Margaret's Needlework Nook!

Happy New Year!

Margaret Napier — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 02:14:00 +0000

I love the start of a new year. It's a fresh start. There's so many possibilities! I make resolutions every year, but look at them as an opportunity to improve myself. Inevitably, I won't accomplish all of them, but if I accomplish some of them then I'm happy. The following are a couple of my resolutions for 2007:

1. Purge (t-shirts, bad habits, expired medications, guilt...)
2. Organize my life (and my closet, garage, shoes, stash (of yarn and projects)...)
3. Work on my stash (of books and knitting, cross stitch, and needlepoint projects)
4. Write more. I got started with NaNoWriMo but didn't come close to meeting the word count in November, but it did get my writing again and I'd like to keep it up. And now I'll be ready for writing in November 07.
5. Floss. Because I went to the dentist today. (no cavaties!)
6. Start a very small business. I made a pouch that I use as a knitting organizer and I would like to try and sell them. I have to make them first!

I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and I wish you all the best in 2007!

Happy Holidays!

Margaret Napier — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 16:41:00 +0000

I hope that everyone is enjoying Boxing Day! That sounds so much better than "the day after Christmas". My husband has taken my mom and Jacob to Mount Vernon, giving me some time to work on my Christmas cards. But I had to check my email for some addresses, and then I checked my yahoo to see what was going on in the world, which led to checking out my favorite blogs, which made me realize I haven't blogged in a few days, and here I am.

As my holiday post, I thought I would share my favorite decoration with you. I hang all my needlepoint ornaments from my dining room chandelier. I'm sure they would look lovely on the tree, but I'm worried about getting tree sap on them, or having the dog or a cat knock it off... Plus I think it's a nice touch in my dining room. The only problem is that I've run out of spots for ornaments so I don't know what I'm going to do when I finish the two I have in my stash...

I hope everyone has enjoyed their Christmas and that Santa was generous!

Christmas Crafting

Margaret Napier — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 04:31:00 +0000

I had intentions of doing a few more crafts, but time got away from me. I did finish these envelope sachets from Martha's Holiday Handmade Crafts magazine.

I needed some nice gifts for the secretaries and administrative staff at my office and Bill's office. The sachets turned out well, though I hit an unexpected snag. I guess I used cheap envelopes because my envelopes leaked. But inspiration hit and I made little pouches out of tissue paper that I could easily slip into my envelopes.

This was a simple enough project. I slid two pieces of foam batting in my envelope, and I had a scrapbooking tool to make my holes. The tool was easier to manipulate than a pin. Each envelope is a different scent: black-orange tea with dried roses, cedar chips with dried lavender, and lemon-ginger tea with hibiscus flowers. I got the lavender and roses from Michaels, the teas from the grocery store, and the dried hibiscus flowers from Whole Foods. To make the envelopes, I used Martha's butterfly template for the red envelope, I created the diamond pattern, and I printed out letters in 200-250 point font.

All in all, I am pleased with the outcome. I hope our coworkers enjoy them!

What Have I Been Up To?

Margaret Napier — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 04:27:00 +0000

I've been doing a little decorating...

I've been doing a little sewing...

And I've been doing a little fetching...

Venezia Purse

Margaret Napier — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 03:54:00 +0000

This was a pattern created by Woolwinders, my local knitting salon which is located in Rockville, MD. I knit it up in Cascade Yarns "Venezia" merino silk (70% merino wool, 30% silk). This was a luxurious fiber to work with. The finished project measures 10 1/2 inches wide by 5 1/4 inches tall, not including the handles.

It was a quick project to knit up, taking about 8 hours if I remember correctly. The hardest part for me was getting up the motivation to finish the project. First I sewed up the side of the purse. Next I created the lining and then sewed it into my purse. I struggled with how to attach the handles. At first I sewed the handles onto the top of the purse, but they ended up dominating the handbag. My second try was to sew them about 3/4 of an inch into the purse, and I really liked how this turned out.

