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Looking for the yarn shop list, follow this link.
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I keep thinking 'I must get out with the camera, I haven't posted many photo's lately', but either the sun has beaten down - too hot to go rambling - or it's rained cats and dogs - too wet! So the blog is pic-lite* at the moment. Sorry. And I don't have much of a post for you either I'm afraid. Just news of this and that.
I've been doing a bit of bloggy housekeeping. Won't hurt the ol' SEO, and I like to ring the changes. You've read those
Fly Lady inspired posts folk write about building housework into their daily routine? Well I do that with the blog. (Only the blog, the house gets a wipe over if it's lucky and is blitzed on Saturdays when we're
all here to share the pain.) Do you check your crawl errors and look for broken links from time to time?** And back up your content
and your template? And add new features, just to keep things fresh? And take a gander at your stats? Not because you're counting but because you can learn about your audience from them. Ooh, hark at me! But you should, you know.
Yesterday I swopped my old social media buttons for some custom icons, all neatly 'above the fold', so now everyone who stops by knows exactly how to connect with me without needing to scroll down. The job's not quite done - I need to add a link to
Ravelry - but I'm getting there.
What else is new? The just published
Big List of the Best Yarn Shops, that's what, my gift to knitters and crocheters attempting SABLE, aka Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy! Well I did say there'd be yarn shopping, now you can join me! In fact you've no excuse not to, because the listed stores all sell online. Visually the page still needs tweeking so please forgive me the lack of images. Do have a gander and tell me what you think. It's a resource I intend to grow and I want to get it right.
Heartfelt thanks to all who sent
sabbatical good wishes, and book recommendations. Much appreciated m'dears. My current reading is
The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook
by Carol Ekarius, which is fascinating stuff but I could do with a good novel for bedtime. Ekarius' book is great but it's not quite the gripping read I generally choose to snuggle under the duvet with at the end of the day.
Oops, must dash, it's nearly knit and natter time. I'm still on my knitting sabbatical but knit and natter is chums and coffee and cake, in a yarn shop, and is
not to be missed! What are
you up to this morning? Do tell!
Don't forget to enter the giveaway if you haven't already, it's
here.
Eek, I almost forgot the shout outs! Hello to new commenters, followers, and all around good guys, Catherine at
Foxglove Lane, Mrs Sutton at
The Hill House Diaries, Greer at
Typically Red, Elflyn at
Rosehips and Spider Webs, Stephen at
Soy of the North, Amanda at
Crafty in the Med,
Mrs Grateful and
A Load of Old Tat. That's not all of you, more next time! And thank you for stopping by :D
*Eugh, awful word, no idea why I used it!
** I'm not going to bore you with the details of how, or why, but check out Webmaster Tools if you haven't already.
Backing up a Blogger blog is easy. WordPress and TypePad people, sorry I have no idea.
Annie, you are so computer savvy. I, on the other hand, am a computer klutz and need to rely on my OH to sort me out when he can be bothered. I have finally backed up my iPhoto's, but more out of necessity because my Mac was staging a mini strike and not because I'm organized! I have never thought of backing up my template, it just didn't occur to me so thank you for that. Thanks, also, for your yarny link, thank you kindly :)
ReplyDeleteI look at my stats on Blogger, Sitemeter and Google Analytics. They all tell me completely different stories. Blogger gives me info dating back to 2008 which is very strange as I began the blog in 2010. I don't take any notice of any of them anymore.
ReplyDeleteMostly StatCounter here. 2008?! Your bloggy birth was foretold, of such stuff are legends made! ;)
DeleteMy brain - (if I have one!) was definitely given an IT by-pass. I understand very little about technology - it's a completely alien language to me!
ReplyDeleteOn a previous comment on my post - you asked what camera I use. It is a Nikon D5000 - very battered it is too. A bit fell off the back of it at the weekend!
June
OOh - now I know your list is your big list of yarn shops, but I have to give you a recommendation: Have you heard of Avril in Kyoto, Japan? (http://www.avril-kyoto.com). It's so beautiful it made me almost weep! All the cones hang on the walls, with library ladders up to the highest heights. You take your cone to the cashier who uses a winder to make balls in however many increments of 10g that you require. And the table stacked with every conceivable type of needles (mostly bamboo of course) - ugh, as if there aren't enough reasons to go back to Kyoto as often as possible, this yarn shop is worth the air fare alone!
ReplyDeleteI think you may have shamed me into doing some blog work. Content would be good too ;-)
ReplyDeleteObviously, I meant content on my blog, not yours! See, I'm so out of practice with how easily words could be misinterpreted!
ReplyDeleteA yarn shop list, thank you so much Annie!
