Keeping up with the Knitting Bloggers

I wrote earlier in the week about podcasts and how you can listen to them on your PC or mobile device (Ipod, Zune, Zen or other) and keep up with events and issues surrounding the knitting community while you knit.

Today, I will tell you how you can keep up with all the blogs you like to read and how it can be done in one spot.

There are many stand-alone software programs used to collect, update, and display [tag]RSS feeds[/tag]. Many of these are free. Some work from within your [tag]web browser[/tag] or email client, while other work on your desktop. [tag]Yahoo[/tag] list many readers that you can try, some are application specific; that is just for outlook or just for blogs.

I use Google Reader. This is free software at the Google site and all you need to do is establish an account. The account and software are free.

After creating a Google account, adding your subscriptions is easy. You can click on the Add subscription field on the reader page, or you can go to your favorite blog and click on the orange RSS symbol next to the URL address. The click will take you to a page that will ask you Add to Google home page or Add to Google Reader. Click on add to reader and it will automatically add the blog to your reader. Each time you find another blog you wish to keep up with, just click the symbol.

Reading is easy as the blogs are all listed on the Google Reader page and you just click on the one you wish to read. If you click on the individual blog, it will list the posting from that blog.

This simple software helps you keep everything in one spot.You never need to worry about losing bookmarks to your favorite blogs or missing out on a new post due to time constraints.

Leaves more time to knit!

I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn.

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small.

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches.

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come.

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you.

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?).

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry.

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns.

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]

Have you read?