This purse is on the small side. My husband joked that I could fit my cell phone in there. I believe I can also fit my wallet and a lipstick. We'll see.

As I mentioned, this was a very quick project to knit up. You can easily create your own pattern and customize the size to your preference. I might knit up another one of these as a Christmas present.

NaNoWriMo

Margaret Napier — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 02:41:00 +0000

Ever heard that November is the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)? I hadn't until Bill found it for me. He stumbled across it on one of his blogs and sent it to me knowing I would be interested.

So what it is? It's a program for those who who have always wanted to write but never found the time. The goal is to write 50,000 words by midnight on November 30. The focus is on quantity, not quality, so that you actually write that novel.

I took a writing class a couple of years ago and was told that in order to be a writer, you have to write. Well I've spent a long time not writing, and I could probably come up with a million reasons not to participate in NaNoWriMo (new job at it's busiest time, family coming for Thanksgiving, house projects, etc.) but I'm giving it a go.

Happy writing.

New Finished Projects

Margaret Napier — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 00:06:00 +0000

Finally, proof that I do actually finish projects!

I have started buying needlepoint canvases as travel souvenirs. The canvas I liked the most was meant to be an ornament, but I wanted something to frame. As I have posted before, the canvas is only a suggestion. The pattern was simple enough that I was comfortable modifying it to suit my purposes. I drew in the square and then extended the coast line (while consulting a map) and added in some additional waves. Voilà! My friends at The Stitching Post outside of Baltimore, MD did a fantastic job with the framing (again). This piece was stitched in DMC Perle 5 cotton.

The next piece was a commissioned piece. That's my fancy was of saying that I asked a friend to draw it for me because I've been going through a dragonfly phase. She gave me some guidance with colors, and then I used metallics and overdyed silk threads. I stitched the background in Caron Impressions. This piece had a lot of blank space so I chose to use the milanese stitch for my background stitch because it would be interesting but not ovewhelming. Overall, I'm very please with how this project turned out. The only thing I would have done differently was use a dark colored canvas because I can sometimes see the white canvas peeking through in some places. Again, the framing was done at The Stitching Post. I'm so pleased with their custom framing department; they have a lot of framing choices, and this is THE perfect frame.

This Shuffle's Made For Walking...

Margaret Napier — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 03:05:00 +0000

I had the most pleasant surprise on my door step today! My new iPod shuffle arrived. Actually, it's arrival wasn't that much of a surprise since I have been tracking it obsessively.

I am so excited to take it for a walk. I love my video iPod, but it's a little bulky when I go to take the dog around the block. I'm very excited for the shuffle since it will clip to my jacket and I'll hardly even notice it's there.

The new shuffle did require a few things:

1. The newest version of iTunes. Not a big deal, but a surprise.

2. How to sync it with iTunes. I could have had iTunes randomly select music but I have control issues. For me, the preferred set up was to make a playlist which I titled Shuffle. This playlist will sync with my shuffle automatically when I plug it in.

3. Audiobooks. I have started to enjoy listening to audiobooks on my stroll, but when I added them to the playlist, they didn't get copied onto my shuffle. Hmmm... When I did take the audiobooks and added them to the shuffle device directly (instead of the playlist) they copied.

My shuffle, named This Shuffle's Made For Walking (or TSMFW for short) is fully charged and ready to take a spin.

Besotted Scarf

Margaret Napier — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 02:14:00 +0000

I just bought a new winter coat which means I must knit myself a new scarf and hat. Which also means a trip to my local knitting salon, Woolwinders , to pick out a new fabulous, yarn. I chose Baby Alpaca Chunky from Cascade Yarns in Monterey Bay (color 562), a beautiful teal with a hint of gray..

I knew that I wanted to knit a scarf with a cable pattern. I thought that I would be able to pick out a cable stitch from my knitting book and design my own pattern, but it was much harder than I thought.

I checked out free patterns on the internet and found the perfect scarf pattern at http://www.helloyarn.com. I'm working on the besotted scarf which is knitting up nicely. The baby alpaca yarn is great to work with; it's so soft. I was a little worried that the color would be too dark to show off the beautiful pattern, but not the case. You can see the pattern perfectly.

