What is a cooking lady to do with a kitchen like this? Yes, this is the whole thing. This doesn’t show about 2″ to the left.

So I’ve done a number of things to alter and fix this space (the stuff in red).  I planned them all out based on storage needs and traffic patterns (in blue). Explanation of everything below.

1. 4′ rail with S-hooks:  stores 10 pots and pans
2. Wall-mounted shelf for counter space runs the width of the wall and is 8″ deep.  For the spoon rest and ingredients used during cooking.
3. Wall-mounted magnetic knife rack from Ikea.
4. 2 shelves above stove for storage of items used during cooking – made them myself from lumber.
5. Corner shelves above the 8 gallon slimline trashcan.
6. Spice rack – adhesive 30 mil magnet, 3′ x 2′ plus metal canisters – materials purchased wholesale.
7. Pantry – made of a narrow/tall Billy (Ikea) bookshelf with doors – in the next room with the refrigerator.
8. Basket and
9. Folding dish rack hanging on a rail above sink (also Ikea)
10. Shallow, tiny shelf (6″) next to sink counter, extra storage.
11. Shelf in left side of under-sink cabinet for 2 levels of storage – toaster and cleaning supplies, plus door-mounted saran wrap and foil holders and a towel rack.
12. 2 drawers in right side of under-sink cabinet for 2 levels of storage – eating utensils and misc. cooking utensils.
13. Bookshelf storage – there are two bookshelves on one end of the dining room (where the refrigerator and the pantry live) that hold plates, baking implements, pitchers, etc.

So that’s how to deal with a tiny kitchen. I’ll show it to you when it’s all fixed up again, it’s nearly done now, just waiting on the magnet to come in. And still struggling somewhat with that concrete wall situation.

*We discovered to our immense chagrin today that one entire end of our little place has walls of poured concrete. Not concrete blocks, but thick poured concrete. Imagine!  You can’t drill in that without something called a hammer-drill, which we don’t have. I’d been wondering why there were no nail holes etc, and that’s why. The concrete part of the house is an addition to the original garage. I have NO IDEA why someone would want to make a concrete room. Afraid of a war breaking out? In desperate need of 100% sound insulation? Really hates termites?

I don’t know why I’m surprised. The concrete walls are only one of several building anomalies we’ve discovered.

Update on my attempted burglary: there are three outside doors on this place, all with three locks, one with a latching screen. One door is blocked and unused.  Two are on the side of the house, accessed via the backyard (we’re the garage apartment in back). At the time this happened, the lights were on, and it was only 8:45 pm.

So the first time I heard the garden gate open, then footsteps on the grass, and then someone trying to open the side screen door (it was latched from the inside). Jeff had just left 5 minutes before and I thought maybe it was him. I was in the next room, but I went in and said, “hello?” and saw the guy with his hand on the door trying to open it (jeans, t-shirt, patterned tan-blue hoodie, one hand in a pocket, hood up). When he saw me he took off running. I never saw his face – too much shadow. The second time I didn’t see anyone, but 15 minutes after the first incident I stood in the room and heard and watched the doorknob rattle and heard the lock scrape on try 2 (that’s the blocked door). When I banged on the door, it went silent and still.

Was it the same guy? I don’t know. Why me? I don’t know. What the hell? I don’t know. Honestly, given the circumstances, it was one or two really stupid people. Who tries to rob a lit, locked house? Who tries to pick a deadbolt?

Anyhoo, since we just moved in we were still fixing the busted motion lights, the busted blinds, etc., and had just fixed the screen door and the latch (whew!).  We do have bars on some windows, and are of course not insensible to other security precautions like being careful and listening. I filed a police report, called my landlord (they’re installing another light and a security system), made sure to come home before dark today, and Jeff has a baseball bat (neither of us is a gun person).

The most popular suggestion today? Get a dog. Honestly, I never realized how insulated we were by her barking all those years, until she was gone. Maybe it’s time.

My favorite suggestion: NRA stickers on the windows.

My idea: a system of motion-sensitive cameras and electrical shocks to anyone who touches a door or window. Not practical or legal, but a truly satisfying thought.

