Live, Love, Laugh . . . and blog?

Tag, you're it...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 02:43:00 +0000

I'm on the move. In my quest for a better blog, I've imported (or exported, depending on which end you're looking at it from) many of my blog posts from here to a new location. I'd love to have you come see my new home at twyste. If you visit, be sure to leave me a comment and sign up to "follow" me. It's only going to keep getting better and I'd hate for you to miss out!

Free "Does this hat make my head look fat?" Pattern

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:00:00 +0000

The first thing I need to tell you is that I knit this hat in less than two hours, including seaming it up... REALLY! I'm not a super duper speed knitter contestant. I just had some great big yarn and some motivation. Our heat and hot water went kaput for a chunk of the week and I was going for warmth, so I made up this pattern. It was a "two birds with one stone kind" of deal for me too, because I was able to use up some yarn I really didn't need, but just couldn't pass up (LionBrand Super Bulky).

I love the color (Oklahoma City Green- weird name, but great color) and it was super cheap- less than $3 at Walmart. Now, I don't usually think of Walmart as my "go to" place for yarn (actually, I try not to think of Walmart as my "go to" place in general), but if you need to be there anyway and happen into the craft section, you can get a screamin' deal.

So, I brought home my yarn and lovingly (of course) paired it up with some white mohair I had gotten for just this kind of yarn project. I'm not a huge fan of mohair on its own, but I love the soft look it gives when stranded with another yarn. You could certainly omit the mohair if you want the hat to take on a less feminine feel. Also, as you may have guessed by the name of the hat, it is somewhat oversized, which I like because it doesn't give me a headache or smash my hair as badly as some...and I've been assured that it doesn't make my head look fat.

If you want to give it a shot, you can download the FREE pdf. Have fun and happy knitting!

Dropbox & Your Fancy Camera Pics... synchronized swimming

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:53:00 +0000

Okay, so it isn't exactly swimming, but it's highly synchro and feels like some sort of fancy orchestration (without the music). There was a recent post (linked here) that had a brilliant idea that you can take pictures with your big ol' fancy pants camera and have them travel the airwaves to your computer and be stored in the cloud known as Dropbox. All you need is:

1. an Eye-Fi card for your camera (it's just a memory card with fancy powers- available here: eye-fi card)

2. a Dropbox account (see review here for iPad or here for iPhone, to understand what it is and why you want Dropbox anyway)

3. a fancy camera (actually it works with most any camera that uses a memory card, but you might as well go fancy?)

That's it. Now, when I read that I could do this, I immediately thought, "I should do this," then went to bed. Today is a new day, though, and I'm getting it all set up and it's really simple. However, for someone less inclined to wildly push at buttons until they get the right result, I thought I would write out a little step by step tutorial for you. Yep, I'm a giver.

Don't be intimidated; there's not really that much and you could have figured it out. Step six is the part you want to pay attention to; the rest is just there to build your confidence and keep you on track. So, here goes:

Step one: Go online and see if there's anywhere near you that you can buy an Eye-Fi card. If not, go here (or somewhere else) and order one.

Step two: Get a Dropbox account. Go to http://dropbox.com and do what they say (they're very nice and they explain it all with mostly small words).

Step three: Get a fancy schmancy (or simply functioning) camera.

Step four: Install the Eye-Fi card using provided instructions with card you ordered (or found if you live in a bigger town than me). This is probably the hardest step, but it's not that bad and you can do it. Just breathe.

Step five: Go to the Eye-Fi icon at top of your monitor (looks like a little Wi-Fi symbol) and click on it to reveal a drop-down menu. Choose to open the Eye-Fi center.

Step six: Underneath "DEVICES" on the left is a list, including "Eye-Fi Card;" click on the little settings icon (gear symbol) to the right of the eye-fi card. This will give you a new menu with "photos" being one of the tabs at the top- click "photos." In the photos tab, there is a tab for "computer" and a tab for "online;" click the "computer" tab. Go to where it says "manage" and be sure it says upload photos to "folder" not "iPhoto" (unless of course you want it to go to iPhoto). Right below that box you can see the path to the folder where your pictures are going to end up. This is where you will "change folder" (see that, just to the right?) to your Dropbox folder. Make sure you click save. That's it.

Let me know if you have any questions or if it works beautifully (nice work). What a cool feature! Now we can see our pictures on all our devices that have Dropbox on them.

Top Ten Gifts for Knitters and Yarnaholics

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 22:00:00 +0000

Let me just start by saying, "I love this bag." It's wonderful. The color is wonderful. The size is wonderful. The pockets and compartments are wonderful. The quality is wonderful. "I love this bag." If you also love this bag or know someone else who would, then keep on reading, because this is the list for you!

This time of year it seems like there are lots of lists of gift ideas (for some of the people I buy for, this is a major hallelujah!). So, I decided I should contribute to the gift giving ideas by composing a list of knit-centric gifts. Now, I should start with a disclaimer that if I never purchase or receive another skein of yarn or knitting related item again, I still have enough that I won't run out for the rest of my life. However, those are still my very favorite things to receive, so don't let the previous comment dissuade any of you who may be purchasing for me in the future!

Anyway, on to the list:

1. YARN- First off, you need to know that knitters will be happy with most any yarn you get for them. We just love yarn. That said though, my favorite yarns today are Malabrigo worsted weight, Shibui sock (fingering) weight, and Lion Brand super bulky weight. The Malabrigo yarn is what I used for the Tuesday Night Cowl I raved about previously. Also, I'll be posting a pattern shortly for a REALLY EASY and FREE hat pattern using the Lion Brand yarn stranded with mohair. It's really cute and took about an hour to make.

2. NEEDLES- You may notice the Lantern Moon products come up frequently in this post. That's because they are beautiful and well made. So, my favorite straight needles are by Lantern Moon; they also make circulars, but my circulars of choice are the Addi Turbo needles, which slide in and out of the yarn "like butter." The other needles I really like and use a lot are my Harmony interchangeable needles. They're nice to take with me on trips (in case I happen on some yarn that needs knitting).

3. SCISSORS- It's kind of funny that my favorite scissors are not actually scissors at all. That's part of what's so cool about them. The cutter I use most frequently is the Clover Yarn Cutter Pendant. It's an antique-looking pendant with grooves in it that are designed for cutting your yarn. Because there are no sharp parts protruding, you can take it on an airplane! Awesome.

4. FIXER- This will be hard to believe, but sometimes knitters make mistakes. There are occasions when one has to go back and fix the stitch they dropped or inadvertently knitted instead of purled. In those (rare) cases, a crochet hook of some kind is invaluable. Lantern Moon makes my most-loved repair hook. It's less than three inches long, is made of ebony and comes in a little woven case. It's pretty and it's small enough to fit easily into my notions bag (isn't that what the little bag with stitch markers, embroidery needle, & tape measure, etc is called?... by the way, also all good gift ideas!).

5. TAPE MEASURE- Lantern Moon's fuzzy sheep tape measure is as cute and functional as they come. Lantern Moon makes a variety of these fun tape measures; mine is the white fuzzy sheep and to access the tape measure on him, you pull gently on the sheep's tail- how fun is that? Other fun tape measure shapes include a ladybug, peace sign, birthday cake, leaf, black sheep, etc.

6. BOOKS- Like with the yarn, any knitting book is welcomed as a gift. My favorite knitting book tends to be the one I have acquired most recently. However, there are certain books that keep resurfacing to the top of my favorites. These are shown below.

7. PROJECT BAG- Once again Lantern Moon makes it to the top of my list. The Lantern Moon jewel-toned silk bag is lightweight and crushable. I can fit a small project into it easily and my knitting is protected in my purse or knitting tote without taking up a lot of room.

8. CARRY-ALL- The bag pictured at the top of the post is the Namaste Monroe bag and, as I said repeatedly, I love this bag. It's so functional and attractive. It's sturdy and fun. It's well-made and just plain nice to take along. If I could only have one thing on this list, this might be it. Wow, it'd be tough to decide though! Yikes.

9. STITCH COUNTER- I am a techy gal, so I have a techy stitch counter. Actually the reason I have a techy stitch counter is that I don't always plan ahead well, but I always have my phone with me. So, what that means is that I probably will have left my little plastic stitch counter behind, so will end up searching the app store for a stitch counter. I don't remember if that's the scenario that took place or not, but somehow I ended up with the Vogue Knitting app, which includes a wonderful stitch counter. What I especially like about it is that the stitch counter has options for adding additional counters for decreases, repeats, rows, etc. (I easily lose my place in my knitting, so this is an invaluable tool!). The other fantastic thing about the Vogue Knitting stitch counter is that there is a section for organizing your projects and the stitch counter is tied to each project. So, you can leave a pattern for days, weeks, or years and come back to it later and figure out where you were by looking at the handy dandy counter with your project. Nice.