I still have to figure out what I want to do for my hat, but I have a few ideas.

Check out http://www.helloyarn.com. They have some great free patterns, a blog and some beautiful hand-dyed and handspun yarns (which I will have to check out once I make a dent in my stash).

Finished Ornaments

Margaret Napier — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 01:37:00 +0000

It's never too early to start thinking about Christmas! Well, with the 100+ degree weather we've been having this week, maybe it is.

Earlier this summer I finished three Christmas ornaments and I took them to The Needlewoman East in Falls Church, VA, to have them "finished". As I've said before, needlepoint finishing is an art in itself, and not something I have tried. Maybe in a few years.

On the white Christmas lights ornament, I used a new fiber - Flair by Rainbow Gallery. It's a sheer nylon fiber which I thought was perfect for the lights. The challenge with this fiber is that it stretched and I pulled it too tight which biased my canvas. This piece definitely need to be blocked which restored it to its proper shape. I also used Snow by Caron and was told that Snow can also sometimes lead to pulling your pattern out of shape. My suggestion is if you stitch large areas in these fibers, stitch your piece in a frame.

Rudolph turned out well. I am very happy with him. The only thing I would have done differently is shortened the scarf and added some fringe to his scarf. I think that would have been a nice effect. Maybe next time.

Finally, Santa was a challenge. What I loved about the canvas was all the shading, but I couldn't find the right shades of read, so I decided to ignore the shading. But then the piece wasn't interesting enough so I pulled everything out. I pulled things out 3 times which eventually lead to me cutting the canvas. Not good. I was able to fix it and you'd never know where I made my mistake (what a relief). Lesson learned - pull it out once, pull it out twice, but you are asking for trouble if you go for a third time. I did eventually find the right shades for the project. I used Splendor for Santa's suit, and used Neon Rays for the sleigh. The difference in texture is subtle, but I can tell the difference which is what really matters.

For more information on Rainbow Gallery fibers, check out their website. They have color cards as well as stitching tips.

My ornaments will go into storage for now, but Christmas will be here before I know it and I'll be able to enjoy the decorations this holiday season.

Summer Reading Part I

Margaret Napier — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:28:00 +0000

I am surprised by how little I have read so far this summer. But what I have lacked in quantity, I have made up for in quality. Well, not really but I have read some fun stuff:

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett - fantastic! This book is a must-read for mystery lovers. I love the movie and was amazed by how closely the movie followed the book. Reviewers of this book always comment on the dialogue, and I can see why -it was witty, fast-paced, and the expressions were fantastic. This book is a one of a kind. I will definitely read another of his books, The Thin Man, which is another favorite movie. I am also interested in reading Raymond Chandler who writes in a similar style.

Darcy and Elizabeth: Nights and Days at Pemberley by Linda Berdoll - fun! This is the second installment of Ms. Berdoll's sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The book is written in a different tone (Ms. Austen being very proper and innocent while Ms. Berdoll incorporates a little more passion and heat), but the spirit of the characters is the same. I had some trouble getting into this book, but then started to enjoy it. I felt that the book was a little wordy which sometimes got in the way, but it was a fun read, not hard on the brain.

The Mediterranean Caper by Clive Cussler - pure brain candy! After reading historical fiction, I was interested in a quick, easy read. I was amazed that the book was written in the 70's because it reads like it was written yesterday. Dirk Pitt is a fun character - a man who can (and does) do everything. If you're looking for a quick adventure, pick up a Dirk Pitt novel.

The book that I'm currently reading is:

In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson - funny! This is a travel book about Australia. I don't read a lot of non-fiction and I'm struggling with the lack of plot. But Mr. Bryson has great insights and observations and I am really enjoying his sense of humor. I'm about halfway through.

As you can see, my taste in books is varied. Hopefully one of these will spark your interest. Check back in a couple weeks for Summer Reading Part II. And check out Bill's blog for his summer reading update.

