I haven’t done much knitting lately, but I grabbed some sock yarn that’s been sitting in the bin for a long time before I headed over to house sit, and cast on some toe-up socks. The yarn was from a gift sub a few years ago from Big Sky Yarn in their Star Sock base. The colorway is Bryce Canyon. I cast on 24 and increased to 72 for the toe, knit the instep using my favorite 3x1 rib pattern, the sole stockinette, for a length of 8 1/2", then added waste yarn to facilitate picking up for the heel later. ...
I am house sitting this week for some friends as they house hunt in NC. I enjoy house sitting for them particularly because they have two big dogs, a Boxer named Winston, and a Doberman named Scuttle. And they are both sweet dogs that turn into cuddle monsters when watching tv late at night. They also have chickens, but they keep to themselves…I don’t bother them, they don’t bother me. :-) ...
If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there. Lewis Carroll
I’ve been ignoring this site for a while. Time to get to the site updated and the workflow perfected so I can blog/journal and make the site useful again. I am moving the domains and the site hosting off of linode to CloudFlare. The migration was actually pretty easy since I already post everything to GitHub anyway. The site has gone through many hosting options and versions over the years. I was looking on archive.org earlier and the original site I started, ClubReading.com, was back in 1999. At least that’s the earliest record of the domain registration. I started the site originally because php was new and I wanted to learn the language, and since I and some friends enjoy reading, I figured I would build us a site to keep track of reading and reviews. Keep in mind this was before goodreads. ...
New Hobby Alert! I’m setting up a saltwater aquarium. I don’t have any previous experience with fish tending, but have always been interested in the hobby, and I think some fun clownfish and anemones will make good apartment pets. I will keep you posted. One great resource is Reef2Reef.com. The community has plenty of information for beginner reef keepers. After some research, I decided to start with the small Hello Reef 15-gallon kit purchased through Bulk Reef Supply. ...
Over the summer in 2025, a friend of mine, Amie, suggested that we have a crafty Christmas gift exchange instead of worrying about buying gifts for folks. She still professes that she meant one gift, one person, like a Secret Santa deal, but the rest of us loved the idea and got to work. So I got to weaving and sewing and crocheting. I started with the idea of making baskets using the pattern from Handwoven magazine Fall 2025. The basket weaving structure is Krokbragd, and required some learning and time. Overall, I made 4 of the baskets, one for myself, one for my sister, and two for Crafty Christmas. The basket warp is 8/4 cotton in black, and the weft is various colors of worsted wool yarn. ...
I wanted to do a small project using turned twill so I designed some easy mug rugs. The goal size for each was 5" x 5" coasters with short tassels at each end (1/2"). Ends: 100 EPI: 15 Reed: 10 Slay Pattern: 1/2 The majority was 5/2 cotton with 10/3 white cotton zinger. The weaving was pretty easy, and the end results look good, but they aren’t great mug rugs; no absorbency. ...
After working through some of the JST twill classes I wanted to do something with some of the new patterns I’d learned, specifically the diamonds and wall of try. I offered to make a table runner for my friend Meghan, and we settled on Gold and Cranberry colors, and I came up with this pattern. The project plan is to use 5/2 cotton. Ends: 316 EPI 15 Reed: 10 Sley pattern: 1,2 Heddle Counts: ...
Every autumn the leaves turn. I travel to the place of my fathers resting. In an urban setting, Colored in ranch style houses and drying laundry, The two of us come together again. I seldom say much. Not really a point. During his life, we weren’t close, Just never seemed right. Not really what either of us wanted, But we seldom said much. In a kind of opening reverence, I bow to a knee. Without thought, I gently touch the stone. The letters are harsh and cold. Alone they hold no meaning, but the stone Reminds me to grieve. ...
My Favorite Everything Sock pattern is now live on Ravelry. Sock knitting is not just fun, sock knitting is practical. You have a great pair of well-fitting comfortable socks at the end of the process. When I created My Favorite Everything sock pattern, I selected each component based on my personal preferences. The Cuff is 1x1 twisted rib. It is a little tighter than a 1x1 rib, and twisted rib has a nice clean look. ...