10. WEBSITE- Now it may seem odd to list a website on a gift idea list, especially when it's free, but signing your person (or you) up for Ravelry.com truly is a gift. It gives the gift of thousands of patterns (many are free), tons of advice, and resources for organizing your stash, needles, books (the library feature is AWESOME!), etc. Any knitter, crocheter, or general lover of yarn, should rush to their computers now and get on ravelry. I love it! Check out my full review of why I think it's so great here.

I also should tell you a few sites I frequent when browsing for yarn online. Amazon is a great resource for finding everything, but I always prefer supporting local yarn stores if possible. So, if you want to do a little online yarn crawling, I suggest those below (with no kickbacks or other financial incentives for me... although I'm open to the option!).

Jimmy Beans Wool

KnitPurl (Portland)

Twisted (Portland)

YarnMarket

If you have other suggestions based on where you like to shop for yarn and "knittery," please share in the comment section! I'd also welcome comments on knitting or yarn-related items that you feel should have made the list. Thanks!

Easy Christmas Treats

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 06:47:00 +0000

Every year one of the advent activities that my boys and I do together is make peppermint bark and toffee. We use it as gifts, but we also just like to eat it. Yum. So, in the spirit of Christmas giving (and because I had to find the recipes anyway), I'm sharing these super simple recipes with you. Really, both of these recipes are VERY easy and you can make them... or I'm just extremely lucky or gifted (?).

Now, if you've read any of my blog posts at all, you already know that I am not a perfectionist when it comes to cooking... or knitting... or, okay, really I'm just not a perfectionist. However, I do recognize that there are a number of detail people out there, so I've included the recipes I use as well as the methods I use, with the glaring disparities between the two pointed out. Adjust accordingly.

Peppermint bark
Melt a 12oz package of white chocolate chips (I do it in the microwave on low heat for about 5 minutes). While the chocolate is melting, smash a bunch of candy canes. Sprinkle the candy canes pieces into the melted chocolate and stir it up. Then spread the chocolate & candy cane mixture on wax paper and sprinkle with more candy cane pieces to decorate the top. Once it has cooled completely, you can break it into pieces and it’s ready to serve.

Best Toffee Ever (from allrecipes.com)
2 cups butter
2 cups white sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup finely chopped nuts

In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, combine the butter, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the butter is melted. Allow to come to a boil, and cook until the mixture becomes a dark amber color, and the temperature has reached 285 degrees. Stir occasionally.

While the toffee is cooking, cover a large baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

As soon as the toffee reaches the proper temperature, pour it out onto the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the chocolate over the top, and let it set for a minute or two to soften. Spread the chocolate into a thin even layer once it is melted. Sprinkle the nuts over the chocolate, and press in slightly. Putting a plastic bag over your hand will minimize the mess.

Place the toffee in the refrigerator to chill until set. Break into pieces, and store in an airtight container.

(Kelly’s disclaimer- as I said, I am not a detail person, as you can tell by my peppermint bark recipe… so, on the almond bark: 1) I did not use a heavy bottomed saucepan, just a copper bottom pan, 2) I didn’t have a thermometer, so just went with the color, and 3) I didn’t put a plastic bag on my hand and push in the nuts- I pushed them down a bit with my wooden spoon. The details may matter and I may have just gotten lucky with my batch, so do what you need to for your own personality!)

Best news aggregator on the iPhone and iPad?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:51:00 +0000

So, how do you get your news? I want an easy (and pretty, and fun-to-use) way to read blogs and current news on my iPhone and iPad. Seems simple enough, but the problem I have is more than one app does this.

My favorites are Pulse, Flipboard, and Zite. Pulse and Flipboard are both universal apps, which is nice because they sync between my two gadgets. Zite, however, is only available on iPad at this point (Any chance it will be on the iPhone in the future? Please?).

I like Pulse and Flipboard because I can enter in RSS feeds and the app will collect them all, keep them updated, and present them to me in a visually-pleasing manner. As of today, I'm happier with Pulse because I am currently fighting with Flipboard to have it find my favorite app review site. I also like Pulse because I can create separate pages for different categories that I can label and organize as I please (for example, I have pages for news, tech, travel, knitting, etc.). From within pulse I can "star" a post or share it on Facebook or Twitter, or by email. Pulse is easy to use and meets that all so tricky criterion of "enjoyable to use."

Flipboard has a lot of the same advantages as Pulse. It's nice to look at and interact with, it's simple to use (aside from my current issue), and you can organize it (to some degree) how you like. The main difference I see between Flipboard and Pulse is that in Flipboard, when you click on a post, just below it you're in the actual web interface, which can make commenting or interacting on the site a smidge simpler in some cases.

Now, Zite... I REALLY like Zite (and wish it was on iPhone!) because it gets smarter as I use it. Think of it this way... Zite is to News as Pandora is to Music. You begin by identifying topics you're interested in, then Zite gives you a newspaper-type layout of stories that match those areas of interest. When you see the article, you can rate it with a thumbs up or down and Zite will adjust your feeds accordingly. You can also request to have more articles from that site, author, or specialized topic. Sharing from Zite is really simple too- you just tap an icon to share to email, Evernote, Twitter, Delicious, LinkedIn, Read It Later, Facebook, or Instapaper. Finally, within any article, you can adjust the text size and style or view the post on the web with just the tap of a button. The one thing that Zite doesn't do, is allow me to enter my own RSS feeds. It uses my Google Reader and Twitter accounts to customize news for me, but it doesn't just feed those in like Pulse and Flipboard.

So, based on all the above, I have to say that my favorite news aggregator is Zite. I use it almost exclusively. However, I still alternate between Pulse and Flipboard for my RSS feed presentation.

What about you? What is your favorite and am I missing something wonderful that one of these apps does that would make it even better for me to be using?

[Update]: Talk about timing... Zite came out for the iPhone today (less than two days after this post!) and I'm really looking forward to trying it out. If you already have, let me know what you think!

[Updated update!]: I really like Zite on my iPhone, which is good to know. Because, despite how much I wanted it, I wasn't sure how easy it would be to navigate on my phone. I've found, though, that I can easily maneuver between different sections and do all the same things I love about it on my iPad, so I say go for it... get the iPhone version (and if you already have an iPad version, create a profile on Zite and sync it with your iPhone app so all your favorites are carried over).

All Hot and Buttered... Rum

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:40:00 +0000

Today I made my very first batch of hot buttered rum mix, using a recipe from my friend, Gail. Last year she gave me a batch of hers, along with a copy of the recipe... wonderful gift! And, it's sooooo easy to make. First, in case you haven't read previous DIY/domestic diva posts of mine, you need to know that I am not a perfectionist in the DIY arena (as evidenced in the bumps you can see in the mix in the picture- they'll melt and it will be fine). I've decided that what I am is optimistic. I never measure, I just eyeball and scoop, yet I always assume it will turn out great... and a lot of the time it does. This recipe is perfect for less-than-precise DIYers like me. However, in the future there are a few things I would do differently, which I will share so those of you who sweat the small stuff will be prepared.

One final disclaimer: If you are trying to be healthy, do not even look at these pictures because you will have to exercise to compensate for what you are about to see. If you are willing to take that risk, though, maybe you can just drink your hot buttered rum while doing leg lifts? Or not.

The recipe:

Put the following into a mixing bowl-

1 lb brown sugar
1 lb powdered sugar
1 lb butter
1 qt Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream
a dash of cinnamon

Cream all the ingredients together. Then, store in the freezer until ready to use.

To use: Add a heaping tablespoon of mix to a mug of boiling water and add a shot of rum.

So, that's what the recipe said. Here is what I learned:

1. It works just fine to squeeze your two pound bag of brown sugar in the middle and dump into the bowl the portion of the sugar that isn't held back by your hands.

2. The above approach also works perfectly with the powdered sugar.

3. This next tidbit matters if you care about the bumps in the picture at the top... soften your butter so that it will blend more easily (smoothly) into the rest of the ingredients.

