Whoa - Another Blogiversary

You woke up this morning, had your coffee, turned on your electronic device and, of course, checked my blog. Much to your surprise you found it looking quite different. Why, why you say to yourself, why is she changing that background? Because it has been there for over two years and frankly, I am tired of looking at that stockinette stitch. Now you can look at a bit darker whelk stitch pattern. And if you are very astute you might have checked out the Knitting Books I own and found there are 12 new books listed. Additionally, the why you should read my blog has been removed. I believe if you are reading this blog, I don´t have to give you a reason. But you are probably still wondering why, why all these changes now?

Because four years ago I started Flagel Knitting Files, yes it is my 4th blogiversary. (Actually, my first post was on October 2, 2011, but it was written and revised days before then. One could argue I jumped the gun here celebrating today. I am OK with that criticism.)

My goal for this year was to get up to 100,000 page views by October 2, 2015. And, of course, with the long layoff this summer I suspected my hope for reaching that goal was lost. But alas, with over 500 posts (507 to be exact) the blog sustained itself in my absence and I am happy to announce as of this writing I have 103,474 views with 100,000 views passed at the end of August just upon my return to the Lower Mainland.

There really is no need to rehash why I do this; it is documented here, here, and here. I can say in retirement I find the task a wonderful way to keep my mind busy and active. There is in every post information that needs to be gathered, names to be identified (BTW it took me around 30 minutes to locate the name of the new stitch pattern in the background) and details to follow up. I now have the time to just follow my passion and I do enjoy the journey.

To you my fair readers, thank you for tuning in. There is something very satisfying about getting up each morning and knowing a certain set of you care enough about me or what I am doing to stop by and read my prattle. I am very grateful. Now on to year number 5, I need a new goal. Any suggestions?

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Ode to the Cat

It has been six months since Mike, the cat's, passing. I think of him every day and miss him especially when Paul is away. Mike was a being in the house with me and we were close. Grieving his death has been muddled with my Dad's passing and sometimes I feel guilty about that happening. As time passes the ache becomes less hurtful for both and I am starting to get mostly good memories in its place. Recently I helped celebrate Pablo Neruda's birthday with Jami, my poet and overall very creative friend. Guests were asked to select one poem written by Neruda to read to the small group who gathered for the celebration. I picked this one: Ode To The Cat -- Pablo Neruda There was something wrong with the animals: their tails were too long, and they had unfortunate heads. Then they started coming together, little by little fitting together to make a landscape, developing birthmarks, grace, flight. But the cat, only the cat turned out finished, and

Anatomy of a Sock

I've been knitting socks for a relatively short time. One of the disconcerting things for me as I started following patterns for socks is the pattern designer assumes the knitter (in this case that would be me) knows all the parts of a sock. So I thought I'd devote a post to improve my own knowledge about the anatomy of a sock and maybe some of you will learn something about the humble yet necessary sock as well. Here's the names of the parts of the foot as I know them. #49 ankle, #50 heel, #51, instep, #52 ball, #53 big toe, #54 toe, #55 little toe, #56 toenail. There are some parts more important for this discussion; first the heel of a foot is generally used to refer to the entire C-shape from the ankle to the instep. Speaking of the instep, it refers to that curve near the bottom of the foot. And what seems to be missing in the design above is the sole which generally refers to the bottom of the foot in total or plantar aspect in more technical terms. (BTW

Yarn Barf

It's back to quirkiness and time to step away again from the cuteness for a while. But as you see I'm someone who slips from one to the other without much effort so anticipate this back and forth to be my new normal. A dramatization of me in the midst of my startitist frenzy Yarn barf . I'm willing to bet you hadn't thought of putting those two words together, had you? It just so happens yarn barf can be a reoccurring pain for those of us who use yarns that come in a skein instead of a hank. (No pun intended regarding the current Noro virus, well maybe a little pun.) Skeins of yarn wound by the manufacturer These are hanks which need to be wound into balls If you look closely at the picture on the right you'll see the start on the millet yellow skein at the centre right of the photo. Its start can easily be seen coming from the centre of the skein onto the violet skein to the left. Easy to find, right! Sure but what about the remaining 4

Flagel Knitting Files

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