Baseball in the Modern Day

Margaret Napier — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 00:33:00 +0000

It has been a long time since a baseball player started his career and ended it wearing the same uniform. These days, players are traded with surprising frequency. Chances are high that your favorite player will get traded during his career. But knowing it can happen doesn't make it easier when it does eventually happen.

The Cubs made two deals today. One sent a legend, Greg Maddux, to LA and the other sent my favorite player, Todd Walker, to San Diego. I'm sure it makes the team stronger, but I'm quite sad inside.

Greg Maddux is a future hall of famer. He started the season 5 and 0. The rest of the season didn't go quite as well, but part of the problem was the offense and lack of run support. I am very surprised the Cubs traded a veteran pitcher considering the number of starts that the rookies have made. It is an opportunity for some more young guys to get an opportunity, but the team has struggled with the inexperience of the young pitchers and now they have one less veteran.

As for Todd, I was a Todd Walker fan before it was cool to be a Todd Walker fan. He was invaluable to the team this year. When D Lee went out with a broken wrist, Todd filled in admirably. He played a great first base. He has a consistent bat and held his own defensively this year. He has a label of being a defensive liability, and I have seen him make errors, but I suppose I have blinders on when it comes to Todd and was able to forgive him those mistakes.

When it comes down to it, baseball is a business and this is the nature of that business. Business can't be personal. But I'm a fan and being a fan is ruled by emotion. I wish both players a lot of luck, but personally, this makes a disappointing season even more so.

Summer Reading Project

Margaret Napier — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 01:34:00 +0000

Bill and I love books. Maybe more than we enjoy reading we enjoy book shopping. While at Barnes & Noble Friday night we (okay, I) bought three more books. This started a conversation about the number of books we have in our queue to read and how we probably didn't need to buy any more books for a year. (This is a common theme in our household with computers, needlework projects, etc.).

And this led to our deciding to start Bill and Margaret's Summer Reading Project. We have tons of books in many different genres and our goal this summer is to get through as many as possible.

Stay tuned to hear about our progress...

I'm Sorry, Jaques

Margaret Napier — Wed, 17 May 2006 02:39:00 +0000

What is up with Cubs fans? For the first time, I'm rather embarrassed to be a Cubs fan. It has nothing to do with the fact that the Cubs are losing. I'm embarrassed because of how the fans are treating the players.

It's been a rough couple of weeks. The Cubs have lost some heartbreakers. They made some bad mistakes. They couldn't get runners across the plate. They lost a lot. But rather than support the team, the fans boo. When did the "friendly confines" become the "unfriendly confines"? If I were a Cubs player, I wouldn't want to play in Wrigley Field these days. I'd prefer to play all my games on the road where the reception is warmer.

Take tonight's game for example. Jaques Jones gets doubled off second after a pop-up. He wandered too far from the bag, assumed the ball wouldn't get caught on the fly, which is did, and gets doubled off. Bad play. The Cubs have had this happen at least three times this season. Poor base running. The Cubs go on to score four runs later and lead the game. But at the start of the bottom of the ninth, Jacques Jones called the umpire out to right field which meant that either a fan threw something at him or yelled racial slurs and we see two people get escorted out. I thought the bleacher fans were supposed to make it difficult for the other team, not the home team. It just doesn't make any sense to me.

I am an idealist. I would prefer a world of rainbow and roses. But I also realize that fans are going to get frustrated once and awhile. That's life. But these fans seems to be disgusted with everything. Every perceived mistake, perceived bad at bat gets booed. It's getting to the point where I don't enjoy watching games on tv because of the crowd reaction.

I have high hopes for this team. May the difference is that other fans have high expectations. Regardless of the reason, I'm embarrassed to be a Cubs fan and it has nothing to do with the team's record.

