Mini Cardi

Mini Cardi.JPG
Originally uploaded by jkam

This is the first pattern of Stefanie Japel's that I've made. I loved the instructions and the shaping. A very quick knit, but with lots of style.

Jean's Beret

Jean's Beret.JPG
Originally uploaded by jkam

I had some yarn left from the Clapotis so I decided to make a beret. I used the Build a Beret pattern by Diane Mulholland. The Pattern is here

Bangle cover pic 2

Bangle cover pic 2.JPG
Originally uploaded by jkam

Here's the complete project.

Bangle Cover pic 1

Bangle Cover pic 1.JPG
Originally uploaded by jkam

This was inspired by a message on Ravelry. Some fashion website had these for like $185.00 (ok they used cashmere).

Mine was a bangle from the dollar store and some yarn in my stash. I'll sell it to you for $100.00. Quite the bargain.

clapotis 4

clapotis 4
Originally uploaded by jkam

Finished this on Nov. 9th. I love the yarn and the effect with the Clapotis pattern. I am burnt out on making the Clapotis for now. I know that I will knit it again, though!

Felted Minibag

Felted Minibag
Originally uploaded by jkam

I made this from yarn left over from my first Clapotis. If felted up great.

The pattern is from the Irish Ewe's blog.

Teaching

Having people ask me to teach them how to knit has always scared me. I knit "left-handed" holding the needle with the stitches in my left hand knitting them on to the empty needle in my right hand. Because of this I have to reverse all of my shaping, cables, etc. It doesn't bother me, but I wouldn't want to teach others this way (My Brownie leaders insisted - Looking back, I don't think they were very good at knitting.)

Several of the girls in my son's JROTC class have asked me to teach them to knit. So I have retaught myself to knit "right-handed". This wasn't too difficult since I have always used 2 hands to carry yarn when knitting with 2 colors, but I am much slower.

Last Friday afternoon I took some yarn and needles (plus instructions printed from the Internet) to school. Only 1 girl was available and she kept having to leave to practice for a skit. She did learn the knitted cast on, knit stitch, purl stitch, stockinette and to cast off. It was a small piece 13 stitches and about 12 rows. I have more confidence in myself as a teacher - and think this girl will be a really great knitter.

Heartfelt, but not felted

Perhaps you remember my previous posts about my felted and confused slipper project? Well I went back to a basic"dorm boot" pattern and the result is this:




The Teenager is much happier!

Clapotis 4 at 50%

Clapotis 4 50%
Originally uploaded by jkam

Oct. 27-28 I was at the California Library Association Conference and got lots of knitting done during the sessions.

I started the 4th ball of yarn about 4 rows before the 50% point so I should have plenty of yarn to finish.

Squeaks & Bubbles in a Black Chair

Squeaks & Bubbles in a Black Chair
Originally uploaded by jkam

We have 2 cats Squeaks (the cat in the cabinet in my blog header) and Bubble. Here's a picture of both contentedly sitting together.

Bubbles is on the left. Squeaks is on the right.

Back to Web 2.0 - This thing might be useful!

I started this blog for my Web 2.0 project at work and have kept it mostly to blog about my knitting. This week's wildfires have got me thinking Web 2.0 again.

There have been many reports on how you should photograph and/or videotape your house and belongings to use as proof for insurance claims in case of disaster. The advice is to make two copies - keep one at home and one someplace else (at work or with a friend or relative who lives in another area).

If you posted these as private files on Flickr & YouTube that would be another copy you could access easily from the Internet. Wonder how insurance adjusters would handle getting invitations to view the files online, though.

Buttonhole Bag

Buttonhole Bag
Originally uploaded by jkam

This is made from the same wool as the slippers (see previous post). I was planning on felting it, but now I'm not sure. Maybe I'll do it in the sink instead of the machine - more control over the process

I Felt Bad! or A Knitting Disaster

Here are the Paul Bunyan Slippers before felting:



And after felting:


The Ella Rae wool felted so well it fused the slippers together. I tried to open them up but couldn't get them open enough to be usable. Top choices for alternative uses now are cat toy or dinosaur claws for a Halloween costume!

