Ganiggle Knits

Posted By Wendy on February 1, 2009

I have had a lot going on lately, which is why I haven’t put up a second podcast yet. It is coming though, I’m just not entirely sure when. I’ve been doing some major life changes as of late which should give me some more free time. I am leaving my job as a call center customer service representative to pursue one of my passions…writing. I have decided to become a freelance writer!!!

I just can’t do the call center thing anymore, I’ve been burnt out on it because it’s all I’ve done in my working career since highschool. Six years of call centers is enough for me and I’m ready to do something I love instead. I used elance.com to set up and start writing articles for many clients. I have a permanent client now that gives me enough articles per day that I can quit my job and make more monthly than I am right now. Last Monday I gave my two weeks notice so as of now, I only have one week to go! This is a very exciting time for me and I am looking forward to branching out from articles to other methods of writing such as eBooks and creative writing.

Because I’m technically doing two jobs right now (Call center plus articles every day) I have not had time to make a new podcast. One my last week at my current job is done I will have extra time and will hopefully get the next one up.

I truly hope that this career change works for me. If it doesn’t though, I can go back to the call center job so at least I have something to fall back on if this fails. My kitchen table is doubling for my desk right now. Typing for many hours in a row was killing my back because I was having to lean forward from the couch to the little end table my laptop is on. I like this setup though, I can still see the TV and I feel more… professional. I am so proud of myself for having the courage to take a risk like this, but I was so unhappy at my previous job and knew that I had to make a change eventually so why not now?

I love, love, love writing. I have ordered a few books from Barnes & Noble that will help me improve my writing skills. There’s On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Non-Fiction which will help me improve my article writing skills and any other nonfiction that I write. I also ordered the Writers Digest Handbook of Magazine Article Writing, because I hope to submit some articles to magazines in the hopes of getting published. Finally, I ordered the Writers Market Deluxe 2009 which is a huge book with contact information on publishers and magazines/newspapers that accept writing from freelance writers.

These books are shipping out tomorrow so hopefully I’ll get them soon. I’m excited to start reading them and improving my writing. I’ve subscribed to a few magazines about writing too! There’s Writers Digest and The Writer which both look really good and I couldn’t decide between them so I’ve subscribed to both.  Writers Digest has 6 issues a year and The Writer has 12 so it should keep me busy with new info!

Anyway, I’m off to write now! I’ll try to keep updating the blog with how things are going, and I’m hoping to have a new podcast up within the next 2 weeks. Stay tuned!

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Posted By Wendy on January 20, 2009

Ganiggle Knits Episode 1 (right click and select “save as” to download, or click to listen)

Hi! I’ve recorded the very first episode of the Ganiggle Knits Podcast!

During the show, I review two fingerless gloves patterns.

The first one is Swan Maiden Mitts by Corvidae on Ravelry

The second is Twist of Elegance by Psst on Ravelry

I really enjoyed making this first podcast episode, and I’d like to improve it a lot for the next episode, so if you have any advice, or anything I could improve please let me know in the comments! Thanks!

Category: Knitting, PodCast | 2 Comments »
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Posted By Wendy on January 11, 2009

I know, I know. I haven’t posted in a while. The holiday knitting had me in its grasp for quite a while, and it took me a long time to finish everything. The good news is, everybody loved their gifts, so this makes me a very happy knitter indeed. So what have I been up to? Well I’ve been doing  a lot of thinking about the ol’ blog and decided to make some changes.

You’ve probably already noticed the appearance of the blog has changed. I got bored of the old one, and needed a new banner image badly because the old one was showing up weird in certain browsers. So this is the new layout. I may still make some tweaks to it, but I’m pretty happy with it as it is right now.

Another thing you may have noticed that’s changed around here, is there’s a mysterious “podcast” section. Well… I’ve decided to start a podcast. I think it’ll be really fun, kind of like having my own little radio show. I played around with the idea in my head and I think it’ll be really good. I ordered a good microphone, since the one I have built into my laptop has terrible quality, and I don’t want to torment everyone with that kind of audio. So I’ve got a really good mic on its way that has the noise canceling in it and everything, so it’ll sound really professional. I’ve got some audio editing software too, so it should be awesome. The microphone is supposed to be delivered on Jan 21st, so I should definitely have the first episode up by the end of January.

I’m hoping to do a podcast every week and I’ll probably talk about designing, and the types of things I’d normally blog about. I may choose a “pattern of the week” from Ravelry which I can review so that will be really cool. I’ll just look for the new pattern that stands out to me and talk about it a bit.

I’m not expecting many people to read this blog post… I haven’t exactly been around much lately. But if you do read this, please post a comment and let me know what kinds of things you’d like to hear in my podcast. I aim to please, so any suggestions you may have will be much appreciated.

