Moved over to beta blogger

I've moved the blog to the new beta blogger. It's too bad i couldn't merge this one over there, but this will work :)

The New Improved Enriched Blog

And hey..i'm going to knit 30 hats this month for the hat challenge plus put the patterns up over there :) Join me!

Hattage and Metal Podcast

Well i'm more or less back in the saddle after a weird summer.
I've been knitting and crocheting quite a bit. And doing more altered art.
Life is not going too smoothly at the moment with not working but i'm learning to deal with things.
I've been making knitted and crocheted hats for Rabbitch's Hat Challenge where hopefully there will be enough hats for the homeless of Vancouver.
So far:

The deadline is Dec 1st so i'm sure i'll have more.

Kent's also knitting a hat :) I'll get a picture up of him tonight knitting.

We did his podcast yesterday. Anyone interested in a metal podcast?

http://www.archive.org/audio/xspf_player.php?collectionid=MassHypnosispodcast2_0

Hmm what's with the time on this? it's 12:40 pm lol

~laurie

Long time no post :)

Well it's been quite a summer over here at chez Enriched. I started a new job and ended up quitting it after 2 months due to the complete unprofessionalism of the work place. Seriously, people being fat fascists, people cutting their toenails (!) at work, and general unbecoming crap that i just hate. Enough said, and summer is over. So back to my Real Life and blog :P
Knitting has been somewhat sporadic . I did make a few baby things and a cool purse but still havent solved the Digital Camera Dilemma. Will do shortly though.
I had hoped to get over to Seattle this past weekend as the Yarn Harlot was there but couldn't manage it.
Other travel plans are somewhat on hold as well as we plan a wedding for next summer-ish. Yes ours! What we want to do is go to Europe afterwards ( He especially would like to be in Wacken Germany in early August for the huge metalfest. I've explained the crowdedness of Europe in the summer and so far that means we may set the date for early August - yay that here in Victoria its fairly nice in summer )
That's pretty much a short update. Oh..except we've had people staying with us for 2 whole frickn months. It was supposed to be 2 weeks! This weekend is supposedly the moving out time but we haven't heard anything about them finding their own place yet.
Let me tell you boys 'n girls, have we ever learned a lesson. Helping folks out is great. But making sure there are very sturdy boundaries is extremely important. We didn't make any really because we were told it was only for two weeks. And somehow it kept getting extended and we didn't take ahold of the monster and tie it up ..we just kept thinking 'well we still want to be friends after this so we'll just put up with it' THIS DOES NOT WORK PEOPLE! Not when the friend's 3 yr old spits on you, bites you and calls you names. Ok rant off but listen up in case it happens to you :)
My good friend Andrea in Vienna sent me this today - if you knit check it out !

http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/supergran/

A beautiful day

It's a gorgeous monday morning here on the west coast. It is supposed to get much hotter later in the day but i'd feel guilty complaining about it when our weather is usually so good.
The knitting workshop at Hemp went great yesterday ! The women that came were all interesting and funny and easy going. Well, except when they got tense about the knitting :P. I found it really fun and hope they did too.
We've decided to have a knitting circle hopefully at
the Spiral Cafe a couple doors down from Hemp and Co. on sunday afternoons. Sounds idyllic to me :)
I can't get blogger to upload pix today, so for the knitting content of the day i give you a copy of the knitting workshop paper with 2 cloth patterns.One is very basic, the second a tiny bit more challenging for a new knitter. Enjoy!

Knitting with Hemp

Knitting Abbreviations:
CO : cast on
BO : bind off
K2tog : knit 2 stitches together
Sl 1 : slip the stitch
YO : yarn over the needle