Update On Projects

Margaret Napier — Fri, 05 May 2006 02:19:00 +0000

So I have been very committed to my New Year's Resolution to complete my projects and I thought it was time for an update:

Needlepoint:
1. Chicago needlepoint - Done
2. Reindeer ornament - Done
3. Santa ornament - Done
4. Vase with flowers needlepoint - Done
5. Christmas Stocking - No change*
6. Swirling with Love - In progress!

Cross Stitch
7. Halloween sampler - Done
8. Strawberry basket - Done
9. Kitty with bee on nose - Done
10. Friendship cross stitch - Life is to short to do projects I don't really like
11. Blue diamond fairy - No change*

Knitting
12. Afghan - No change
13. Socks - No change
14. Bill's hat - No change
15. My hat & scarf - Hat is done, scarf is 1/2 done

The projects with a "*" are considered large projects and are not part of my new year's resolution.

In preparation for finishing my last needlepoint project, I went to the needlepoint store to get fibers for my next canvases. How exciting!

My Take on Derrek Lee

Margaret Napier — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 04:00:00 +0000

The injury to D Lee is not what the Cubs were hoping for. Derrek is going to be out for awhile. He broke two bones in his wrist during the collision. I don't think this is worst case scenario though. Worst case would be he's out for the season. Derrek will be in a cast for a minimum of six weeks and then will probably have at least 4 weeks of rehab. This gets him back before the All-Star Break. To me, this is good news.

There is no doubt that Derrek Lee is a huge part of this Cubs team. But this team does not rely on just one person. Let's not look back at last season. Let's look back a couple of seasons ago and realize remember that when the Cubs made the playoffs it was because everyone contributed. It's a huge blow to lose his bat and his leadership. But it's only temporary. "Everything is temp-o-rary" to quote my favorite movie, Moonstruck. This is a long season. The Cubs have plenty of other players that are capable of big offense - Jacques Jones, Aramis Ramirez, Matt Murton. And let's not forget Todd Walker's consistent .300+ batting average.

On the defensive side, everyone is going to have to step up a bit. You could shop for a first baseman for years and never find another D Lee. Walker, Mabry and Restovich will have to channel their inner Hoover to suck up every ball that comes towards first and the rest of the infields will have to try and be more accurate with their throws. Pitchers will have to keep things close.

Two losses after the injury doesn't bode well, and maybe it was because everyone was shook up from the news. And maybe it was a guy having a bad outing and another guy not being able to get that last out. Maybe it stuff that happens all the time in baseball. Let's not forget that the Cards came to Wrigley Field and got swept. It makes sense to me that the Cards were going to be strong at home. It would have been easy for this Cubs team to get swept, but they didn't. The Cubs are still ahead 4 - 2 against the Cards and they'll see each other 19 times this year.

This team needs to stay in it. They are capable, even without D Lee. And when D Lee comes back, they'll be that much stronger. And D Lee will be rested and able to really push through the second half of the season.

West Coast Roadtrips

Margaret Napier — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 03:56:00 +0000

I love baseball, but these west coast roadtrips require some pretty big sacrifices. The games don't even start until ten pm. That's bedtime! And because I'm so obsessed, I mean dedicated, I can't go to sleep without knowing the final score. So I've taken to coming home and taking a nap so that I can make it through the game. We were very lucky Monday night when the game was over in 1 hr, 59 mins. I think that's some sort of record. Last night was about three hours and that's what we're on track for tonight. Thankfully I have no huge, major proposals going on at work or we'd be in trouble because 2 + 2 has been coming up two 22 these last few sleep deprived days. But I would stay up to the wee hours of the morning if it means a Cubs win. The game is currently tied so that may be what I'm in for...

Update: As a note, this game was worth the sacrifice. The Cubs came from behind to win. But there was a scary play that took out two Cubs players. The Dodgers bunted and relieve Scott Eyre dove to field it. He tried to flip it from his glove to first baseman D Lee, but the toss put D Lee in the runners path and caused a collision. Eyre went out with a knee contusion and D Lee is out with what is currently being called a sprained wrist. The x-rays were inconclusive so he heads to Chicago to see the team doctors. Todd took over at first, again showing his flexibility on the field and his importance to this team. The Cubs were behind when they lost arguably their most important player, but they were able to rally for the win. Ronny Cedeno was able to put a throwing error out of his mind and made a great game ending catch. I was please to see the Cubs play good small ball and get out of some tight situations to come up with the "W".