Annabel is doing really good. We had an issue for a while there house training her, but she officially hasn’t messed in the house in about 2 months! Woohoo! Less mess to clean up is always good right?

In designing news, I have a new free pattern in the works. It’s a slouchy hat, which has now officially been named “Slouchy McHat”. It’ll be a free pattern, because it’s pretty basic. I was looking for the perfect slouchy hat pattern on Ravelry, and just didn’t find one that looked like what I wanted. So like any designer, I made one. Now first… I made it way to big. This thing was huge! When I measured it, it was about 35 inches around. I don’t know anyone whose head is that big! So I had to revise a bit, and cast on with fewer… much fewer stitches. It’s a more human size now so hopefully this time it’ll work out. I’ll be sure to post when it’s done.

Family-wise, my poor Dave is sick. He’s spent most of today in bed. He had a pretty wicked fever yesterday that ended up going away, but then when he woke up today he had the worst sore throat ever. We went and got him some strepsils, which didn’t seem to help much. So he’s been resting most of the day and I’ve been making him tea to help soothe his throat. I hope he’s better tomorrow, otherwise we’ll have to go to the doctor, which could be a long wait. I’ll take Slouchy McHat along to help pass the time.

Until next time!

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Posted By Wendy on October 23, 2008

Lots to catch up on, was in a bit of a blog slump for a while but I’m back now! Lots has happened since the last time I posted. Echoes of Eden was released and is now for sale for $4.50.

If interested, you can purchase it directly here.

I recently got… a puppy!!!! Her name is Annabel and she’s a Basset Hound. Look how adorable!

Dave and I love her very much. She went in to be spayed today and when we heard from the vet, she had done very well and she was resting in her kennel. We get to bring her home tomorrow. I can’t wait to see her!

I bought a sewing machine and I’ve started making needle rolls. Here’s the first 2 I’ve made.

First One:

And Second One:

I really like the second one!

I’ve started on my Xmas knitting list… it’s a big one.

• Mom - PDA Case that looks like a teddy bear (will have to design) 1 Skein of KP Essential in Cocoa, 1 skein of KP Essential in Buckskin for details and button for closure.
• Bryan (Moms BF)- Toque; 2 sk KP Swish Bulky in Blackberry, 1 sk KP Swish Bulky in Lilac (for trim)
• Nicole (My Sister)- Korn Doll (will have to design) 1 skein of KP Essential in Buckskin, 1 skein of KP Essential in black for details, button.
• Dave (My Love)- Beanie style hat 1sk KP Swish Bulky in Onyx
• Ron (Daves Dad)- Toque with pom pom - 2 Sk of KP Swish Bulky in Planetarium with KP bare bulky for trim.
• Bonnie (Daves Mom) - Scarf + (Mitts?); 8 sk of KP Andean Silk in blue and green (can’t remember colorways at the moment)
• Adam (Daves Brother)- Fingerless gloves + beanie style hat - 3 Sk of KP Swish Bulky in Onyx Heather.
• Mark (Daves Brother)- Beanie style hat 1 Sk of Swish Bulky in Planetarium and KP Bare bulky for trim.
• Lindsay (Adams GF)- Fingerless gloves; 4 sk Knit Picks Elegance in Cornflower
• Grandma - Basic Toque in 2 sk of Swish bulky Lilac Mist
• Annabel - Dog Sweater(L); 4 sk of Swish Worsted in Black, 2 sk of Swish Worsted in Dublin
• Buddy (Lindsays Dog) - Dog Sweater (S); 3 sk of Swish Worsted in Jade, 2 sk of Swish Worsted in Lawn
• Cassie (Daves Parents Dog) - Dog Sweater (S); 3 sk of Swish Worsted in Dark Navy, 2 sk of Swish Worsted in Bare.
• Ruby - (My Moms Dog) Dog Sweater (S); 3 sk of Swish Worsted in ?, 2 sk of Swish Worsted in ?

Phew! So basically I ordered a LOT of yarn… So far I’m done 2.5 projects. Rons hat, Marks hat, and half of my Moms PDA holder.

I really hope I can finish it. Wish me luck!

P.S. You may notice some changes to the site coming up. I’m probably having it re-done

Category: Designing, Knitting, Life, Random | 1 Comment »
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Posted By Wendy on July 23, 2008

Since yesterday there has been some good storm action here.

This was the sky over my house yesterday after the biggest part of the storm had passed :

It’s been awesome, we’ve had loonie sized hail, high winds up to 100 km/h and a LOT of rain.

Revisiting Eden is underway and should be ready for testing within 2 weeks time. A lovely group of ladies on Ravelry is going to be testing the pattern for me, and if they can finish within a certain time frame they’ll get a free set of stitch markers of their choice from the store. It should be a very exciting next few weeks. I’ll post pictures of Revisiting as soon as I have it finished

Category: Designing, Life | 1 Comment »
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