Pumpkinspun’s Musings

Hey Knitters…  confused on how to search for other knitters, or other things happening in the “Twitterverse”?

There are LOTS of neat tools out there that can help you find other knitters,  find out what other folks are knitting, find out about the latest knitting videos folks are talking about.    I took a few screenshots of three helpful tools you might want to start with. You’ll want to click on

Twitter Search - here I took a screen shot of two searches I did,  one for the word “knitters” and one for the word “knitting”:

Maybe you’ve heard of folks “tweeting” about words with a # before the word..  perhaps a discussion of something like #Stitches… what to do?  Throw it into the Twitter Search and be part of an ongoing conversation.   This is a great way to find other folks to follow as well!

Another Twitter search tool that you can use that updates itself in real time after a number of seconds is TweetScan

Here’s a sample search I did with this service.  Once you do a search, hang out a bit (on the real search, not the picture)  and watch it update itself:

Now.. ready to ramp it up?   Try TweetGrid!   You can follow 4 or more searches at a time, and see them update live…  in this example I put in 4 separate terms related to knitting.   It’s a bit overwhelming at first, but this is a great way to follow a bunch of search terms at once -  it’s a big picture so I’ll give you the direct link:
http://www.pumpkinspun.com/musings/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/twitknit-tweetgrid.jpg

(added 1/30/09) I found this interesting people directory of folks on Twitter by interest areas, profession, all sorts of categories: Twellow A search on knitters here yields pages upon pages of very detailed info.. great if you’re looking for folks to follow:

So knitters (and spinners and weavers and you name it..) - don’t be afraid.. dive into Twitter and start poking around! I’ll follow this up in a week or so with some more suggestions on how to get the best bang out of Twitter.

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I’ve seen this on a few friends’ blogs (Hi fiberqat & Jennie), and thought ‘what the heck’. In the initial list of 100 that’s gone around I’ve put in bold the items on the list that I have done over the years. I’ve then added a few of my own ..so close to 100…

(Things I’ve done in bold)

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world (both!)
8. Climbed a mountain (a really small one in Vermont)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightning at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia (it was the Soviet Union at the time, and twice)
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (Dachau, near Munich)
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar (in Red Square, even!)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (waitress job in my teens)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper (multiple times, it’s a small town)
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant

I added to this:
101. Hiked down a glacier (Myrdal to Flam in Norway)
102. Taken a boat ride on a fjord
103. Seen the Gannets on Bonaventure Island off of the Gaspé Peninsula
104. Studied more than 3 languages (7 that I can think of)
105. Danced at a ceilidh on Cape Breton Island
106. Been on a sports team (college, fencing)
107. Gone crabbing on Chincoteague Island
108. Seen the wild ponies on Assateague Island
109. Watched a Bollywood movie (a few.. I’m rather addicted to them
110. Spent a Midsummers eve in Scandanavia
111. Been searched at an airport
112. Skiied the Hannenkamm run (well.. the trail where they hold it in Kitzbuehel, Austria)
113. Been carried down from a ski run on a first aid sled (Gore Mt, NY, early 1980’s)
114. Made yarn from scratch (I’m a spinner)
115. Had a pet snake (his name was McArthur, I was 13 and liked to wear him round my neck)
116. Been to the red light district in Amsterdam
117. Toured a brewery (2 - Heineken in Amsterdam, and Tuborg in Copenhagen)
118. Been online for more than 15 years
119. Been to/in a march on Washington (a few)
120. Experienced -40 degrees F or C (Finland, January 1982)
121. Seen the Aurora Borealis (here in Vermont, in the 90’s, just beautiful!)
122. Participated in a Sheep to Shawl contest
123. Seen lightning from an airplane
124. Climbed the waterfalls in Ocho Rios, Jamaica
125. Piloted a sailboat (briefly)
126. Been caught in the undertow (Margate, NJ)
127. Studied in another country
128. Been to the Running of the Bulls
129. Bought Gouda cheese in Gouda, Netherlands
130. Been to a David Bowie concert
131. Been in a country during a military coup
132. Had a c-section
133. Knows what Poutine is (and likes it!)
134. Been to the Strolling of the Heifers (go on, look it up, you know you want to!)
135. Been inside the Kremlin (for an opera, no less)
136. Milked a cow
137. Quit Smoking

Back to your regularly scheduled programming

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My custom ordered/designed Golding Spindle arrived today. A treat to myself, for being smoke-free for over 9 months now.. I wanted something that I would use, and be beautiful, to remind myself of the hard work I put in the days following February 25, 2008, when I quit the habit. As I have an affinity for the fiddle, and my Ravelry name is fyddlestyx, I thought it would be just wonderful to have a fiddle design with a celtic band. When I visited the Golding’s studio in June with our elist’s KnitCamp I was admiring the various rings that Tom Golding showed me. I think that’s when I started imagining the fiddle spindle.

It spins like a dream, and the painting that their artist Jan Elliott did to make it just like I imagined was perfect.

Details, as per the card that was included:

• Whorl: 2 3/4″ Cherry Whorl, finely scrolled.
  Style: Vintage Ring, signed sterling silver celtic design
  Shaft: walnut, 5/16″ x 8 3/4
  Weight: 1.6 oz
  Handpainted by Jan Elliot

This will be a cherished spindle, a well used spindle, and an ongoing reminder of another step I took towards better health.

Thinking of quitting smoking?

• Set some goals for your self, realistic ones.
  That includes WHY you’re quitting. For me, I was successful only when I wanted to quit for ME, and not for loved ones.
• Ask for support from your family, friends, co-workers and even online buddies. One of the most helpful tips I got was from an e-list buddie, who gave me a very useful acronym to remember for addictive triggers: HALT (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired). Every time I got a craving I first sat and thought it through.. which one is it this time? Usually by the time I’d figured it out, the worst of the craving had passed for that moment.
• Make an appt with your local state run quit tobacco group (mine was at the local hospital). Often times they have funding which includes 3 months of the patch or gum or meds. I went with the patch, with the gum as backup. When I finished the patch after 3 months, the gum was more of a mental crutch for me.. knowing it was there. I hardly used it, but still carry some with me — knowing it’s there helps me enormously. I liked the orange-flavored gum.
• If you are a social networking/media type and enjoy online contact, join QuitNet. I found some support in the forums there and I appreciated all the emails I got from them reminding me of even the tiny incremental anniversaries. While I didn’t join the paying level.. they have a lot of helpful stuff at the free membership level. Knitters might also find the Ravelry group Knit & Quit helpful as well!
• Plan ahead for some other things you can do with your hands during the really stressful times. At work, I had a squeeze ball and drank ALOT of tea! At home I spent hours upon hours unravelling thrift store sweaters to turn back into yarn for future projects. It became a slight obsession that I even took with me to cafes at times. But that’s for another post.
• Stay strong.. the first three weeks are hard work.. then the next couple months less so. It doesn’t mean I still don’t get the occasional craving, but I feel SO much better, and after just a month, I found walking upstairs easier. Have a buddy or two who have been through it but are NOT the preachy types that you can count on to call occasionally.

Lastly.. good luck and if it helps.. share your quit tips and quit rewards here!

Posted in Fiber Arts, Health | 6 CommentsShare on FriendFeed