4. I substituted Dreyer's Slow Churned Rich & Creamy Vanilla Bean ice cream (you know, to be healthy). However, the Dreyer's came in a 1 1/4 quart size, so I may have undone some of the "healthy" by eating a decent portion of the 1/4 quart leftover. It's okay, though; I went for a run today.

5. I have no tidbits about the cinnamon, but I do have a final mixing suggestion. Mix the ingredients a bit by hand first to get the powdered sugar stuck to some of the rest of it. Otherwise, the butter and ice cream stick to the beaters and act as small firing weapons, flinging the powdered sugar out of the bowl. I've heard this can even happen at low speeds.

So, there you have it. Enjoy!

Free and Easy Chunky Cowl Pattern

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 22:53:00 +0000

I'm kinda addicted to cowls lately. It all started last year after a trip to KnitPurl in Portland. I made a cowl (NOT the one pictured) that I absolutely love with a yarn that's wonderful. The pattern I used for that cowl (again, NOT this one) is called the Tuesday Night Cowl by Susan Lawrence and it's available on Ravelry for FREE. The yarn I used was a worsted weight by Malabrigo in a lovely lettuce color with cool natural dye variations that are awesome. I really liked knitting with the Malabrigo yarn and I love how it feels around my neck. Anyway, like I said, this picture isn't of that cowl; although both have a big, chunky kind of look to them that seems to be "in" right now... a good thing for those of us knitters with short attention spans!

The cowl pictured is one that I made up after doing a little browsing at the Gap in San Francisco and seeing a ton of scarves and cowls that I knew I could make. When I came home of course I couldn't actually remember exactly what they looked like, but was determined to come up with something quick and easy that used up some of the yarn I have at home (what a concept!). So, below is the pattern for my Mind the Gap Cowl (or you can just click here and download the pattern).

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Our Family's Do-It-Yourself Advent Calendar Tradition

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:29:00 +0000

At our house we do an advent calendar every year. It's a tradition that began for me when I was a kid and since having kids, I've continued it with my family. We use a wooden advent calendar with little drawers (shown in the picture) to count down each day until Christmas. Starting December 1st, every morning when the kids get up, they run downstairs to see what the "advent" is that day. Sometimes I've put in a small gift like a pack of gum or a bookmark or some other little treat, but a lot of the time it's a note describing an activity we'll do together that day.

I realize that some of the excitement the boys feel as they run down to check the advent is for the things they get. However, I also know they really look forward to seeing the notes for the traditions that they know will be in there every year (our family eating Burger King while driving around looking at Christmas lights with my parents, going to cut our tree with our friends, eating dessert first one night, etc.). If I do too many gifty things in a row, they'll mention that they like the activities too.

It's been fun to see them take what I've done for them and pass it on too. Last year they used an advent calendar that Jacob made in 2nd grade, and began putting notes and treats in it for me. I got coupons for back rubs, pieces of candy, a chapstick, etc. It was so sweet and made me feel good to see them enjoying the giving as much as I do. Plus, I liked going to check my advent calendar each morning!

If you have other ways that your family celebrates Advent, please share. I love the ideas. Until then, here are some of my ideas from years past:

1. One year I read a different Christmas/Winter picture book to them every night. (If you're traveling for the holidays, you might consider getting a collection of ebooks to lighten your load. Whether you have a Kindle or an iPhone or an iPad or some other eReader, you can use the books you download. We like how easy it is to share books between us when we're on a trip. I'll add a link to the kindle store for you so you can try it out and see what you think.)

These are some of our favorite books we read every year:

  Jan Brett's Christmas Treasury
  Jan Brett's Snowy Treasury
  Merry Christmas, Splat (Splat the Cat)
  Russell's Christmas Magic
  Home for Christmas

2. Another year, I bought 24 little mittens (12 pairs) for 25 cents each at the Black Friday sale. My intention was to hang a new one up on a garland each day. I never really pulled that one off, but I still think is a good idea.

3. A different year my husband and parents and I stayed up late putting together a puzzle (a picture of Christmas candies), then split it into 24 baggies by section. Each morning the boys would get a new section of the puzzle, but we didn't give them the box with the picture until December 24th.

4. Another idea is to write out 24 different things you like/love about your child/spouse/self and put one in for each day. What a gift that is... I know because my parents did that for me my first Christmas when I was in college.

5. The year I bought these cute little blocks, I realized there were quite a few of them (15), so each day I put out a new block (not in order). It was fun to watch the kids try to spell new things with the addition of each letter. Actually it was fun even after they figured out what the blocks were supposed to spell, because often someone would rearrange them and spell something different, making it into a game! Obviously I filled in with something else on the other nine days, but I can't remember now what that was.

6. So, what ideas have you used or read about and wished you had used? Share in the comments below!

*If you're interested in a different kind of advent calendar, check out Otto and Eddie's App Advent countdown to Christmas. Beginning, December 1st, every day they are doing a new review of an app. I don't think it's quite as good as our family advent tradition, but if you're really into apps, it might be...

Black Friday Deals and Cyber Monday Steals

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:45:00 +0000

The Monday after Thanksgiving is known in the shopping world as Cyber Monday. The online retail world begins its attempt to lure in shoppers with wonderful deals to truly start off the holiday shopping season. Whether you are for or against the shopping madness that begins around this time of year, you can not deny the bargains you can find this week. Offers of free shipping, buy one get one free, and amazing discounts are available for the shopper who is willing to take the time to do a little online exploring. If I'm organized enough, I try to find gifts now for birthdays, mother's day, father's day, etc., even though I won't need them for a few months. This is arguably the time of year you can find your best deals.

In case you want someone else to do the online exploring for you, I've listed a few of the compilations of online deals below:

CyberMonday2011.com
CyberMonday.biz
CyberMondayDeals.net
Shop Amazon's Cyber Monday Week

Otto's scarf has begun

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:33:00 +0000

We're on the edge of winter here. As you can tell by the flakes falling in front of Otto's face, snow has already fallen... and you'll just have to take my for word for it that it's getting colder. I'm wearing a scarf almost daily and knitting at least two besides!

Anyway, scarves are coming out and I figure that Otto needs to get a little scarf love. I'm not sure if Otto will necessarily feel the love, but I can tell you that he's getting a scarf anyway. Below is a picture of the scarf I'm knitting for him. It's just a simple garter stitch, so it will go really fast and I'm sure that he'll be all festive in his candy cane striped scarf by December 1st.

Really. I promise. (He's so excited.)

[Update]: I made good progress on his scarf over the weekend and just have a bunch of finishing off to do. I'm not sure the choice I made to just leave the ends hanging along the side as I switched from red to white and back was a good decision, but I really didn't want the opposite color being seen along the side of the scarf as I carried the yarn along. I also didn't want to tie it off and weave it in as I went, so that left me with what I did. Now it means I have to go along and tie off, then weave in each end where the stripe color changes. Oh well. The length looks good, though, I think.

In the next couple of days I'll post a final update with a picture of Otto wearing his new scarf. I'll also include the pattern (super simple) that I used, in case anyone else wants to "winterize" their pet (way more fun than winterizing your car or your lawn, in my opinion!).

[Update #2] The scarf is done and it hasn't snowed even a smidge since I last wrote. It feels like October around here and doesn't look at all like scarf weather anymore. Too bad. The scarf is done, so Otto tried it out today. Here are his glamour shots:

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The new phonebook (I mean, knitting magazine) is here!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 22:02:00 +0000

Look what came yesterday... my new Winter 2011 Interweave Knits magazine. Yay! I don't know if anyone else remembers that old commercial with the kid running down the lane holding the new phonebook up in the air, yelling "the new phonebook's here!" Apparently it was very exciting; that's kind of how I feel when I open my mailbox and see my newest knitting magazine waiting for me! As I said before... yay!

I always charge right through the magazine to see everything in it, but then I go through it a second time more slowly to see what I really am likely to make and dream about all my potential projects. So, having charged through it, I really like the cardigans/jackets, the cable mittens, and the hats in this issue. The one that I think I will actually make, though, is the Nantes Hat by Amanda Scheuzger. It's made on size 6 & 8 needles, so should be pretty quick to make. The yarn she used was a silk/mohair blend (nice!) by Tahki Stacy Charles. There's no place in town where I can find that, so I may be doing a little Internet shopping for that one...or maybe I can find something in my stash that will work. Actually, thinking about it I have some pomegranate alpaca/silk yarn from Tactile Fiber Arts that might be just perfect. The pomegranate color would be really nice too! What a concept, shopping my own stash!