ReplyDeleteNot only do I now know that yarn shopping is an acceptable hobby but I'm provided with places in which to do it and if that's not enough I also know that it's good to eat chocolate! I love this blog, you tell me exactly what I want to hear!!!! ;)
Vivienne x
Here is a read you might enjoy sent on to me by another knitter. Sorry, I have not yet read it but got it used on Amazon for $6. It is titled CASTING OFF and is a story about Irish people and knitting is included in the story.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you back, Annie.
I'm afraid I daren't touch my blog at the moment but I would love to pretty it up a bit, might be brave enough one day! Ada :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post today- you've reminded me to tidy up my blog (I keep putting it off) & also to learn to knit (I think that a knit-knot-&-natter group is what I need!)
ReplyDeleteP.S I baked a birthday cake for a friend (she says she hasn't had a birthday cake in years...now I just need to figure out how many candles!)
Wow I spotted the social media buttons as soon as I clicked on, love them! And thanks for the yarn list, that is really going to be very popular - Yvonne xx
ReplyDeleteOh dear, my answer is no to all of those! I spend so much time on the computer for work that if I could blog without a computer I would! And once I have written a post I don't go back to it - at one point I thought about doing one of those blog books for the record, but never got round to it.
ReplyDeleteI did think about SEO when I wrote the B&B website, but the blog is for fun really, I don't need to worry about figures. With the B&B we come at B on the list, and the bookings are rolling in, so I leave it be really. Maybe if the customers stop coming I will pull my finger out!
Pomona x
Oh thank you for the blog maintenance advice, backing up especially, I've always had a nagging feeling I should be doing that! I shall try an resist looking at the yarn shop list though :)
ReplyDeleteGreat idea....I've been meaning to sit and sort for weeks now....I know when I do, I will have no peace...didn't I say I was going to put your giveaway pic on my sidebar....to be honest, now I come to think of it, the whole shebang needs an overhaul starting with my organisation skills!
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering about backing up....thanks for the pointer.
You read my mind! Although I'm normally a colour worshipper when it comes to yarns, lately I've been yearning for a more natural palette. The only problem was, I didn't know where to begin as my normal haunts seemed to have only a meagre selection. 'I'm looking for the sort of lovely yarns that I always see at Knitsofacto', I though to myself (honestly, that exact thought!) and lo and behold you provide! Thank you, wonderful Annie I shall look forward to browsing through your selections with pleasure!
ReplyDeleteSandra x
Thank you so much for the links to all those fabulous international yarn shops. I have actually followed up on one of those links and will surely post a photo at my place when the yarn delivery is made.
ReplyDeletexo
I've been trying to tidy up my blog too hoping it might inspire to actually post! Still not quite happy with it. It's funny that once you start something you get all over-critical, when! to be honest, I've never really paid that much attention to the overall look of the blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder too, to back it up. No excuses now that I've just bought a new external hard drive.
'scuse that errant exclamation mark in previous comment! Should've been a comma!
ReplyDeleteInteresting to hear about bloggy housekeeping, thanks. I don't back up my blog but I will look at that link. All the photos are saved elsewhere but not the text.
ReplyDeleteThe yarn list is very comprehensive and I'm sure will help with your quest for SABLE! I feel that is a slippery slope for me and am content with buying for a project, otherwise it could all get horribly out of hand... x
Your blog looks great, very crisp and co-ordinated! You've reminded me that I am long overdue for a bloggy spring clean but I think it's queueing up behind the new office move at the moment!
ReplyDeletei wish i was more computer savvy......can you believe it took me a year (that's a whole YEAR!!!) to figure out how to get a sidebar link to ravelry on my page (and I needed help from a very sweet, patient blogger to do that!) I'm scared to death to tweek too much for fear of having the whole thing come crashing down!!!!
ReplyDeleteyour look is so neat and tidy----love it!!!
I am an absolutely terrible blog housewife - dont do any of that!
ReplyDeleteI just ramble on :-)
I do have some exciting news though - I'm having a little giveaway (I think its rather nice)which you may be interested in.
best wishes
sophie
I can barely use blogger let alone all the very technical sounding stuff you mentioned. That might be a job for acquietvdaybwith no kids home. Inlovecyour shearing photo. It stirred a distant childhood memory of living in the far west of queensland. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your idea of a best yarn shop list, but it was down when I checked :(. Are you going to include best online shops as well? I've been discovering nice ones out there who carry quite unusual stuff.
ReplyDeleteOops. The page was live all along, but the link in the post was broken. Fixed it now :D
DeleteI noticed your new "Connect" buttons right away - wondering "where did she get those?" - before I read any of your text. Thanks for the backup link - I will be reading that next. I'd love to spend more time blog-polishing but somehow life and meals and remunerative labour keep getting in the way - grrrr. (Also blog-reading.)
ReplyDeleteIf you're so inclined, how about more bloggy posts like this one? I'd love to hear your ideas on how to set up tabbed pages (if that's what they're called).
Have a wonderful weekend. :)