coming, but I fought it for awhile. Maybe it was the jersey's problem, not mine. I decided to compare the numbers on my Rodgers jersey (yes, mom, MY Rodgers jersey). Again, my charted 1 and 2 looked like a 1 and a 2, but not like the ones on the jersey. Crap.
I wasn't ready to face reality just quite yet, though. Clearly, I must own two faulty jerseys, so I dug out Husband's jersey, and the dog's jersey. Nope, the numbers were consistent from jersey to jersey and not the same as the ones on my socks.
Once again, I fought the inevitable. It wasn't really going to matter, I told myself. No one is going to look at the numbers on the heels of these socks and point out that they are not shaped exactly like the numbers on the players' jerseys. What kind of person notices that sort of thing? Most likely no one would ever know, and if they know, it is even more likely that no one would ever care.
Except for me. I would know. And I cared. And I knew what I had to do.
I printed out ten blank heel charts. Then I went to the Packer's website to find pictures of jerseys, and I recharted all of the numbers. And the process started all over again, hand drawing, charting in Excel, cutting and pasting (using Paste Special, at least I remember that) into Word.
And, I'm glad I did it. Otherwise it would have bothered me, and I would have ended up doing it at some point anyway. We all know I'm crazy like that.
In other news, the knitting on the Spatterdash fingerless gloves is done and I was lucky enough to find buttons for them. I just need to block, weave in ends, and assemble. Yay!
While this tendency can product some particularly excellent results, but it also has been the cause of massive amounts of frustration, and copious amounts of
After finally conquering inserting my charts from Microsoft Excel into Word, I started working on importing all of the heel charts (numbers 0 to 9) into the pattern. Then I looked at my Matthews jersey, hanging on the drying rack, I looked at the 52, I looked at the charts for the 5 and 2, I looked back at the 52, back at the charts. They didn't look the same.
Sure, the 5 and 2 I charted looked like a 5 and a 2, but not like the ones on the jersey. The numbers on the jersey were, blockier, had more straight edges. At that point, I already knew what was coming, but I fought it for awhile. Maybe it was the jersey's problem, not mine. I decided to compare the numbers on my Rodgers jersey (yes, mom, MY Rodgers jersey). Again, my charted 1 and 2 looked like a 1 and a 2, but not like the ones on the jersey. Crap.
 |
| The Original Five |
Once again, I fought the inevitable. It wasn't really going to matter, I told myself. No one is going to look at the numbers on the heels of these socks and point out that they are not shaped exactly like the numbers on the players' jerseys. What kind of person notices that sort of thing? Most likely no one would ever know, and if they know, it is even more likely that no one would ever care.
 |
| Edited Five |
I printed out ten blank heel charts. Then I went to the Packer's website to find pictures of jerseys, and I recharted all of the numbers. And the process started all over again, hand drawing, charting in Excel, cutting and pasting (using Paste Special, at least I remember that) into Word.
And, I'm glad I did it. Otherwise it would have bothered me, and I would have ended up doing it at some point anyway. We all know I'm crazy like that.
In other news, the knitting on the Spatterdash fingerless gloves is done and I was lucky enough to find buttons for them. I just need to block, weave in ends, and assemble. Yay!
Friday, January 27, 2012
Adventures in Pattern Writing: Episode 2, Cue the Panic
 |
| Who'd of guessed that these socks would cause so much trouble? |
Last November, I finally took the time to convert the graphs from paper and pencil drawings to an Excel spreadsheet. I then converted one of the graphs into jpeg form, to make it easier to insert into my finished pattern. and promptly allowed myself to become distracted by something else (I'm hoping it was at least something shiney).
About a month ago, during a very slow day at the Motor bank, while my co-worker was shopping online, I took my notes and typed them into an almost readable format. And by "almost" I mean, the basic instructions typed into a Word document with notes like "insert instructions for heel here," "probably should figure out the actual stitches and rows per inch," "Chart A to go here," and "find a better way to word this" scattered throughout the pattern. At least I had all the pattern pieces were saved now.
Or so I thought.
The other day, I sat down to finally try to put all the pieces together, and went to pull up my charts. They weren't on my laptop, or my desktop, or my thumb drive, or my other thumb drive.
Cue the panic. I wasn't even sure if I still had the paper verisions. Was I going to have to start all over on these charts. I mined through my previous posts to see if maybe, just maybe, I had posted all of the charts on my blog.
 |
| The one chart I could find. |
So, I dug out the old laptop, and the charger and let the machine charge while I went into work. I got home, booted up the machine, and, thankfully, the Excel file with the charts was safely saved.
Thank you. But the fun wasn't over yet.
I only had the files saved as Excel sheets, and inserted them directly into the Word document using copy and paste was creating all sorts of trouble for me, charts extending over several pages, distortions. And of course, for the life of me, I couldn't remember how I did the last time.
After some research (and cursing), I did figure it out. I think I actually used a different method this time, but seeing as it worked just fine, I'm not going to fret about it. The charts, in both Excel and picture format are now safely stored on my laptop, and my desktop, and both my thumb drives.
And, in case future me ever desperately returns to this post, wondering how I managed to convert the stupid Excel cells into a much more Word (and pattern) friendly image, here's what I did:
From Excel, highlight the cells you need and click copy.
Go into the Word document, select Edit, and choose the "Paste Special..." option. This gives you the choice if you want to paste the chart as an Excel spreadsheet or as an image (or some other ones). So simple, why on Earth did this cause me so much stress?
Now, future self, go buy me a beer for all the stress and time I just saved you. And stay tuned for Episode Three of Adventures in Pattern Writing, where I attempt to put everything together.
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