Just think, if I actually finish it, I will be well on my way to my domestic diva-hood. I made minestrone soup on this snowy day too, further enhancing my domestic diva status! I'm pretty sure I'm going to make biscuits to go with the soup too, so my transformation is almost complete! ...unless I get distracted by the knitting...

Top "Ten" iPhone Apps... part two of three

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:00:00 +0000

So, as I implied in Part One of this series, there are a lot of good apps out there. I tried to pretend I could only keep ten apps and had to get rid of the rest so I could see which ones were really the vital apps. The problem with that, though, is the apps that I really NEED are not necessarily the same ones that I really LOVE. For example, one of the apps I use every single day is the Alarm Clock; I got rid of my alarm clock on my nightstand and just wake to music from the Alarm Clock app on my iPhone. So, although I need that app and think it's a really good app and like it, I don't LOVE it. On the other hand, one of the apps that I really don't need at all made it on my first top ten list (part one of this series)- Soundhound. I use it infrequently, but it provides a service I really can't get any other way and it's just simply really cool the way it all does it.

That being said, it makes top ten lists a bit of a conundrum as to what should be included. Really what I probably should have done is just relabeled my posts to something like... "A Bunch of Apps I Like & Use Sometimes" or "Here's What I Downloaded on my iPhone" or just simply "The List" so it's vague enough that there's nothing implied at all. But I didn't; I'm going with the Top Ten approach and just scrunching the apps together as needed and stretching it out over multiple posts. I just need to hurry up and finish because I keep adding more to my Part Three as I write Part One and Part Two! So, here you have it- "A Bunch of Apps I Like & Use Sometimes" (ten of them, roughly):

11. Skype: (Free)- Skype is a VOIP service that allows you to place calls over the Internet. The nice thing, though, is that you really don't have to know what that means or understand it in order to use it and like it. The Skype app requires that you have a skype account, but that's about it. Once you have an account, you can call (or video call) anyone else who has a skype account. It's similar to FaceTime on the iPhone, etc, but not quite as clear. The benefit to Skype, though, is that it will work without an Internet connection, making it so you can do a video call when you're out and about too (hence, the lower clarity, I expect). Skype works internationally and has chat/message capabilities as well.

12. Vogue Knitting: ($3.99)- Okay, I like to knit and I don't always finish my projects, but I would like it to be organized somehow so that I can someday come back to those unfinished projects and have a clue... so, I splurged and paid for the Vogue Knitting app. I like the ability to catalogue all my yarns, needles, and projects in one place. Vogue Knitting is well organized and simple to use. In addition to the organizational sections, it also has a small section of "how to's," books, stitches, terms & abbreviations, and yarn substitutions. Until Ravelry.com comes up with its own app, the VogueKnitting app will be my knitting app of choice. Even then, I don't see me totally dropping the Vogue app.

13. Epicurious/AllRecipes: (2.99)- I still tend to prefer paper versions of cookbooks to e-versions, but I love it that I can be away from my house and look up recipes easily with the Epicurious and AllRecipes apps. Both apps make it very easy to search for recipes based on ingredients, course, etc. They also have a built-in option to add the recipe to your recipe box or favorites and, even better, it will create a shopping list for you (I love that!). Also, if you really want others to know what recipe you're making or be able to easily share it, you can post it on Facebook or Twitter.

14. Starbucks: (Free)- I like coffee and Starbucks' coffee is consistently good. I like knowing that I will get good coffee that always tastes the same no matter which Starbucks I go into in any city. I like the Starbucks app because I can use it to find that Starbucks in any town and to pay for it. I can reload my balance on my card and then just have the barista scan my phone to pay. Pretty slick. I know the app does more than that, but that's all I use it for and it does it well.

15. Movies-
Redbox: (Free)- Redbox, for those of you living in a cave who have no idea, is a kiosk-based movie rental business that allows you to rent a movie for a dollar a day; a good deal if you're good at getting your movie back to the kiosk in a day (or even a couple days and it's still a good idea). If you are someone who tends to hang on to your DVD for a week or more, it becomes less of a good deal, costing you a dollar for every one of those additional days. Anyway, now that we've covered the Redbox basics, the reason the app is awesome is it's ability to locate a kiosk with the movie you're after and then reserve it for you until you get there. I really like this because I know the movie I want will be waiting for me... for a dollar! The other cool thing about Redbox (and a reason the location aspect of the app is good), is that you can return your movie to ANY Redbox location. My family likes this because we live in the middle of nowhere, so we often are in the car for many hours on our way to somewhere else and Redbox makes it so we can rent a movie here or somewhere else, then turn it in when we get to another city with a Redbox. Nice.
Hulu Plus: (Free)- Hulu is a cool app for viewing shows (both TV and movie). It's free for a basic membership, but I decided it was worth the $7.99 a month to me to have my shows (Raising Hope, Glee, The Office, 30 Rock, Psych, etc) available. I have yet to watch a movie on Hulu Plus, but when I run on the treadmill I watch a show, thus making it more likely that I will go for more than 15 minutes. That alone makes it worth $7.99 a month! Also, it supports AirPlay so you can watch it on the big screen.

16. Capture: (.99)- Capture is a video camera. That's it. As far as I can tell, it does nothing else, but it does one thing that your native iPhone video camera does not... it begins recording right away. As soon as you tap the Capture icon on your iPhone screen, it opens and starts recording. This is invaluable to me. As a person with kids and pets, I usually am not doing staged/orchestrated recordings and I often need my recording to start with no warm up time. Actually I probably need it to start about 5 seconds before I realize I should be recording, but I don't know of an app that can take it quite that far! Once you're done recording, you tap the time button and it will stop recording and send the finished product to your camera roll. My son had a great suggestion to place the app itself in the "toolbar" (?- the spot at the bottom of your phone where you can have 4 icons), so it's always available no matter what screen your phone is on. Anyway, like I said, it doesn't do anything fancy, but it makes it so you can catch the beginning of your child jumping into the pool instead of just the splash at the end.

17. Photography- There are a TON of cool photography apps out there. These are the ones that I use on a regular basis.
Instagram: (Free)- Instagram is well known for it's cool filters and the ability to share them on the Instagram stream (kind of like Flickr, but trendier?). Once you have applied your filter (or not), you can choose to share your photo via Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Tumblr, Foursquare, Posterous, or email; so, if your goal is to get your picture out there, you certainly have options. Instagram is nice because it's simple and straightforward.
FlickStackr: (1.99)- If you have a Flickr account and want to be able to manage your photos or if you don't have a Flickr account, but want to be able to easily browse and collect other peoples' photos, FlickStackr is a great universal app for you. I have been impressed with the ability to access all my Flickr sets and collections, making it so I don't need to keep so many pictures on my phone (saving lots of precious space). I can explore Flickr by entering a keyword, making it easy to find a new "snowy" background for my phone, for example. I can then save any of those pictures to a local "stack" on my phone or iPad.
Web Albums: (2.99)- I got Web Albums so that I could manage my Picasa pictures from my phone. What I want to be able to do with all of my pictures, is get them off of my gadgets and computer and out to the clouds where I can then access and share them at will. Web Albums is how I do this with Picasa. I can upload pictures (en masse) from my phone or I can download pictures to my camera from albums in the cloud. I really like the ability to quickly add captions to the pictures in the upload. All in all, it's a really easy app to use and I'm impressed with the speed of downloading/uploading lots of pictures at once and the fact that it can do it all in the background when you leave the app.
Photogene: (1.99)- Photogene (and now Photogene2 -also 1.99) is my go to app for major editing (although primarily I do this on my iPad, where Photogene is really awesome- see my review here). With Photogene (& Photogene 2)you can rotate your images, crop them, adjust color balances, add filters, retouch images, add text, and generally enhance them in a huge variety of ways. Once you have altered your photo to your heart's content, you can then save it to your photo library or upload it to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, Instagram, Dropbox, FTP, or your clipboard; or you can email or print it. Wow, that's a lot of options! The real reason I loved Photogene to begin with, though, was that it has an option to resize my pictures within the app; this is huge for me for those times that I take a high resolution picture but need it to be resized for posting in certain situations. There is also a watermark option if you need that. It's an amazing photo editing app.

18. BlogPress: (2.99)- BlogPress is a wonderful universal app for blogging on the go. I especially love the option to save an online or local version of the post I'm working on. The local save option is nice for when I don't have wifi access (like on a plane or the subway or...), but the online draft is really useful for times when I begin a blog on my phone, then work on it from my iPad or laptop later. I can modify or post it from any of my devices- it's so great, especially when I'm traveling. Unfortunately, BlogPress is currently awaiting approval of an update to make it stop crashing with iOS5, so right now isn't a great time to try it; however, when it's working BlogPress is great for blogging.

