Two very large projects reached completion yesterday.
First, here’s Erin, unblocked and with just one button. This is Erin, by Alice Starmore, from The Celtic Collection. More or less. I changed from a drop-sleeve to a modified set-in sleeve, simplified the colorwork on the sleeves and the shoulders, changed to a V-neck, and did a different sort of neck and button band. Also different colors.
I knitted this on #3 needles in Peruvian Wool and Wool of the Andes.
It is a boxy sweater with horizontal stripes, so we know it’s not going to be flattering, and my boys say it looks like an old lady sweater (actually, #2 son said the colors make his eyes bleed, but we’ll overlook that) but I think I’ll love it anyway.
The other project is my website, which went live this morning, I believe. If you are engaged in web design or are otherwise a computer guy, you should just go and admire it. Appreciate the beauty of the code. Except disregard the fact that I haven’t done the meta language yet. I may do that this afternoon.
I may also go play with the blog, which The Computer Guy styled for me to match the rest of the website. However, I must first eat and dress and go sing in church. My partner in this morning’s duet emailed me last night, saying what was the music this morning because she was thinking of coming to the early service.
There is no way to respond to this with, “You and I are singing a duet for the offertory” without having it sound a little as though you think she might have forgotten.
We are singing, “Saranam,” a Pakistani hymn to the traditional tune “Punjab.” I couldn’t find any recordings of it for you, I’m afraid. We sang through this once, last week. At the time, my duet partner suggested cutting some of the verses.
She and I choose the congregational music for the early service, and every week we go through this. She wants to have just one or two verses of the hymns, and I want all of them. I came from a church where we always sang them all. We sing them all in the 11:00 service. You can hardly find a single hymn nowadays that takes longer than three minutes to sing, and I find it hard to believe that people get bored of them and want to move on that fast. Some folks are only just catching the tune along about the fourth verse.
I always say, “You decide. I would sing them all, myself.”
But when we were practicing the duet and she proposed shortening it, I said, “Do you really think people will be wishing we’d shut up and let the sermon begin?” I was just wondering, you know.
If people are in so much of a hurry to get on the golf course that shaving thirty seconds off the church service makes a difference to them, then they really need to be singing longer, in order to allow the calming effects of the music to work.
After church, we are meeting my parents for a celebration of #2 son’s birthday, and then I think I’ll need to do something interesting with these apples from a local orchard. People haven’t been simply eating them, as I had anticipated they would.
Erin is beautiful; the new website is beautiful; and those are very handsome apples. Congratulations on all three…
I love your finished sweater! I bet you’ll get lots of enjoyment out of wearing it. 🙂 I’m off to take a look at your website now.
When I got up today, I checked email and some blogs on my phone. When I opened your blog, the only part of your blog that appeared on initially opening the page was the first line. I couldn’t see the photo, but my first thought was “Oh, she finished Erin!
Erin is very pretty. I’m so happy for you! With the right clothes, you can really show that off. In fact, come to think of it, you can show that off no matter what you wear with it!
When you decided to simplify the sleeves, I didn’t think it would work out as well as it did. Another alternative would have been to make the sleeves plain. You could have even made one sleeve one solid color, and the other one a different color.
But it’s very glorious the way it is.
I don’t think it looks inherently like an old lady’s sweater. But it could be made to look like one with the wrong clothes and accessories. You could also make it look young and hip with the right clothes.
I finished all the accessories for my new coat last night. I stayed up late to finish them. I’ll blog about it later. Finishing was a real pain near the end, and I was so glad to be done with them.
I checked out your new site while I was on the phone, too, because I thought you’d like the feedback on how it displayed.
On the phone, I see small pieces of the art. The art I do see fills up the screen on my phone (a Sidekick 3), and I see it in pieces (the left part, and then the right part). The text comes across beautifully, and is clear and legible. The phone shows your site much better than most websites.
On a computer, the ‘site looks much more coherent and unified. It’s beautiful!
I don’t know where to begin with praise. It’s so great that it threw the only hesitation I had into sharp relief. I read words that I don’t fully understand there about how you could improve a website. Then I started clicking on other pages, and they told me everything I need to know.
It’s well thought out, it looks great, it makes even things I was unfamiliar with understandable without talking down to me. If I had money, I’d want to hire you.
Well, except for the perverse streak I have where I want to do things for myself and not be dependent on anyone else.
Is your blog done on blogger? Or is it a page in the website?
I love your website, too. It’s pretty, and readable and quite informative. Congratulations! I need to go apply myself to my own website now…
@ozarque – Thank you.
@princess_smartypants – Thank you. Inspiring, isn’t it? I saw your site a few days ago and I like the bubbles.
@lostarts – Thanks! The blog is at blogger, though The Computer Guy fixed it to look the same as the website. We looked at making it resident on the site, and there didn’t seem to be enough advantages to justify it.
When your business is profitable, you should hire me for site analysis and SEO so you’ll know what to do for yourself for maximum effectiveness. It saves you time, and you get the benefit of my snazzy software. It gives a good return on investment.
@fibermom –
That is a slick trick! It looks like a seamless part of your website!
Yeah, if I get some money, I’d love to hire you.
My friend, John says I have to stay positive. Here’s how I should say that (according to him):
WHEN I earn loads of money, I’ll hire you.
You get the idea.
Erin is beautiful! I hope you are proud of that knitting. It has been fun watching you work on Erin all this time and it is so exciting to see the finished object!
The website looks really nice! Later I will take some time to really go through it…I just took a brief glimpse…enough to see it is very tasteful and well laid out.
@craftymommavt – Thank you!
I’ve been working on Erin off and on since Christmas 2005, which makes it perhaps the longest-running WIP in my history. It’s good to have her finished.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Erin came out beautifully. I have enjoyed watching her progression. I like the changes you made with her and i agree, i believe this will be the sweater ‘that you will love anyway’. I see you, snuggled in it with a cup of tea. Congrats she is a beauty.
Erin is Gorgeous.
@pink_hebe – Thank you! I’m glad to hear you’re feeling better, too.
My goodness! I wandered by for the first time in ages only to see Erin, completed! I recall when you cast on for her. Looks great!