Ah, well. I guess after years of living in major cities with no burglaries, no muggings, etc., it had to eventually happen just when I moved to a safer neighborhood. The irony is not lost.

Someone just tried to break into my house TWICE in 15 minutes while I was home alone. Not pleased. I called 911 and am going to file a police report and be very nervous for a while. Jeff’s walking around with beating sticks looking for someone to punch.

Kitty raised her hackles and growled. I’m proud of her.

See you on the flip side of really-nervous-about-the-house-I-just-moved-into-five-days-ago.

(mostly) Wordless Wednesday.

I cross Interstate 35 on my way to and from work. It’s hard to simultaneously cross both under and over a freeway when you have vertigo.

Floral Fantasy Pullover

The first one is the Floral Fantasy sweater I saw quite a while ago on the Lion Brand website when I was first looking at more complicated patterns. I really love the lace floral design, and I’m fond of the color. It looks lovely for winter.

This example was crocheted in a yarn (now discontinued) called Romance. I wouldn’t have been able to use it anyway, because it’s a bulky mohair blend. I don’t care much about the fuzziness of the sweater, so I just needed to find a suitable bulky, same-color replacement.

I found replacement yarn in San Francisco in August (remember me in that yarn shop? That’s what I got there) that’s just this color. I love periwinkle. I think it will be a beautiful substitution. It’s hand-painted yarn, so the color is a bit varied, and it has great drape. I’d show it to you, but in this packed-up mess?  Who knows where it might be.

Boho Blocks Cardigan

The other sweater is the Boho Blocks Cardigan, originally published in Interweave Crochet, Fall 2006.  I guess I like things I’d describe as “updated hippie” like this. I’m mostly opposed to the term Boho (can we not spell out bohemian? Must we always reference SoHo?). I mean, it is made of conjoined grannysquares, right? But in a nice, non acrylic-fuzzy-blanket way.

I like the heavy-looking drape on this sweater. I think I’d stick to two colors, though. The difference between chunky afghan squares and nice drapey squares is the yarn choice.  The pattern uses a laceweight yarn of blended silk, which makes all the diference.

The yarn is  Lorna’s Laces Helen’s Lace yarn in mother lode, Douglas fir and camouflage. Since it’s a  wool yarn I won’t be able to use it, but I think another laceweight silk blend would work fine. Maybe a nice alpaca/silk like “Silky Alpaca Lace” from Classic Elite? I’ve heard alpaca is good for allergy-stricken folks. Maybe bamboo/silk? I don’t know yet. It’s not like I’m starting this project next week.

So those are the two projects that have been in my queue the longest. I do intend to make them one day. When there’s time. Which I have to find more of.

My choice today was my beloved, wonderful, dear iPhone. Not everyone loves this thing. Some people don’t care for Apple or prefer Blackberries or think cell phones are generally horrible. Some people (me) wonder why phones have to be so complicated. Other people (also me) wonder why people simply MUST answer the stupid thing when they’re eating or driving a car (pet peeves of mine), or why people can’t spell words out, or just put the thing down sometimes.

Yet I LOVE my phone, because it’s really a tiny computer. Ironically, it allows me to rapidly communicate with everyone I know without ever actually having to use the phone part, which is good, because I hate talking on the phone.

And it’s good for crafting. My favorites for the crafty things I do:

• StitchMinder by Quilt2Go lets you keep track of your rows, repeats, increases etc.  (screen shot shown here).  There’s another app I haven’t tried that goes along with it: KnitMinder. It’s more project manager – it says “Track projects, yarns, needles, and patterns. Add notes with pictures.” Because no crafter would ever have multiple projects at the same time, amiright? Ha ha.
• Also for the yarn enthusiast: KnitGauge helps you measure without measuring tools, and Ewe Stash for your completely-out-of-control yarn collection.
• Transactions. This app allows you to accept credit cards anywhere, anytime. HELLO CRAFT FAIR. Think you can’t accept credit cards on the fly? Too much equipment? Ha!
• For cooking, I have Little Chef for unit conversion and Smart Chef for intelligent recipe substitutions. Smart Chef is also coming out with a Healthy Substitutions app soon, which I’m looking forward to.
• Recipes, you say? Check out the Epicurious app for 1,000,000 recipes close at hand.
• For sewing, try out FabricStash to keep a portable photo record of the many, many prints you have. Just in case you need to match one on the fly, you know. And while you’re doing that, if you need to calculate how much yardage to buy, you can use the Yardage Calc.
• In case you wanted to design quilts in your spare time riding on the bus or waiting for your offspring, you can try out the Quick & Easy Quilt Block Tool. I haven’t tried it, but I think I will.