19. Bump: (Free)- First off, Bump is one of those apps that's just cool because of how it works. You simply smack your two phones, or phone and iPad or whatever, together and it will transfer your chosen info (pictures, contact information, app or music link, calendar date, etc) from one gadget to the other. Both people have to have Bump installed for it to work, but then the transfer is simple; you feel your phone make this pleasant little buzz and know that the transfer occurred.

20. iMovie: (4.99)- iMovie is pretty much the only app to have if you want to edit your videos on your phone. However, despite what the Apple commercials show, I don't think fine tuning your video creation on a tiny little screen is very easy. That said, though, this is about as good as it gets. With iMovie you are actually able to do quite a bit. You can choose a theme (which makes it look much more polished by just doing that), trim your videos, add music and/or sound effects, and record audio of your own. Once you have your video how you like it, you can share it to your camera roll, YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, CNN iReport or send it to iTunes. All in all, iMovie does a pretty good job of making movie editing possible on a less than ideal screen size. And, it's universal (making the 4.99 price a little easier to take) and supports AirPlay.

So, there you have it... Part Two of the "Top (roughly) Ten iPhone Apps." Now you can look forward to the final installment (aptly named "Part Three") later this month. App on.

Top Ten iPhone Apps

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:00:00 +0000

A few weeks (months?) ago I published a post listing my ten favorite iPad apps. I have been meaning to compose a similar list for iPhone apps, but have had a harder time narrowing my list down. However, some of my friends have recently gotten iPhones for the first time, so I'm feeling some new motivation to come up with a pared down list of what I feel are the must-have iPhone apps.

Wow, though; this has been a really hard post to write. I started out planning to come up with the top ten apps I use on a daily basis... just ten. Then I realized there was no way I could stop with only ten, so I grouped them into categories to combine apps into one number slot and kind of cheat my way down to only ten. The problem was that even with doing that, I ended up with 23 27 number slots (more than 45 apps)! And... I still felt like I left some out! Yikes. My solution is to publish my top ten, then my next top ten, then my honorable mentions, each as a separate post. So, here is my first top 21 ten apps and my reasons why I like them:

1. Cloud-based Storage:

Dropbox: (free)- One of the best things about Dropbox is that it's so easy to use after you have it installed. To get started you download the app on your iPhone and it will ask you to sign up for an account (or to sign in, if you already have an account). Then you need to go to Dropbox.com on your computer and download the software to allow you to drag files in and out of Dropbox just like any other folder on your computer. It is not platform specific, so you can store and later access files on any computer or tech gadget where you have Dropbox installed. Furthermore, you always know you are looking at the most recent version of whatever you're working on because any time you make a change, it's updated in Dropbox and, therefore, anywhere you access it. You get quite a bit of storage for free (and even more if you refer new people), but there is also an option to pay for more on a monthly or yearly basis if you need LOTS of space. Another benefit to Dropbox is that it's integrated with a number of other apps you may already use, making file saving, syncing, and sharing even easier. Finally, you can share any files or folders you want with others by clicking the appropriate buttons within the app. I love it!

Evernote: (free)- Evernote is pretty much the same concept as Dropbox (same kind of sign up, etc), but seems to me that Evernote offers a bit more. The thing that's great about Evernote is the filing system aspect of it. It reminds me of beautifully organized, searchable notecards. You can save pictures, documents, audio, etc to Evernote and it tags them (if you write a tag) and organizes them so you can find them later. Like Dropbox, you can access them and share them from anywhere you have Evernote or you login to it. It is great destination for clipped news articles, pictures, and even knitting patterns I want to access later.

If I absolutely HAD to choose between the two apps, I would go with Evernote, but since I don't have to choose, I use both. Dropbox is easier for pulling files from my computer desktop and Evernote is better for clipping from the web. They both are fabulously useful for keeping things organized.

2. Newsy apps:

USA Today: (free)- This is the app I go to on both my iPhone and my iPad to read the current news. As I mentioned in my iPad app post, USA Today isn't as in-depth as something like the New York Times, but it does a good job of providing enough information in a variety of areas (Top News, Sports, Life, Tech, Travel, etc) to keep me current on what's going on in the world. I like it too that I can share articles from within the app.

AP Mobile: (free)- I like the AP Mobile app because it sends me alerts on current news in the world right when it happens. I rarely open the app to read the news (that's what I use my USA Today app for), but it's great for staying on top of what's going on across the world.

The Weather Channel: (free)- The Weather Channel app doesn't do anything that makes me go wow, but it gives me the information I want to know in a simple, easy to navigate format. I can look at current conditions, as well as hourly, daily, and weekly (10 day) forecasts for my current location and favorite locations I have listed. I also use this app as my go-to weather app on the iPad.

AppAdvice: ($1.99)- I wouldn't call this a news app exactly, but in my effort to keep this down to ten items, I'm including App Advice here. I use it to get my iGadget news. This app aggregates app and Apple info into one place. I look forward to checking it for reviews on new apps and updates on what's happening in the world of Apple-y products. It's definitely not a necessity, but probably one of the apps I open the most.

3. Grocery (and other) shopping:

Grocery IQ: (free)- I use this app almost daily for my grocery list. It has nice organizational options, including the ability to add different stores, including non-grocery stores (although that takes a bit more creative customization, but is very doable). Grocery IQ is very customizable without being so detailed that it makes it more difficult than using a pen and paper. I like it because I always have my list with me when I remember something I need to add. It also has a nice feature that lets you scan a barcode to add an item to your list; thus making it more likely that you will actually get the same item you are trying to replace. Lastly, you can share your list with someone else easily, which is nice in case you somehow manage to get out of doing the grocery shopping that day!

4. Printing:

ePrint: ($2.99)- This app allows me to print from my iPhone even though I don't have a wireless printer that natively works with my iPhone. I can print from other programs by using the "open in" option or by opening ePrint directly and going from there. It's really nice to be able to print directly from my phone without having to involve my computer at all. Yesterday I printed something from my iPhone while standing in the backyard waiting for my dog to do his thing... maybe too much information, but pretty cool.

5. Social Networks:

I recognize the power of social networking, but use it very sporadically and inconsistently. When I do use it though, I want it to be simple and integrated. I have been asked why use an app instead of just going to Safari and opening the site there. For me, the apps produced by the social networks themselves are the cleanest and easiest way to navigate the social networking sites. They are designed with the iPhone in mind and have simple navigation based on that platform. Yes, you could do the same thing (most of the time) on Safari, but I like clicking the app icon and being logged in, with sharing capabilities from the get go, but it's a personal preference... just like everything else in this post!

Twitter: (free)- Twitter's app is pretty straightforward. If you use Twitter on your computer, you can navigate it on your phone app with no problems. You can manage multiple Twitter accounts and do searches fairly simply. The one gripe I have with the Twitter app is that I can't easily shorten URLs within a post. That problem is solved by one of the apps recommended below.

Facebook: (free)- Much like the Twitter app, the Facebook app is just a simple way to use Facebook on your iPhone. You can set it up to notify you when people post on your wall, etc. if you wish. You can upload pictures and can easily comment on or "like" people's posts. It just works... and that's nice.

Hootsuite: (free)- Hootsuite's benefit is that it is a central place that you can view and contribute to both Twitter and Facebook and you can have multiple accounts for each. In theory that sounds nice because you are just in one app, but I find that I don't use it as often as the Twitter and Facebook apps because the user interface just isn't as nice for me. So, you may ask, why do I have it on my top "ten" list? Well, the thing I REALLY like about it is that when I post using Hootsuite, I can shorten a URL within the post. It just does it. The other thing that's nice is that if I want to post the same thing to both Twitter and Facebook, I can just select both accounts and it will go to both places. Those are the times I use Hootsuite.

Google+: (free)- I am on Google+, but I am not an active user. I keep thinking I should take the time to get it up and going for me, but I just haven't yet. However, once I do, I'm ready with my Google+ app. Like the Twitter and Facebook apps above, it's straightforward and includes all of the stuff that goes with Google+... stream, messenger, photos, circles, etc.

6. Reading:

iBooks: (free)- This is Apple's standard offering so it's good because it's all totally integrated and works how it should and is just plain pretty. I'm not sure it has the best deals out there but it also doesn't seem like it's crazily overpriced. It syncs between one's various iGadgets nicely and I really have no complaints about it.