Plain Garter Stitch Diagonal Cloth
Needles : size 4mm or 4.5 mm
Row 1: Cast on 2 stitches, knit these once.
Row 2: *Slip 1, Yarn Over, knit to end.
Continue in this manner, beginning each row with Slip 1, Yarn over.
You will be treating the Yarn Over as a regular stitch on each row.
Knit until the cloth is half the size you want.
Knit one row plain. ( remember to slip the first stitch)
Next Row: Slip 1, Knit 2 together, knit to end.
Repeat until you have 2 stitches left. Knit 2 together.
Slipping the first stitch of every row in a piece of knitting gives a firmer tidier edge.
Lace Edge Cloth
Needles : size 4mm or 4.5 mm
Cast On 35 stitches.
Row 1: Sl 1, Knit to end
Row 2: (K2tog)2x, * (YO K1) 4x, (K2tog) 4x *, repeat * * to last 4 stitches, ( K 2tog) 2x
Row 3, 4 , 5 : Sl 1, Knit to end.
Row 6: (K2tog) 2x, * (YO K1) 4x, (K2tog) 4x *, repeat * * to last 4 stitches, ( K 2tog) 2x
Row 7 : Sl 1, Knit to end.
Repeat Row 7 until it's as long as you like. Bind Off.
Optional eyelet row: About half to one inch ( 1.5 to 2.5 cm) before you want the end of your cloth.
Eyelet Row: Sl 1, K1, YO, K2tog Repeat * * to end
Next Row: Knit. Bind Off.

Online Knitting instructions:
http://learntoknit.lionbrand.com/

http://www.learntoknit.com/instructions_kn.php3


Free patterns : just a couple to start with
http://www.knitty.com/
>www.straw.com/cpy/free_patterns.html
www.magknits.com/

Podcast links : remember to listen to podcast you don't need an ipod!
http://scifiville.typepad.com/knitcast/
http://www.cast-on.com/

Blogs: there are many many knitting related blogs online.
http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/

http://freeknittinglessons.blogspot.com/ (mine)
http://www.glittyknittykitty.co.uk/
Laurie Dolan White http://www.enriched.ca/ http://freeknittinglessons.blogspot.com/

I've been a busy girl!

Too long between posts but i've been very busy. Started out by getting a kinda flu bug thing. Then somehow, after doing a 3 day freelance job got two fulltime job offers.
One i took! Next week i'm back in fulltime employ thank the gods. With benefits and all. Perfect hours ( 8 to 4 :30 same as Kent), weekdays. Happy thing really.
Of course at the same time i have a big offer of knitting for a shop and actually getting paid for it. I'm going to try to do both since they are allowing me leeway with choice of patterns ( all my own)
Sunday is the workshop at Hemp and Company. I'm really excited. Apparently we've had tons of interest. I'll report Sunday evening :)
On the knitting activism front please view this site and consider helping. Or doing something of your own!
redsweaters
I'm going to teach people to knit of course. But i've been kicking around some other ideas too.
Like maybe a knitted tshirt or jacket type garment protesting the 'war'. I don't know why it bugs me so much to call it a war. I feel like its a military action.. a bullying. And complete Bullshit by Big Brother.
I've decided to make this blog my main blog. So there will be more frequent posts! Peace ~laurie

Catching up on the week

This past week has been very busy with unpacking and sorting. Let me catch you up on the 'real work' i've done.
Altered art stuff - clockwise from midnight ... pinup altar - an entry for Inspire me Thursdays this week. Was once a ring box. Please click here for more detail
The altered art cards are just not photographing well. I have to get a new digital camera before this drives me crazy!

Next, another crappy picture: really crappy actually. It's a vest and shorts set for my oldest's new baby who is imminent :) and a boy! I'm writing up the pattern and making another two for my other daughter's baby girl and my son's baby daughter too. Thats my week sorta... applied for a couple of jobs, worked on podcasts. Writing out patterns for the Hemp Knitting Workshop taking place Sunday the 25th at Hemp&Co in Vic West.

In podcast news, i have begun a plan! And joined a yahoo podcast group. I'm also working on our websites and hope to have those up and running soon.

Bleh im exhausted just reading all that lol! I am going to knit now. ~laurie

Inspire me Thursday

Yes another inspiring website! There's also a Flickr group too. I have to say, it really helps my creativity to have 'challenges' from different art type communities :)
Anyhow, the challenge this week on Inspire me Thursday was to make something both artistic and useful.
I had a few things laying around and really needed a little garbage bin in the bathroom.
The pictures are up at my Flickr space as Blogger seems to be having problems.
Take a look at My flickr . I love maps and this was a great use of our local one.