Tag cloud

I've changed my list of blog tags (categories, labels) to a tag cloud using phydeaux3's Blogger Tag Cloud Tutorial which is well written and easy to use. Everything is clearly explained including instructions on how to change the settings once the cloud is working. This little change was fun to do and it gave me a nice sense of accomplishment to see the tag cloud floating in the sidebar.

Bricolage

bri.co.lage [brik‐ŏ‐lahzh] n. tinkering, fiddling, construction achieved by putting together whatever materials happen to be at hand; also : something constructed in this way. bri.co.ler [-é] v. to tinker, to do odds jobs; que'st-ce que tu bricoles? what are you up to? bri.co.leur [-oer] n. handyman, tinkerer, putterer.

Not long ago I butchered the short row heel on a sock I was knitting. The heel was badly offset and had to be ripped out and done over. Since it takes me about an hour to do a short row heel on 40 stitches, and because I really do not like to waste that kind of time, I decided to make some stitch markers to ensure that the job would be done properly on future socks.

There are some fancy stitch markers out there ( flickr, something from nothing) a few tutorials on how to make them (Sculpey.com, Wormspit.com, sheep in the city, knitting by geeks) and even the online Stitch Marker Exchange. But I was not in the mood for fancy, and opted for a quick and dirty solution.

	These punch sets make holes from 2 to 8 mm, in 0.5 mm increments, which corresponds nicely to any size knitting needles I might ever want to use.
Since I am currently knitting on 2.25 mm needles I picked two punches, a 4 mm punch to cut the marker (out of a cottage cheese container lid) and a 2.5 mm punch to cut the inner hole.
Here's the finished product...
...what's left of the raw materials...
...and voila, the stitch markers in action.