Kindle: (free)- This offering from Amazon was my overall favorite before they had their negotiation showdown with Apple and couldn't come to terms with Apple's fees. What that means for me, the consumer, is that I no longer can purchase books from within the app. It isn't a huge deal other than the bit of a pain it is to go to Amazon to browse for and buy books, then go back to the app to actually read. Once I have the book, I think the Kindle offering is every bit as good as Apple's iBooks and it too syncs between devices.

OverDrive: (free)- I don't feel like OverDrive is the easiest app to use, but I haven't found something better. What OverDrive does is allow me to check out books from the library. I can check out books from any library where I have a library card and they will be loaned to me on my iGadget for 7 to 21 days depending on my settings. I keep hoping that iBooks will come up with a borrowing option like what is being offered on the new Kindle, but until then, the OverDrive app accomplishes what I need.

7. Music:

SoundHound: (free)- SoundHound is one of those apps that's just plain fun. If you hear a song and want to know anything about it, you just tap "listen now" and it will identify the song (it's amazing how well it does at this!) and give you more information than you could possibly want. The lyrics scroll along in time with the song, there are links to relevant concert information and tickets and the iTunes download of the song, a bio of the artist(s), etc. You can also click on a link to create a Pandora station based on that song. It's so fun! (I also like it for previewing the lyrics of songs my kids want to download.)

Pandora: (free)- Pandora is a cool way to learn about new music you might like or just find music that suits your mood at the time without having to commit to just one artist or come up with your own playlist. What you do is type in the name of an artist or a song that you want to listen to and Pandora will identify (based on some sort of complicated algorithm I assume) other songs that will be to your liking. If they happen to include a song you don't care for, you can click the "thumbs down" icon and it will skip that song and fine tune it's understanding of your preferences. Likewise, you can "thumbs up" if you especially like what Pandora offers. Pandora saves the "stations" you create so you can listen to them at a later time without having to recreate your choices. It's good.

8. Sports:

ESPN Score Center: (free)- If you like sports or just want to sound like you know what you're talking about when someone mentions the "big game," ESPN Score Center has you covered. You can customize what it tells you so you get top story information, but also get updates on what's going on with your favorite sports and teams. There are optional settings to get alerts for when certain games start, end, or whatever. It's straightforward and covers it all.

Fantasy Football (Monster) 2011/Yahoo! Fantasy Football 2011: (free)- If you have a fantasy football league, you need to have an app to manage your teams on the go (especially when you forget about those pesky Thursday night games and have to make an adjustment while waiting for your child in the parking lot somewhere). However, we have varying opinions in my house as to whether the Monster Fantasy Football or the Yahoo! Fantasy Football app is better, so I decided to list them side by side. My opinion is that the Yahoo app is easier to adjust my line up with, but the Monster app allows you to manage all your different leagues. We have ESPN, Yahoo, and NFL leagues and I can manage them all through the Monster app. I'm not ready to say that it's all roses though because it seems like I run into problems with it not being as current on my updates and scores as the Yahoo app. I know there's also an ESPN app and an NFL app, but have not tried them out sufficiently to make a call on them.

9. Exercise:

RunKeeper: (free)- RunKeeper is probably one of the apps that I would keep if I had to dwindle my app collection down to only ten. I love how easy it is to keep track of my exercise. It uses GPS to keep track of where I am and tell me my speed, calories burned, and pace (both current and over the course of my exercise). It then syncs with RunKeeper.com to keep track of all my exercise. I'm not a diehard exerciser, but I use this a lot and I really like how it maps out my exercise. It has lots of options for kind of exercise you enter, and I really use this for every time I go out for a hike, walk, run, or whatever.

10. Office:

Pages/Numbers: ($9.99 each)- I don't think there will ever be a document or spreadsheet app that is ideal on a screen the size of a mobile phone. However, that said, I think Pages and Numbers do a really nice job. They have a pleasing interface and just feel nice to use. You can start with a blank sheet or use one of its custom templates. It's simple to add text and pictures and adjust styles and formatting. The one gripe I have with Pages and Numbers is that I can't put my document in Dropbox or send it to ePrint; I have to email it to myself then open it in a different program. There is also the option to send it to iTunes or copy to iDisk, iWork.com, or WebDAV. It's not a deal-breaker, but does make it so I have to add in an additional step to print my document (please note, if you have a compatible wireless printer, you are able to print right from the program). These two apps are a couple of the most expensive I've ever purchased (I tend to be pretty cheap on my apps), but I needed to have a way to create documents and spreadsheets on my iPhone and iPad. Also, because they are universal apps, they work on both my iGadgets, making the price tag more doable for me (Both apps are WAY better not the iPad). I feel like they were a good purchase.

So... those are my first ten(ish) recommended apps. I don't feel that these apps are in order of value to me. My next post will list the next ten and I recommend them just as strongly, so that post will also be the "top ten." I've decided in the process of writing this post, that what I'm really writing is a series of posts on my most favorite apps. I'm sure I've missed some that others feel are vitally important and I'd love to know about them- I mean, who knows how many posts will be included in this series!

San Fransisco, the speed version

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:30:00 +0000

This weekend our family went to San Fransisco for a quick little getaway. We didn't have a lot of time there, but it was fun and we had beautiful weather (as you can see in the picture below).

The last time our whole family was in San Fransisco, I had Jacob in a stroller and Spencer in a front pack, so this was a much different experience. Jason had work to do so the boys and I did some exploring (and a little Christmas shopping) on our own, but first we walked the bridge.

Despite the fact that Spencer couldn't get over his irritation that the Golden Gate Bridge wasn't (isn't) "golden," the bridge was beautiful with the blue background of the sky. The picture above was taken with my iPhone 4 and I didn't touch it up or edit it at all- such a pretty fall day!

The picture below, however, is obviously altered. I edited it on my iPad using a program called PhotoStudioHD (@fxphotostudio); I applied simple filters to change the original image (picture in the top left of the collage). The filters used were: Original (no filter), Black and White Grained, Color Pencil Sketch, and Atlantic Beach. I saved the new images to my photo library then opened them in another app called Instamation that allows me to arrange them either in a 2x2 grid or 1x4 (like you get in an old fashioned photo booth). Both apps are really quick and simple to use for fun results.

Cable Cars (edited using PhotoStudioHD for iPad & Instamation)

The highlights of our day were The Cheesecake Factory on the top floor of Macy's at Union Square and the nighttime ride on the cable car. I would highly recommend both!

The Cheesecake Factory was amazing- we ordered a cheesecake slice for each of us, which was about twice as much as we could actually eat! Look at the size of those three cheesecakes (Oreo Cookie for Spencer, Peanut Butter Cake for Jacob, and Chocolate Mousse for me)! We loved them all and will definitely go back again; maybe next time we'll share one piece...probably not, though.

The Cable Cars are a typical touristy, must-do experience for San Fransisco, but at a friend's recommendation, we rode them at night and that really took it up a notch. It wasn't nearly as crowded, there were beautiful lights, and it just felt more special somehow. The boys and I rode from Union Square down to the Wharf, then hung out in a coffee shop and enjoyed warm drinks and wifi for a bit before riding the trolley back to Union Square. It was just a nice evening.

We also got to play some with Jason... bouncing away at the House of Air (@houseofair). The House of Air is a large warehouse/hangar that has been converted to an indoor trampoline park. There is no good way to describe it, so I'll let the pictures and videos do the work.

This first picture is just a screenshot of the video from my iPad (in iMovie). You can see that I stopped the action when I was up in the air. I'm pretty pleased with this picture because I never knew I could do that! My shoulders were pretty sore afterwards! I added a video below of Jason doing a forward flip (missed the video of the backward flip he mastered while we were there!), but I still need to edit the video of the boys; then I will post those videos too.

You can kind of see in those videos what the House of Air looks like and how it works. It's a little chaotic at first, but they did have "adult swim" time when the kids were only allowed in one section and the adults got to play on the other. That was nice because then you didn't have to worry about landing on a six year old who happened to cross under you when you were up in the air... something to avoid. So, if you're in the Bay Area and looking to get a little exercise, check out the House of Air.

One last thing... San Fransisco was a much easier, quick getaway than I expected. From our house to our hotel in downtown (right across from Union Square) it took less than six hours including stops. I still prefer Portland, but we had a good time and it's nice to have options.