And now for Crafty Accessories

• Need a cheap DIY dock for your iPod/iPhone? Try folding paper over at Dessine Moi Un Objet.
• Perhaps you’d like to go expensive, and try the $98 wood dock at Anthropologie. Or go with the spirit of DIY and make one yourself.
• Etsy, when I just checked, had 1,045 results for “iPhone cosy” in the accessories area, so I think you’re covered there. I like this one. It’s retro. You can even check it out at Etsy Touch, a companion for easy Etsy iPhone shopping.

If you have an iPhone and have favorites of your own, I’d be interested in hearing about them. The App Store can be a bewildering place. And now to post, before I lost this NaBloPoMo on day 2. See you tomorrow.

We wanted to do something more in this move than just trade one cookie-cutter apartment for another. Personally, I needed a change. I’ve been commuting to the same job from the same place for 3.5 years, and it’s gotten to be stale and annoying. I know many people do this same sort of thing for much longer, but I am not someone who can do that. This is, for example, my 20th move in the last 16 years. I am not a stay-a-long-time-do-the-same-thing kind of person.

We picked a converted garage built in 1932 to live in. There is exactly zero standard space in here (no white square box rooms), the walls are entirely plaster and wood (quiet!), and we have downsized from almost 1300 sq feet to 650 sq feet (I can hear the collective gasps now). The most challenging part is the kitchen, which if I didn’t know any better I would say was a Manhattan kitchen. It’s tiny, and there isn’t any counter space at all.

And my new crafting “room?” It’s a closet, about 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep. Woo!

We chose our new place based on a few priorities that we thought would make us both saner, happier people.

• No commute. No buses. We wanted to walk or bike to work, and hopefully bike or walk lots of other places too.
• Less stuff. We have been through a two-month process of getting rid of everything we didn’t want or weren’t using. I sold 150 books, for example. And I know I am not done cleaning out.
• No shared walls. This was hard to find, given we didn’t want an entire house. It meant no apartment complexes.
• Less wasted space – we didn’t want more acres of room we rarely used, and the high energy cost that goes along with it.
• Safer neighborhood. Ours has been gradually declining until we felt like we couldn’t take a walk there. Our building had been robbed 8 times that we knew of in 2 years.
• Keep the washer/dryer. This turned out to be the hardest requirement, but I really don’t do laundromats.

There are always compromises to be made with such a definite list of requirements, but our new place fit the bill. Nothing is all roses, but I’m looking forward to the compromises and the ingenuity required to fit into a small place.

Most of all, I’m really looking forward to walking to work tomorrow.

On a side note: It’s NaBloPoMo month again. Caught me totally off guard. But I’m going to try anyway, even though that’s a totally nuts thing to do. And I should post now, for that reason, because it’s 11:52!

As I wind this to a close, I have to thank all of you for your patience with my weird aside. In my life, I think it’s important to step back sometimes and consider what I’m doing. Why do I have this blog? What am I doing with it? Is it worth the time and energy? (Can you tell I’m an introvert? All this self-reflection nonsense.)

Part of why I reflect is self-preservation. I do internet work in a world that can feel hostile to technology, and here I am blogging and being a webmaster. Fact is, the most common comment people have said to me, in my years of techie/computer work, is that they dislike computers. The equivalent of going up to a teacher and telling them I dislike education because I’m not comfortable with it. I’m often frustrated by responses to work I do that are tinged with doubt, suspicion, and cynicism. It’s disheartening. I try to understand, but my long tenure, early start and love of learning new things means I know I don’t really get it. So I check myself sometimes – my motivations, my work, my responses – and see if I’m doing something I believe in. The truth is that what I really believe in is people, and communicating with them, and enabling them to do the best work they can do, and have fun too. A computer is nothing more than a tool that, when used right, can be amazing. Like a pencil, but more buttons.

