Year of Projects Come Blog Along and Forty five by 45 UPDATE

I recently re-joined Twitter...I am hoping that the frequency of my password changes will THIS TIME, keep my account more secure, as I have already had that account hacked at least twice....and that was when I was barely using it! My Twitter name is Nlock458....

I have begun Following people on Twitter who share my interests, mainly, but there are others who have just begun Following me too....one of which is Deborah Norville....whether or not it’s actually her and not just a list, I do not know....I try to keep an eye on what is trending in my interests and Follow what is being tweeted as they usually point me in the direction of new stuff to discover on the Web....


One person I chose to Follow is Sara Duggan @ momwithahook.com who has showcased on her blog the Come Blog Along Group from Ravelry,

[found here: http://www.ravelry.com/groups/come-blog-a-long] as they continue their Year Of Projects Campaign into a second year. It began July 1, 2012.

Though I am a bit behind I have decided to join along anyway, so that I can participate, and blog about it as I continue my other projects for my Forty Five by 45 list. I only have 3 or so projects currently going, but hope to add more in the future, so I may continue for the year....I am beginning with a few WIPS...

My queen-sized,  Trip Around The World Afghan, in crochet, will be first...the pieces are not all together...I will be learning to join them...and if I do not have enough granny squares to cover the size of my bed...I will make more and join them too.
My Ravelry name is kiko502...

I also hope that my new file-naming conventions for my photo organization will be much improved as I take more pictures... I still have one day remaining to actually finish organizing my photos...I started last week....I hope to get many more up here soon for you all to see...

I have decided to no longer wait on my first KnitPicks purchase. Last week they rolled out their new line of interchangeable needles called “Sunstruck”, I am definitely going to purchase this set...I hope to complete my friend, Yung’s beret with them...I am not exactly certain how Interchangeable needles work, so I will probably consult with a company rep...

I know there are tips and cords that are interchangeable...and I have seen pictures of the sets on their site, but am not certain how I am going to be required to actually change the components around....something to do with a tool....Their web addy is www.knitpicks.com.. Wish Me Luck!

I have been playing around with the look of my blog this past weekend as a result of discovering Leelou’s blog, who offers a bunch of great, free blog designs and tutorials on her site, for use with Blogger....I decided to check it out...her tutorials are easy to accomplish.....I hope to have some social media buttons included on my blog by Friday this week....again, wish me luck! Leelou’s blog is found at: http://leeloublogs.blogspot.com/
Leelou’s blog has certainly made things a bit more understandable about Blogger for me, finally.

And last but not least, I also have discovered Pinterest....oh my, the hours I can while away here...I got lost and had a ton of fun....Pinterest is found here: http://pinterest.com. You can find my pinboards @ http://pinterest.com/kiki502/.

FORTY FIVE BY 45 UPDATE:

As you can recall - I’ve already accomplished all 5 of the first 5 goals I placed on this list; and with the end of the month being tomorrow; its time for a recap and to decide the next 5 goals....

#1 Meet new people - Though I have still not been to any fun local venues or events, I have discovered two things....First, a great next-door neighbor, named Linda...who has already been the first recipient of several of my dishcloths....in both knit and crochet... she in turn has helped me discover several local places that are necessary to survival here and has also showed me around some surrounding areas....I worked up her crochet dishcloths made from Lily Brand Peaches N Creme in Potpourri last month.

I also came to appreciate even more about how crucial it is to understanding patterns. It took several do-overs for me to understand this particular pattern because as it was worked, there seemed to appear a glitch in the pattern....So I went back and reviewed the pattern, row by row, stitch by stitch...looking for what could possibly be an inconsistent direction...and found one!

The pattern was missing one slip stitch in the directions given....so I merely added it to the work...and continued the pattern...it finished it up beautifully...I might add....Sweet, sweet success!!!! Best of all I figured it out myself....needing no help....gotta love winging it!!!! I hope to get a pic of Linda with her dishcloth soon!
Not only did Linda end up with this dishcloth but several others beside, done from some of my stash yarn....
Thus accomplishing:

#2 Make dishcloths from stash yarn and give as a gift.

and second was, Linda has also provided me with information for my local freecycle.org community group....if you are ever interested in checking them out they are here:
http://www.freecycle.org/
I absolutely love recycling and re-purposing and have already completed the organization of my yarn supplies and stash with containers I use around the house.....