Pumpkin party invites with instagram & postagram

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 22:08:00 +0000

Every year our family hosts a pumpkin carving party, and this is the 11th year of our totally fun tradition. The boys and I started getting ready for it by putting out some of our Halloween decorations this past weekend. I don't know who decided that chartreuse-y green is a halloween color, but I'm glad they did! I love these little treat bowls and the fun green bowl takes it all up a notch in the color world for me! It also keeps a playfulness in the decorations that's important for me. We are into the candy, the dressing up, and the pumpkin carving, but not the gruesome yuck and scary stuff.

Also, I have to show you my invitations I did this year. Usually I try to be artsy and come up with some little crafty notecard invitation (they're never exceptional, but always handmade- kinda my trademark, maybe...handmade but not exceptional?), but this year I decided to go with techy (and still crafty-ish?). I used a super cool program called postagram to import a picture from last year's party that I had uploaded to instagram.

If you've never tried instagram, it's a fun little app (I know it's there for iPhone and I imagine it's available for Android as well), that let's you apply cool filters to your pictures. The instagram filter I used is called "early bird" to give it that old timey feel. Postagram is also an iphone and Android app that allows you to upload pictures from your phone's photo album, facebook, or instagram (or take a new picture right then) and create a postcard that they will send to the address you choose. It costs 99 cents for each postagram to be printed and mailed, but you can also buy credits which give you a better price cut. It makes sending a postcard so easy and I never have to go find a stamp!

Work buddy

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:35:00 +0000

This is my work companion. Otto is a two year old pug we found at the local animal shelter. He was a stray from out of town, so we know nothing about his past but can assume a couple of things.

1. He had a pretty rough period before he made it to the shelter. When we first met him he was having a horrible skin reaction to fleas, he needed his teeth cleaned (one was so bad it had to be pulled), and he hadn't been neutered.

2. He is desperately afraid of being left; I think because of whatever happened in his first two years of life and maybe how he ended up at the shelter. As such, he has a fear of abandonment and has major separation anxiety.

Since having gotten Otto home (post flea treatment and neutering), his skin is doing much better, and his anxiety every time we walk out of the room has lessened. He's eating great (if you can call swallowing your food whole in gulps, good!) and seems to be adjusting well. We think he's awesome and love having him in our family. Our cat, Eddie, doesn't mind him most of the time, but is having a bit of a hard time transitioning from the only child role. Mostly they just ignore each other, but I'm still hopeful that they'll play together someday.

Anyway, as I said, Otto is my work companion. The picture above is taken of Otto just to my left as I work on the computer. It's nice having him around.

Small sample

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 01:34:00 +0000

Okay, be kind in critiquing my photoshop background. I'm totally teaching myself and learning by trial and error with more emphasis on the error it seems at the moment. Anyway, here's a picture of my fall background I made. I am sure there are simpler ways to make it, but I went with the "stumble your way through" approach and this is what I ended up with by the time I was done.

If you want to see the background "in action"... I uploaded it to my practice site. You can check it out at kellydevries.blogspot.com. The site is truly just a practice site where I mess around with things I learn (not so different than this site, I suppose!), so it's pretty much a mish-mashy mess. Anyway, take a look and see what you think. If you want a copy of my inaugural background offering, click below to get instructions and the link. I will get better; I promise... but until then, this is at least a start.

Happy Fall!

~Click here for the fall background links (top paper), (bottom paper), and upload/installation instructions.

Much ugliness, but I did it all by myself!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 05:48:00 +0000

I am so happy. I have been trying to figure out how to make scrapbook paper type layouts from scratch in Adobe Elements for...ever.... it seems. Well tonight was a a hallelujah moment and I did it. I made a basic background paper like I could buy as part of an online digital scrapbooking kit! Granted, it's so ugly that I won't put a picture of it on here, but even still, I did it all by myself. So, now I am sure I have the know-how to make beautiful, fun, creative, funky, or otherwise Kelly-ish layout papers... all... by... my... self! Yay!

Once I make some scrapbook-y type pages that are fit for human eyes, I'll post them on here to give away to happy homes! I'm so excited to start playing with colors and designs, but I'm thinking that 11:00 at night is not the best time for me to start in on this. Aaaah, hold me back.

Fall makes me feel like baking and knitting

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:05:00 +0000

I love this time of year. It makes me feel all domestic, motherly, and crafty. I get optimistic about all the handmade gifts I will make, the breads I will bake, and the wonderful crafts I will do with my children. The optimistic feeling is pushed aside a bit in November by the reality of life and time and my less than perfectionistic tendencies when crafting, but for now I am all ideas and dreams and plans.

One of the things this time of year signals for me, is the return to knitting. In the summer I try to keep up with knitting a bit, but it's when the weather starts to turn cooler that my drive to play with all the colorful yarns and pour through my books searching out patterns really kicks in. You should see my bookshelf on Ravelry! I can spend hours going through those pages in real life and I plan to this next week as the weather turns more fall-like. I hope to pick out some simple, yet wonderful, items to knit for some of the people on my list.

One book that I'm looking forward to searching thoroughly is "Kristin Knits" by Kristin Nichols. I love her use of color and her sense of design. She inspires me to put together colors in new ways and I just love looking at the pictures in her books; the patterns are simple to follow and yet don't look simple when completed. I have both "Kristin Knits" and "Color by Kristin" and they are both wonderful. I'll post some pictures below to inspire you to check them out. Also, check out my other favorite knitting books on the sidebar. If I get techy enough, I'll put a link to it on here. Until then, just slide to the right and scroll down.

How to make a fancy schmancy blog background

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 01:36:00 +0000

So, you have a blog on Blogger and you want a fancy schmancy background to give it your own personal touch... well, look no further because here are your easy peasy instructions (makes sense that you'd have easy peasy instructions for something fancy schmancy, huh?).

Hop right to it, follow the directions below, and prepare to amaze yourself:

1. Open Blogger and login to your account

a. click on the Design tab

b. click on the Page Elements tab

c. click "add a new gadget" and choose the HTML gadget

d. paste the code below into the HTML gadget page (leave the title blank)

<style type="text/css">
body {
background-image: url (YOUR DIRECT LINK WILL GO HERE);
background-position: center;
background-attachment: fixed;
}
</style>

2. Open a new browser window for photobucket

a. upload your chosen pattern/background to your account (accounts are free and easy to sign up for)

b. click on your uploaded picture

c. copy the "direct link"

3. Go back to your Blogger window and paste the direct link into the text where it will replace YOUR DIRECT LINK WILL GO HERE

a. click save

b. view your blog and be amazed by your tech skills!

Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:32:00 +0000

I've decided that I need to focus. I like learning as my interest pulls me, but need to provide some structure and direction for myself so that I can see the progress. So, I've been composing some "professional" goals for myself.

1. Learn Adobe Photoshop Elements
2. Learn HTML & CSS
3. Design a website from scratch
4. Maintain my Live.Love.Laugh site on somewhat of a regular basis with both personal tidbits and beginning to add in more of my tech stuff (e.g., apps lists, tutorials as I learn, etc).

Those are huge goals that really don't have a solid end point, so I need to provide myself with some quantifiable baby steps to get me going in the right direction. So, for number one, learning Photoshop Elements, what does that look like to me?

I. Learn Adobe Photoshop Elements
A. Create a background template from scrapbooking packages on the Internet
B. Create a background template from scratch
C. Watch tutorial on Elements use for solid layer manipulation
D. Manipulate photos to create patterns
II. Learn HTML & CSS
A. Work through Headfirst book on HTML & CSS
B. Use code app to look at HTML code & CSS on websites and manipulate to see change
C. Mess with my website code to affect change on sites
1. use blogger sites
2. use paintbox designs site

I have a feeling I probably need to break those steps down even more, but for now I'm going to focus on I.A.- Learning Adobe by just messing with the background template from digital scrapbook pages.

Ravelry

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:31:00 +0000

My new favorite knitting site is Ravelry. I know it isn't new, but this summer I really started using it and seeing some of the huge potential! Look at this screen shot or my Ravelry library- it's beautiful... and, so simple! I love it that adding a book is as simple as clicking "add book" and typing in the name or author. The website takes care of adding the pictures and organizing the books on the shelves. It was very fun to add all my books and magazines, and now, I believe I can even search my books for patterns. I haven't found it to be completely reliable at finding every mitten pattern, for example, but it does seem to do a good job of at least pulling up some patterns from my books for me. I need to play with it some more to make sure I can't be doing my search better.