Clapotis 4

KIF_0273.JPG
Originally uploaded by jkam

I'v finally cast on for my 4th Clapotis. I've finished the increase section and am ready to start the straight rows.

The yarn is Atacama Aurucania, color 503.

Ravelry liked it!

Cable Ready Bag, view 2
Originally uploaded by jkam

I got a message from a Ravelry editor yesterday asking to use this picture on their pattern page for the Cable Ready bag. Of course, I agreed. I am humbled, flattered, excited - could this be MY 15 minutes of fame?

"Mom, I'm not Paul Bunyan"

Family of Slippers
Originally uploaded by jkam

So stated the teenager when I showed him this slipper.

"Don't worry, it needs to be felted and then it will be about half this size", I replied.

"Thank goodness!" the teenager exclaimed.

Ravelry

I've been spending some time on Ravelry this week. I've had my membership for a few months but hadn't really looked at it. This week I've been adding finished and in-progress projects as well as queuing planned projects.

I haven't been brave enough to enter my stash, though!

Clapotis 1, 2, & 3

Clapotis 1, 2, & 3
Originally uploaded by jkam

Here are the 3 Clapotis that I've made so far.
The reddish one on the left is merino wool I overdyed with Koolaid.
The middle and right ones are bamboo yarn that I bought from Discontinued Name Brand Yarn (DNBY).

Summary

Wow! Here I am at thing23! I've kept a running list of my posts for 23 Things here.


This has been a positive experience for me. Some of the 23things were familiar to me (Flickr, bloglines, YouTube) but I hadn't really considered how they could be integrated into library service. The 23 Things Challenge gave me the framework to look more closely at these (and the other Web2.0 technologies in the challenge) and consider how to use them professionally.


Web 2.0 makes communicating and networking easier. It is also easier to work cooperatively. Helping branch staff learn some of the things was very rewarding. Getting their feedback and seeing them go on ahead and start exploring other things on the list on their own was even more rewarding. It can't stop at the 23 things, though, some of these will continue to develop, others might cease or merge and new web2.0 technologies keep getting developed.

Teaching others

As I mentioned in my posts on Flickr & wikis we are working together to teach other branch staff about Web2.0. Teaching, of course, is always harder than learning. Harder still was the fact that I had planned on teaching very basic lessons. Basic - not with our staff. In both cases they had already gone to the links on 23things. Flickr was particularly hard:
"How do I send things to friends who aren't Flickr members yet?"
"What do you do to put those picture collages on the side of your blog?"

This was really rewarding. None of the staff are technophobic or new to the Internet, but only a few weeks before they had been at the stage of "Start a blog I'm not sure that I can do that."
Now it's, "Do you think that I should Del.icio.us or Bloglines for this?"

Web 2.0 sure is empowering!

Podcasts

Could there be anything more appropriate than a podcast on the iPhone? I like pocasts - there like radio on demand and pretty simple to use.

As I wrote in my entry on Youtube my son considers iTunes a vital web resource. The first time I used it to subscribe to a podcast he came to me saying, "There's this new thing on iTunes and I swear, I swear, that I did not download it! I don't know how it got there!" He was relieved to hear that I was the culprit for this new thing and his access to iTunes downloads would not be cut off (although he'd sure like to download more videos).

Yahoo's podcast site seemed to feature podcasts that were 3 or 4 months old. I couldn't always get them to play or find information on how to troubleshoot problems. Wikipedia's entry on podcasts is very helpful as is the directory of podcast directories on castwiki.

Google Docs & Spreadsheets

Another place where I've had an account but haven't really used it. Coming back today I noticed that formatting with Google Docs is much more like formatting in e-mail and blogs. The little tabs up top and icons to click rather than the pull-down menus of word. Is Web 2.0 pushing us toward a universal editing menu?

Things that I like about docs & spreadsheets:

Having them accessible where you are using the web and not tied to a computer.

Collaboration is also a plus.