So I’m finishing Merlin’s good blog ideas with the thought that what makes a blog good is that it’s human. It’s unique and expressive, it’s inconsistent, it has weird bumps, it’s obsessive and thoughtful, playful and complicated. Somebody really lives in that virtual house, and participates (give and take) in a community. With that,

• Good blogs are weird.

Blogs make fart noises and occasionally vex readers with the degree to which the blogger’s obsession will inevitably diverge from the reader’s. If this isn’t happening every few weeks, the blogger is either bored, half-assing, or taking new medication. — Merlin Mann

So, I guess this is about the time I’m vexing readers with my diverging obsessions? Mmm hmmm. Yeah. Guilty. And there’s the crafting for charity posts, and the index I ran out of time to update. And yes, my blog does make *ahem* fart noises that make me cringe (perhaps not so publicly as Stephen Fry, but still). To wit: the weird cat thing, the pet costumes, all the mistakes I’ve fessed up to, the occasionally grumpy post, the 7 months of one quilt. But at least we’ve established I’m not bored, half-assing or on new meds, right?

The fact is that I figure some people will roll their eyes at my Star Trek obsession, or think I’m silly for talking about controversy, or not care so much about charity, but if none of it were here, well, I guess I wouldn’t be able to do my first point (Good Blogs Have A Voice) very well, right?

• Good blogs make you want to start your own blog.

I don’t know that my blog will inspire anyone else, but I was inspired to start a really good blog by reading other blogs. I’ve read Wil Wheaton’s blog for years. I learned HTML in 1998 and had my own lame “blog” in the pre-blogging platform days. My husband also “blogged” pre-Blogger but was more consistent and had prettier websites. A friend of mine from high school had the first craft blog I ever saw (she created the Alien Illusion Scarf in the Stitch ‘n Bitch book). Then I found myself consistently reading the blog of a friend of my husband, and that made me think about consistently blogging. And then when I was in graduate school and sundered from my crafting, that I realized crafting was something more than a hobby and less than a career. So a year after quitting school, I threw up a WordPress blog and wrote about my dad and I making beer. So it began.

Last but not least.

• Good blogs know when to break their own rules.

My rule is that I only post about crafting. So.

• Good blog posts are made of paragraphs.
• Good “non-post” blogs have style and curation.
• Good blogs try.

Quality deserves three of Merlin’s bullet points because a blog that doesn’t try to do a good job or want to provide something of value to its readers is a blog whose existence is suspect. I certainly don’t want to read it. Good bloggers create original content and cost the writer time and effort. Good blogs are the product of an actual person’s thoughts and ideas and are that person’s original concept. The content type is immaterial–words, videos, pictures or something else–as long as it’s real stuff someone came up with for that blog. A good blog is a creative product and process all on its own.

Why do I care? Because I’m participating in the Internet, and in blogging, and by reading this so are you, and I care about both of us, and I care that you and I are sometimes poorly served by some of the Internet’s content.

I’m fascinated by the possibilities of this gigantic collaborative communications forum called the Internet. I think future historians will go nuts over the implications and consequences of this thing. I think having millions of voices contributing billions of largely censorship free and interest-driven links, tidbits, journals and conversations to one giant, collective, easily-accessible repository is powerful. It’s a forum as yet mostly un-mediated by any authority and largely independent of the boundaries of any political entity. People can opine, express and persuade one another directly, without a journalistic filter. We inspire, amaze, are radical, traditional. We share and adapt and create collectively. The internet is the biggest, most gossipy, fickle and judgmental, most human expression of collective humanity I’ve ever seen. It’s awesome.

It’s also hungry for good content. By “good” I don’t mean that grammar/spelling gurus, religious/political authorities, or your 3rd grade teacher approved it. I don’t mean it has to be serious or even very coherent. I mean that it is original, interest-driven content that provides value to someone else. Even if that value is someone listening to you and taking the time to disagree with you about your opinion on level 3 warlocks in a sub-forum of a gaming community. Heck, the lolcat meme is silly fun, but I go back to it when I have a bad day, and it makes thousands of people laugh. That’s value.