I also love the ability to inventory all of my knitting needles and crochet hooks on Ravelry. That makes it so I can always look up whether I have a given needle at home, even if I'm nowhere near home. In theory that means I will never buy duplicate needles again! The reality, though, is that for that to happen, I actually need a program that provides the right size needle for me from my inventory when I'm in a yarn store. You know how you get a new project when you're out of town and you want to start right away, so you think "oh, I could probably use another set of size 6 needles anyway..." Well, that's how I end up with three sets of size 6 needles- I'm not sure even Ravelry's excellence in inventory can save me from myself on that one, but maybe seeing that I already own three pairs will make me think twice!

Anyway, besides the needle and book organization Ravelry provides, what it is really best at is providing an unbelievable collection of patterns and resources (both people and products) for the knitting and crocheting community. I am continually amazed by everything that is on there. I can search for a pattern for pretty much anything and find it! So far the only pattern I have been unable to find exactly is a Philadelphia Eagles sweater for my pug...that's pretty specific, so I'm not going to hold it against them. However, I should say that if I put it on the Ravelry site that I wanted one, I bet someone would either point me to a pattern or create one for me! There are thousands of knitters on there who are willing, able, and cheery helpers. Last thing on the community... it also allows you to be "friends" with others. What that means for me is that I can share knitting highs and lows with my sister-in-law in Ithaca, as well as with my knitter friends right here in town. Very fun. Ravelry is an awesome site and definitely worth the time to check out.

Top Ten iPad Apps

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:55:00 +0000

I have been thinking that I should write this post for a long time. You see, in my little world, I'm the person that people ask when they want to know what apps are best for such and such. I don't know that I'm as expert as some, but I definitely try out and use a lot of apps so that may make me qualified enough. And, the reality is, whether I'm the most knowledgeable or not I'm going to write this post anyway! So, here goes... my very favorite iPad apps:

1. Zite: news app (free)- The best thing about the Zite app is that it's totally personalized. At first I didn't really appreciate what that could look like. I thought it was a nice idea that I could read articles and rate them so the app would fine-tune the choices it made for me. What I'm finding I really like though, is the fact that I have a whole magazine where almost every article I read is about something I'm interested in. I currently have a magazine that includes articles on knitting, web design, education, technology, crafting, and the Philadelphia Eagles, among other things. I love that! And, as I rate the articles, authors, and news sources, my magazine just keeps getting better and better! Also, I can share my article in Twitter, Delicious, Facebook, Evernote, and email just by clicking a button; saving to Read It Later and Instapaper is also just a button click. Any time I can do something with only one click and without having to navigate to multiple sites, it's a good thing!

2. USA Today: news app (free)- I like the USA Today app because it looks and feels the most to me like a real newspaper. It has just the right amount of news in an easy-to-navigate layout with sections for Money, Sports, Life, Tech, and Travel. It also has a nice colorful interface that I prefer over the plain black and white format of some of the news apps. Like the print version of USA Today compared to the print version of The New York Times, it's simpler and less packed, which makes it more approachable when I only have a brief period of time to get caught up on the latest news. If you're looking for the end-all, be-all of news apps, USA Today probably isn't it, but if you'd just like a quick overview, I think it does a great job of presenting it in a clean, appealing format.

3. Photogene: photo-editing app (2.99)- Photogene is great because I can do all my cropping, editing, and photo-filtering in one place and save it or share it easily. Exporting is supported to twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Dropbox, Picasa, email, and FTP. There are multiple filters and tweaks you can use to modify and enhance any picture. I also like it because it can handle (and resize if I want) larger files than most of the other photo-editing apps I've tried.

4. BlogPress: blogging (2.99)- Need I say more...I'm using it to write this post. Probably my favorite aspect of this app is that I can save an online or local version of whatever post I'm working on. The local save option is nice for when I don't have wifi access, but the online draft is really useful for times when I begin a blog on my phone, then work on it from my iPad or laptop later. I can modify or post it from any of my devices- super convenient, especially when I'm traveling!

5. Blogsy: blogging (4.99)- I think Blogsy works well for when I want to be a bit more techy with my blogging. If I want to mess with the code, Blogsy allows me to alter the HTML code of any blog I'm posting and makes it so I can modify specific settings a bit more. Blogsy also allows me within app to grab pictures or videos from Flickr, Picasa, YouTube, Google, or my photo library and add them into my post.

6. Hulu Plus: entertainment (free, but Plus subscription is 7.99/month) - I started out with the free version of Hulu, but quickly upgraded to the paid version so I could have access to all my favorite shows. I'm not a great exerciser, but I find that if I put on Glee, 30 Rock, Psych, or Raising Hope on my iPad, I can run on the treadmill for a lot longer! I've actually gone farther just so I can finish my show! Now that has to be a good thing!

7. AppAdvice: iPhone and iPad app news (1.99)- Every morning while I drink my coffee, I read the latest news on AppAdvice. AppAdvice is simply what the name implies, advice about apps. It tells about free or on-sale apps, gives reviews and comparisons of apps, and throws in tidbits of iPad, iPhone, and iPod news. I look forward to my morning reading it because I always feel like I'm about to learn about something new and exciting that I want to try out.

8. MyPicsHD: photo organization (3.99)- MyPicsHD was a life saver on my most recent Spring Break trip. I was able to download my pictures from my digital camera to my iPad, then use MyPicsHD to create albums for uploading to my picasa account. I found it to be a really easy way to stay ahead of the digital picture avalanche that I tend to create on vacation. I came home from the vacation with my pictures already all organized and uploaded and available for viewing. Pretty cool!

9. Dropbox: cloud-based storage/access (free)- If you don't know about Dropbox yet, you need to just stop everything and sign up for an account! Dropbox is basically a cloud-based storage unit somewhere in the sky. (?) Okay, maybe not really like that, but I don't have to know how it actually works in order to love it. My first use of Dropbox was when I worked in a school that only used Microsoft based computers while at home I only use my Mac. With Dropbox I was able to store a file from my school computer to my Dropbox file and then access it later from that same computer or any other computer I log in to Dropbox from. I didn't have to worry about whether I was looking at the most recent version of whatever I was working on either because any time I made a change to a document, Dropbox updated it across devices. Also, because I have the Dropbox app on my iPhone and iPad, I can access my files from either of those devices just as easily. You get quite a bit of storage for free (and even more if you refer new people), but there is also an option to pay for more on a monthly or yearly basis if you need LOTS of space.

Another benefit to Dropbox is that it's integrated with a number of other apps you may already use, making file saving, syncing, and sharing even easier. And, even if it isn't a part of the program you work with, Dropbox is still easy to use; when you sign up for a Dropbox account it asks if you would like to download the software, which will allow you to drag files in and out of Dropbox just like any other folder on your computer. It's really easy and made my life between multiple computers much simpler! In addition, you can share any files or folders you want with others by clicking the appropriate buttons within the app. I love it!

10. Evernote: cloud-based filing system/storage/access- Pretty much the same thing goes for Evernote as for Dropbox. Get it. Really. The thing that's great about Evernote is the filing system aspect of it. It reminds me of beautifully organized, searchable notecards. You can save pictures, documents, audio, etc to Evernote and it tags them (if you write a tag) and organizes them so you can find them later. Like Dropbox, you can access them and share them from anywhere you have Evernote or you login to it. It is great destination for clipped news articles, pictures, and even knitting patterns I want to access later.

In general, I'm a big fan of Free apps and don't buy a lot of apps that cost more than that. However, as you can see in my Top Ten list, I have recommended a few for which I shelled out some money (although some I got on sale or free before they were big hits). I only put those in because I really feel that they are worth the money I spent on them. Sometimes a free app that only gets you part way to where you're trying to go isn't as good a value as one that you pay for that does the whole job seamlessly; that's where I'm coming from on the paid apps. If you know of one that works as well as (or better than!) one of my paid ones, by all means, tell us about it!

Finally, I called this post the "Top Ten iPad Apps" so I'm feeling like I really need to actually write only ten, but as I am doing this I'm realizing that my top ten actually includes closer to twenty apps. Hmmmm. I guess that means you can look forward to a "Top Ten iPad Apps: Part Deux."

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Klamath Falls,United States

Yay! My learning blog isn't totally ugly anymore.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:13:00 +0000

Isn't that nice to see? I know it's a little thing, but I just feel like I'll be able to sleep better at night knowing that I eliminated a little bit of ugliness from the world today (my old HTML, CSS learning curve, blog background/title disaster). Aahhhh....