Why haven't I used it? Old habits die hard. I'm just used to clicking on the desktop icon and using words. Complying with expected standards is also a reason -Microsoft Office has been so dominant that people expect it to be used.

Need to keep coming back here and using this.

Technorati, I start to understand it

Yesterday I was feeling nostalgic and began thinking about Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire and wanted to see some pictures. Youtube has several videos of people climbing it (note to self: Whenever filming physical activity turn off the sound - it's really unappealing to hear grunts and puffs.) but most of them just made me dizzy.

A Technorati search resulted in several recent blog entries with pretty pictures and nice descriptions. I have to backtrack from the comment in my earlier post. There are times when you want to search blogs without the clutter of the rest of the Internet.

Learning Wikis

This week I'm supposed to teach the rest of the staff about wikis, but our schedule won't allow many of us to meet as a group so I'm writing this blog post as a lesson. Here we go!

For most of us the term wiki equals Wikipedia the web-based encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

Wiki really refers to a software that allows for information to be easily published and edited on the Web. Unlike blogs which are online journals meant to be written by an individual Wikis are more of an encyclopedia or guidebook that is written and edited by many people.

Here are links to explanations of Wikis:
CNET

Technosight Blogs versus Wikis

Infopeople's 23 things link

The Infopeople 23things assignment is to add a post to their wiki

You can also join WetPaint and request to be a writer for the OCPL government documents wiki DocsLynx

Youtube

I have a teenager. Here's his take on the web (2.0 or otherwise)in order of importance:
MySpace
Youtube
itunes (tied with Youtube)
ebay

So I have used YouTube, found the funny videos, looked at the instructional ones on RSS, wikis, and knitting (my hobby). Last night my son watched WWII propaganda videos. What I haven't done is upload any videos.

Web 2.0 & Libraries Thoughts (thing 15)

Web 2.0 is as big or small as you want it to be. An branch running a book club could set up a blog or wiki for that club and invite club members to make entries and comments. A blog, MySpace, or wiki could be created for an entire library system for announcements, calendars, or events for either the public or staff. What about a del.icio.us account for Reference staff instead using favorites/bookmarks at individual computers and then letting your public know about it so they can use the links also?

WorldCat Link Second Try

Trying the send to thing again. I searched from the Google Toolbar for Open WorldCat, searched for a title, rightclicked and chose send to blog, logged into blog and the following link was created (yay, it works):

WorldCat: The Clarks of Cooperstown : their Singer sewing machine fortune, their great and influential art collections, their forty-year feud

FirstSearch: WorldCat Detailed Record

Just playing around with WorldCat & found with the Google Toolbar I can export a link to a record directly to my blog. Good concept, except the link won't work if I'm not logged into WorldCat. I'll have to see if I can do this with Open WorldCat
FirstSearch: WorldCat Detailed Record: "126945207"

Teaching Flickr

Our branch is taking a collaborative approach to 23 Things. Each week we have a lesson taught by staff who have already been using Web 2.0 to staff that are new to it. This week it's my turn to teach Flickr. Below are the links to Flickr that I will be using during the lesson so staff can get to them easily.

Flickr has 2 account levels:
Free - You can upload an unlimited number of photos but only view the most recent 200. To view older upload newer photos need to deleted. You are limited to 3 sets.
Pro - $25.00 annually and no limits.

Where do I Flicker http://www.flickr.com/

Flickr Tour http://www.flickr.com/tour/

Web-based uploader http://www.flickr.com/photos/upload/

Uploader tools http://www.flickr.com/tools/

Spell with Flickr http://metaatem.net/words

More Stuff (things that I didn't go over during the lesson)
Flickr Badge (show some of your photos on your blog) http://www.flickr.com/badge.gne

Great Flickr Tools Collection (lots of things for Flickr Mashups)
http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2005/03/great-flickr-tools-collection/

Newbie's Guide to Flickr
http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9703620-2.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=Webware

Curious Cat

Here's Squeaks (whose picture is in my header) exploring my Clapotis

GGR photo

GGR photo
Originally uploaded by jkam

I work next to a pond with ducks and geese

Wikis

This thing was my easy one - I've recently setup a wiki called Docslynx to push out information on government documents to other staff a my library.

