1. Thanks to tips from Lisa (Hi, Lisa! (who reads my LJ via bloglines)), I've gotten all the blogs I read indexed into Bloglines. Just one site to visit - wahoo! Since I post on LJ, I'm not "up" on all the cool tools & tricks that exist for blogs. I'm putting a link to my favorite blog collection (via bloglines) in my sidebar. People can also subscribe to live journals, so I put the RSS feed info. in the sidebar too. There were only 3 blogs I couldn't subscribe to (no RSS feed), but that's manageable. I will probably add one or 2 of them to my sidebar. Now, at least, I don't have to open 30 or 40 blogs. Which I can't do anyway, so I fall behind constantly. This way, I can keep up!


2. Later today, I hope to get my webpages moved to their new home on comcast and close down the AT&T accounts. So, if you check out my pages, be aware of two URLs that will help (plus, links in my sidebar WILL be updated): www.elsfavours.com will contain all the knitting-related stuff; and www.myhalloweenlinks.com will contain the Halloween-related stuff. The pins are bye-bye, and I will keep the "about feast gear" pages up until the forwarding domain expires.

Craft news, I need to post some pics of the pillow I made for my friend Anita K.'s birthday (it's okay -- she doesn't read this, and even if she did, she knows about it). It is the finest sewing I've ever managed in my lifetime. I am SO proud! After my fun with harpzombie's & my pillows (see), my SIL, C., put me onto making them sham-style. This means I don't have to sew up an edge by hand, and the finish is MUCH neater. Bonus, the pillow can be removed easily and the cover can be cleaned (I think the appliques are okay to wash). I'll do a picture post later today, with them all behind cuts, showing it. It's a light green & blue plaid with an "Om" symbol appliqued on it (she requested a meditation pillow). I mean, the plaids line up, almost exactly, and the lines are straight and I didn't sew anything inside-out. It's practically perfect!

I have A LOT of birthdays in August, and everyone is getting handmade gifts. This does not mean I saved any money, mind you, and certainly not time. But everything has a real personal touch, and I enjoyed all the projects.

Book News:I visited one of my favorite yarn stores (LYSs) yesterday, partially to shop (they have the BEST clearance section) and also to drop off a copy of the press release. I don't actually make anything more or less if the book does well, but I WANT it to do well, because I think it's a great project! Of course, this shop has zero internet presence. I'm not even sure if anyone there has an email address. Whenever I mention something I read online that's taken the (online) knitting world by storm, they give me these blank looks. So, they've never heard about this book (which might be the distributor's fault), nor had they heard of "At Knits End," which is one of the hottest knitting-related books out right now. Good news though: They're all excited about the book and promised to order some! I'm doing this at every LYS I visit. I have 3 main ones that I actually shop at, and then I'll expand the net. I have a folder of color print-outs in my car, and I grab one on my way in to the store. My count right now is 2 stores who have promised to order the book. I'm headed to #3 today -- lucky for me I need size #13 DPNs to finish a hat, and they're open on Sundays.

I should email Annie and make sure I'm not overstepping my bounds. If I am, I'll stop at these 3 (because it will be too late!). But if she's cool with it, I don't mind spreading the word. So far, the shop managers/owners (all 2 of them) have been at least a little impressed that one of the contributors is local and is proselytizing for the cause.

I gotta say, I do NOT understand why most of my LYSs don't go online. The internet is not only their competition, in some ways, but also a great resource. They can't be on top of EVERYTHING, but an hour of reading a few select blogs a day would put them ahead of the game. One store didn't even know about the Daisy needles, which have been out for awhile, but recently talked up online. I was in there when a customer came looking for them. They don't want to know (hands over ears: "la la la, I can't hear you") about free patterns online, so they don't read Knitty or other online mags, etc. But what I don't think they realize is that they might not sell PATTERNS to everyone, but they can sell YARN (& needles & stuff) to everyone. So sure, try to sell the patterns you have in the shop, but if there is a free one that's better, help out a customer and sell them all the yarn they need! Especially the super-easy stuff. At the very least, they should be aware of what's out there! I totally get that they have a vested interest in selling stuff, but pretending it doesn't exist isn't going to make the internet go away.

ETA: Heard back from Annie (SO quickly!): yes, please, spead the word! :-)