The Bet

Margaret Napier — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 03:50:00 +0000

On our drive home from Pittsburgh Sunday, after a great Cubs' win, Bill and I discussed the game. I was trying to remember if Todd scored the winning run in the first inning with his home run to right field. Bill corrected me and let me know that it was Aramis who hit the home run. "Want to bet?" I said I would put $100 on it. He said he didn't want to take my money but I said I told him it was okay.

What was he thinking? First, how likely is it that I wouldn't know what Todd did during the game? Can we not say Todd Walker obsession? Second, I keep score. I'm actually paying attention. Lastly, how confident must I have been to put up $100 of birthday money nonetheless. Not, I'll go to the ATM where both our paychecks get deposited, but actual saving for a rainy day money. And I'm right about things 92.8% of the time.

We shook on it. But rather then refer to my trusty scorecard, I went to a non-biased source and dialed up the internet on my phone. And guess who was right. Out of pity, I told him it didn't have to be birthday money. So far I have collected $60.

Since I've brought it up, how about Todd? I was convinced that he was going to get traded. I didn't want it to happen, but for some reason Dusty is not a Todd Walker guy. He's got a strong bat and is a consistent .300 hitter, but there are concerns about his defense and range at sescond. In the offseason, there was much debate about who the starting second baseman would be (with three potential candidates). Todd won the job. Before today's game, his batting average was .455. I realize it's a young season, but I think it's a good sign he's swinging the bat well. And a home run in the first inning of the last two games! So far his defense looks good. Go Todd! Go Cubs!

My Matt Murton Moments

Margaret Napier — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 02:34:00 +0000

This weekend, Bill and I drove to Pittsburgh for our first two Cubs games of the season. We always enjoy Pittsburgh and this weekend was no exception.

For those who don't keep up with the Cubs, Matt Murton is the young, Opie-resembling, left fielder for the Cubs. Our first moment occurred during batting practice before Saturday's game when I was patiently waiting to catch a ball. For whatever reason, not many balls were going out over the 410 ft. sign (which is where I was) and for the fly balls hit near us, no Cubs were tossing them to the fans. I found that to be quite annoying because there were a lot of Cubs fans around. My irritation was starting to get the better of me, but still I waited. A ball was hit to left-center and rolled to the wall. Murton trotted over to get it and I yelled "hey, Matt". He looked up, tossed me the ball, and jogged away. It was a short moment, but through our sunglasses our eyes met and we shared something. Also, patience is a virtue.

Sunday morning, Bill and I had a leisurely breakfast and then drove over to the ball park. It was 10:30 and 3 hours before game time. I thought it was late for the players to be arriving, but what do I know as I ended up with 7 autographs. My second autograph was Matt Murton. He and Derrek Lee signed for everyone who was waiting. As Matt handed my ball back to me, I said "Thanks, Matt. You threw me that ball yesterday." He chuckled and looked up and replied "Oh, I did?" This time, there were no sunglasses and our eyes met. I think one of my teeth sparkled as I smiled at him. A definitely momement.

I also shared moments with Derrek Lee when I thank him and wished him a Happy Easter, and when I told Ron Santo he was an inspiration. (Ron Santo, does a lot of work on behalf of JDRF and will hopefully be in the Baseball Hall of Fame in the near future.) I also got autographs from Scott Williamson, Bob Howry, Glendon Rusch, Jerome Williams, Ryan Dempster, John Mabry and Will Ohman. After Saturday's loss, I didn't expect the players to be so friendly, but maybe everyone was in the Easter spirit. It definitely makes my top give mornings ever. If I had gotten Todd Walker's signature it would definitely be my number one morning in history. I'm not sure what the other four mornings on the list are.