Many people throw junk at the internet. They hope it gets them money, followers, or both, but they don’t want to give anything of value back to their audience. PR hacks think blogs are the 21st century tool to keep themselves in business and keep selling you stuff, even if it’s bad for you. Affiliate marketers con you into thinking you’re reading a real review when it’s a paid person with 10 logins spamming Amazon. Some newspapers think regurgitating already-published material into a blog saves their bacon with the young people. Business owners start ghost-written blogs neatly packaged by the Corporate Communications department. People “game” membership sites to get more followers they care nothing about. Website owners don’t understand their unrelated, obnoxious advertising is part of their content too. I could go on.

The internet = content, and a lot of it is junk. I write these articles, and this blog in general, because it’s my thing, part of my contribution, to something I care about. And if you think about it, what I care about isn’t the internet itself, it’s the people on the internet. I care that bloggers, and other people, are putting good content into this collective thing and yet reaping junk from people who don’t respect them or understand what all this internet stuff is about. A blog isn’t a business bandwagon to jump on, it’s a platform for unique, creative content.

So. Write well. Write often. Care. Even if what you write isn’t a masterpiece, the effort really does matter.

• Good blogs have a voice (Try Being Interesting).
  

When I find an interesting-looking blog, I stick it in my feed reader. The reader strips the blog of its formatting, sidebars, whirlygigs, doo-dahs and furbelows and turns it into pure content. If, after 2 weeks of reading pure content, I can’t remember why the heck I added the blog in the first place or who that person is, I delete it from the reader. To keep a blog, the writing or photographic or whatever style of a blog must stand out enough to remind me me who writes it and what sort of blog they’re writing.

I hope my peculiarities are evident, that when people get to me in their own readers, they can distinguish me from the potted plant in the corner. I don’t know how you see it, as my own voice is rather distinct in my head, but I certainly don’t try to bland myself up. I admit CbN is not my whole self, but I don’t think that diminishes the me I put here.

• Good blogs reflect focused obsessions (Almost nuts, but without digression).
  

That’s definitely the case here at CbN. I am obsessed with making stuff, because it’s my creative outlet, and I literally do it at night after work. I don’t focus on any particular craft, because learning is as important to me as making. I may seem to digress sometimes, but everything I put here is at some level about being creative in the time that belongs to me. Posting about crocheting is easy, but often vacation is relevant also, such as when I had the overwhelming urge to cook when I learned my dog was sick at home. Crafting is my outlet, in a way that my other obsessions like science fiction or medieval history are not. Crafting is what snuck past the hobby border, whispered over the obsession line and right into to I-can’t-live-without-it Land.  I have to make stuff in order to be sane.

• Good blogs are the product of “Attention times Interest. (Where’s your story arc?)
  

I think he means that a blog should show a progression over time or development in the subject matter. If it’s written by a real person with actual thoughts, it should be following some unknown trajectory through sharing the owner’s interests, the metamorphosis of their particular obsessions, and what inspired and encouraged them along the way.

I try to do this. I post my inspirations, my process, the struggles, the disappointments, the weird stuff, the mistakes and the finished products. Creativity is a process of  turning previously unrelated items into something new, and I’m very interested in how that happens for myself and others. My favorite craft blogs show that process, and I want to show mine here. I don’t have any cliffhangers, but hopefully there’s still a bit of wondering what comes next.

I posted about the birches quilt many times, not to bore anyone to tears, but so I could show it was more than the finished product. It was my second purely decorative, expressive textile piece. The subject was a memory, the materials had stories of their own, and it was produced through a long creative process impacted by my experiences and thoughts over the time I made it. I wanted to document that.

Over a longer arch, my craft skills have improved since I began, and I have new interests, goals and ideas in my life. I don’t post about the same things I once did, I’ve shared painful losses, kitten adoptions, my imminent move. I am planning the 2nd reinvention of this blog soon to reflect where I am now.

Next up – more questions …