So #’s 1 and 2...done!

Next was,

#3 Join Ravelry and get to know the site more:
I actually was on hiatus from Ravelry because I had simply not had a chance to run over it more with a finer-toothed comb....but have, since my last blog entry...I must admit that I am quite impressed with their layouts [but they could use some tweaking]...their Search functions...[again could use some tweaking]....as well as the countless, groups, patterns, and uses Ravelry has for us knitters and crocheters....It is a truly useful website...I even went and got the mobile app Ravulous for my Android phone....my user name on Ravelry is kiko502...

#3 Done!

#4 Organize my photos... I have found a naming convention that is useful to me and am done adding the photos to respective folders in one central location. Though I still have a tough time understanding why the view changes on me when I am not changing it...I am now more comfortable with the new filing system...and am aware of the different view options...

#4 Done!

#5 Join google+ and get to know my way around...I have to admit I joined up hoping that I would have more control over my privacy and content sharing capability...but am a bit disappointed with both...Learning the controls takes pages and pages of reading in their Help Center and who the heck has time for that! Just give me one button control over who can view specific items and give me the option to just share with whom I want from a circle, instead of having to create specific circles for just one person from a circle....

I am talking in Circles of course....Google circles....which I have discovered but dislike....because I still cannot just choose certain ones from a circle without having to create another circle to share content with....Google, wake up, if I put one person in a ton of circles....c’mon really?????? This could be wayyyyy better.......and if each person is their OWN circle, is that really the answer...what’s the point of a circle then????  These issues have brought my brain to think twice to switching over completely...Love the hangouts though....but not many folks I know who share in my interests have gotten google + yet..so I wait and see....

As for privacy....I simply don’t have time to play with these functions anymore...I am tired of having to go back and reset the privacy settings for each individual person or circle...it gets way too confusing....Especially, when websites decide to default everyone back to new when a new version of the site is available...Seriously?

I have had to get to know Facebooks settings pretty well...but I tell ya, the time it takes to tweak is enormous and just not my cup of tea anymore....So someone out there in Webville, needs to get some kind of dashboard available that is easy, peasy and quick.....especially with regards to having to reset them again....Individual privacy control as well as Circle control....

So #5 Done!

For those of you who remember the easy rule I placed on my Forty Five by 45 list it’s to choose 3-5 goals I wish to accomplish within a 2 month window...This will break down each item into smaller chunks that are more workable for my busy schedule, that way it is actually easier for me to accomplish each, depending on how busy I get....but I do promise to do my  best to choose the next 5 before the 2 months are up....with that said below are #6-10.

#6 Participate in the Come Blog Along Group at Ravelry....so that I may finish up several WIPS, that hound my guilt meter daily....the first of which is finally piecing together my TRIP AROUND THE WORLD Afghan for my queen-sized bed that I started back in 2007, that I’ve had so many problems finishing...

#7 Update my blog’s design....again!

#8 Finish Yung’s beret....I began making this beret last year...found @the purlbee.but have found that I cannot work with the yarn Yung has chosen for her beret...it was decorative boucle that she chose and I simply have had to restart it too many times [9 so far] for my liking ....it always turned out atrocious...I hope she understands that I simply needed a different yarn to work with...there were too many split and dropped stitches that I just couldn’t work past getting used to...Please don’t be upset Yung...

I still think you will

like the yarn I have chosen...

9 Buy my first set of KnitPicks Interchangeable Needles....Again, I have decided on the “Sunstruck Set”....I love the blonde look of them...though I prefer metal to wood....and finally,

#10 Complete 1 downloaded Sewing course I can finish on my schedule....so I can actually repair some of my clothing.....

That’s it! For the next 2 months these will be the things I will focus my attention to. There will be other things to blog about along the way I am sure...but I hope to get a majority of these done sooner, rather than later.

I will still remain flexible with regards to the schedule of these because variables are always in play, and I am not always in control of how things may or may not pan out for me...

So, please continue to share in my journey!

As ever, may this post find you all a bit happier today in your universe!

PINK DIVA BRAT @  KNC PLACE