The link to learn about wikis put up by Our 23 Things wasn't that helpful, in my opinion. Since blogs have been the chief vehicle for this challenge I prefer this site which provides a nice description of the differences between blogs and wikis.

The entry I made on Infopeople's wiki was for del.icio.us which I feel has great prospects for all Internet users since using it frees bookmark from a single machine to being available anywhere you access the Internet.

Technorati where blogs rule but I have no Authority

After joining Technorati, claiming my blog, setting up some favorites, and even importing my blogline feeds, I still didn't quite understand what Technorati is for. Why Technorati instead of Google, Yahoo, del.icio.us or Bloglines? I finally looked it up in Wikipedia.

Here's my take on Technorati's purpose: You can search for information on blogs, specifically their tags, knowing that results will not be cluttered with hits from websites. If I'm right will someone let me know?

I just don't see myself spending much time here. If I do go back I would probably use this search instead of the standard one.

Showing Coptermom

My friend Coptermom just setup a blog. She wasn't sure how to create a post so I made this one to show her. Coptermom, remember to always click Publish Post when you're done.

Social Bookmarking

Continuing on my theme I'm slow to get the social part of Web 2.0. del.icio.us has become my mobile bookmarking site over the last few months. The convenience factor of being able to access my bookmarks on any computer is what got me started on using it. More bookmarks keep creeping in as I have adapted to adding and tagging sites I'm on. Just may get social yet. I've started del.icio.us subscriptions

Rollyo

Be the master of your own searches using Rollyo - but be aware that the idiosyncrasies of searching the web can make for some sketchy results. In the meantime do some searching:

Select...Book SearchSearch The Web

Image Generators

Image generators could be amazing time-wasters. No, I think this would look better in blue, with rounded corners and maybe a dove flying over scattering rose petals. You could keep playing with er, tweaking these forever.

But what a great way to get some images for a website or blog. Make sure you copy the entire code before pasting it. Also size matters. I had pasted the URL into this entry, but the images threw off my blog's layout. Click on the title if you'd like to see the image I generated.

Scratch that entire 2nd paragraph. Blogger didn't like the code for my billboard. Picky, picky, picky!

How about this:

Link to an earlier entry

Trying to figure out how to link to an earlier blog entry. Hey, it worked!

LibraryThing

This is growing on me. I've only cataloged 2 titles so far. To use the suggestion feature a library needs at least 5 books so I'll add some more.
I've also tried to link to my library using LibraryThing's javascript tool and haven't been able to get it to work in this post or my blog's sidebar.

Google Maps

This is number 19 on the list so it's a little out of order.
Here's my map of Garden Grove Regional Library

My Web Starts to Get Social

As you can tell from my previous post I've been lacking the Social in the Web 2.0 experience. Well that changed yesterday when I got my first invite to be a Flickr contact. It all started with a message to a Yahoo Group linking to a Flickr picture of one of my knitting projects. A group member then sent a message through Flickr inviting me to be a contact.

By George, I think I'm getting it:

Yahoo to picture

Picture to Flickr

Flickr to invite

invite to Website

Website to friend

this may never end!

Oh here's the link that started it all:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/195/513491777_818d7b0271_o.jpg

Twitter - or - It's Official, I'm Dull

I don't run with a text-messaging crowd. We are of the phone generation with e-mails when necessary and sometimes a nice card in the mail. This was a serious drag on actually using Twitter beyond logging a few things on the web page and what a boring week it's been, let me tell you!

Okay, so Twitter's obviously not my style. I do see applications for a library. Create a Twitter account with patrons to contact them about programs or materials - wonder if you could send overdue notices via Twitter?

What about using Twitter to notify staff of an unexpected building closure and telling them where to report to work instead. This wouldn't work in a full-scale catastrophe (or most power failures) but otherwise could be a bit easier than phoning individually.

I'm going to give Twitter some more time and see if I can adapt to using it.

RSS & Bloglines

Full disclosure here: I had set up a Bloglines account over a year ago but had pretty much abandoned it in favor of using Firefox's RSS feeds on the bookmark toolbar & putting them on MY Yahoo.

Good old Bloglines still had my account with my chosen feeds still feeding. I already read Librarian in Black regularly so I added Wired and TechCrunch which had been recommended in Helene Blowers' webcast. While I'm here let me recommend the feed for Knowledge at Wharton. It is business-focused, naturally, but also provides information on social policy and other issues. Good stuff to wrap your mind around

Libraries Using Web 2.0

Establishing a MySpace Account for the library would be a way to reach teens. They are on there anyways so setting up an account with links to the library catalog and databases would increase the chance that teens would actually use these services.

Flickr Mashups

Spell with Flickr
This is very easy to use. I tried adding these as java code to my blog on the side and the bottom but they were realy huge so I deleted them. The results remind me of something they used to show on either Sesame St. or the Electric Company back in the 70's

23 Things created from the Spell with Flickr mashup



Fuzzy Musings



Retrievr
Ok this was pretty easy to use. I entered the URL for the cat picture in my header. I'm not sure why I got pictures of trees, though. Are you supposed to be able to post the results somehow? This site doesn't have very robust help from what I can see.

Captioner
I liked this. Unlike anything else Flickr related it includes the "e" in its name. I did caption a photo, but it's for family & friends only so I can't show it here.

Flickr

I had a Flickr account before starting 23 things and had joined some groups as well as started one. I started a 2nd group with photos of events at our branch and invited the staff to join Flickr and view the photos.

Then I started to go a little overboard with Flickr. I posted photos for my blog header and profile (no, that's not me) and creating a Flickr badge for the sidebar. These were pretty easy to do and I learned a lot about both Flickr & Blogger.

23 Things - Here They Are

1. Viewed the archive of Helene Blowers webcast on May 19th, 2007.


2. Set up this blog, May 19th, 2007.


3. Sent blog URL to InfoPeople, May 28th, 2007.


4. Blogged about Flickr, May 28th, 2007 .


5. Blogged about Flickr Mashups, May 28th, 2007.


6. Blogged about library websites & using Web2.0, May 30, 2007.


7. Bloglines account already established, May 30, 2007.


8. Added Wired and Techcrunch to my feeds (already had Librarian in Black), May 30, 2007.


9. Twitter account has been established for a few months now - I guess that I need to learn what to do with it now. OK, I will, May 30, 2007. Blogged about Twitter.


10. Looked at image generators and added entry June 9, 2007.


11. Added entry on LibraryThing, June 9, 2007.


12. Added entry on Rollyo including a custom Rollyo Search, June 9, 2007.


13. del.icio.us account had already been established; added web 2.0 bookmarks, created a bundle for them; made blog entry including a feed for my del.icio.us subscriptions, June 9th.


14. Established Technorati account, did searching, made favorites, imported bloglines subscriptions, and really, really tried to figure it out. Added blog entry on June 11, 2007.


15. Blogged on Web 2.0 & the future of libraries, June 22, 2007.


16. Blogged on wikis adding links to my own and to a better explanation. June 11, 2007.


17. Made entry on InfoPeople wiki about del.icio.us. June 11, 2007.


18. Looked at Google Docs & Spreadsheets. Created a file in Docs that I published as a blog post. June 28, 2007.


19. Added entry on GoogleMaps, June 8, 2007.


20. Added YouTube entry, June 22, 2007.


21. Searched podcasts and added blog entry on them, July 10, 2007


22. Taught branch staff about Flickr and created a blog post for them to use for Flickr information, July 17, 2007. Created a blog post on learning Wikis for staff to use as a lesson. July 25, 2007.
23. Wrote the summary for my Web2.0 experience. August 25, 2007

First Post

I've created my blog to particpate in the InfoPeople's Our 23 Things Challenge http://our23things.infopeople.org and will be posting more as time goes by.