And I think if we have one more moment with Matt Murton I definitely qualify as his stalker.

Open Needlework Projects

Margaret Napier — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 22:10:00 +0000

As I mentioned yesterday, one of my goals for this year is to finish most (ie 75%) of my open needlework projects. I went through all my drawers, all my bags, all the nooks and crannies of my craft room and here's what I found:

Needlepoint:
1. Chicago needlepoint
2. Reindeer ornament
3. Santa ornament
4. Vase with flowers needlepoint
5. Christmas Stocking
6. Swirling with Love

Cross Stitch
7. Halloween sampler
8. Strawberry basket
9. Kitty with bee on nose
10. Friendship cross stitch
11. Blue diamond fairy

Knitting
12. Afghan
13. Socks
14. Bill's hat
15. My hat & scarf

These projects vary in size and completeness. Stay tuned for progress reports.

New Year's Resolutions

Margaret Napier — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 20:42:00 +0000

Happy New Year! It's the time of year to find areas for personal improvement. I've been doing a lot of reading on resolutions and have decided to look at things differently. Many of the things on my list are things I would like to change permanently. So rather than resolving to do this things, this is the year that I accomplish them.

This is the year that:

1. I finish most of my open (in progress) knitting, needlepoint and cross-stitch projects. I have defined "most" as 75%. One of the first things I'll have to do it inventory all my projects. I estimate having 2 knitting, 5 needlepoint and 3 cross stitch projects open. I am also going to limit the number of new projects I buy. I have quite a few projects in my craft room and really don't need to buy anything new.

2. I will conquer the clutter. I own way too much crap. It's time to clean out the closets, clean out the drawers, clean out under the beds, clean out the garage and purge. There's also the mental aspect of letting go of the clutter. I assign value to these things and I don't need the stuff to still have the memories. I will figure out what is really important and let go of the rest.

3. I will spend more time with my kids: brushing Sabrina, letting Cheli lay on my lap, letting Harrison chew on my fingers, walking CJ and brushing all their teeth. They enrich my life so I will try and enrich theirs.

4. I will eat 6 - 8 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. I think this is am important first step in a healthy diet. I'm thinking more fruit and veggies will mean less cookies. We'll see.

5. Spend more time outside. Life is too short to spend it inside doing chores. I want to get more fresh air.

6. Have more patience. With Bill, with myself, at work, on the metro...

What I love about the new year is all the potential. This year will be what I make it. What will yours be?

Productive Weekend

Margaret Napier — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 04:15:00 +0000

In keeping with my New Year's Resolution to finish projects, I completed three pieces this weekend.

First was my Chicago Needlepoint. The hardest part of this project was figuring out the right stitch for the water. I tried many stitches and a couple of different kinds of threads. My main problem was finidhing a stitch and thread that would cover the workds "Chicago Harbor" which were painted in the water in the bottom of the canvas. I didn't think it was necessary so I stitched over it.

My second project was my reindeer ornament. He is so cute. He was almost done I had to finish the tree and the reindeer's scarf. In hind sight, I would have made the scarf shorter and added some fringe to the end of it, but I'll keep that idea for a future project.

The last piece I finished was a project I started in June. It's a small piece but tedious. It had a lot of outlining. In addition to finishing the stitching, I also framed it this weekend.

Can I buy a new project yet?

Multiple Contacts Lists

Margaret Napier — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 02:01:00 +0000

If you're like me, you are probably maintaining multiple contacts lists. I had my contacts at work which I would synch with my palm. Contacts in my cell phone. My old fashioned address book. Contacts everywhere. I had also noticed that I could sync my contacts with my iPod but the last thing I wanted to do was have another contacts list.

I had been thinking about getting rid of my palm pilot since I was only carrying it for the address book and in case on the off chance I wanted to know what meetings I had the next day. My palm had the more complete address info so when I would travel (and was planning on sending a postcard), it was one more thing to carry. Why not maintain contacts on a piece of equipment that is always with me - either my iPod of my cell phone.

As it turns out, I could set up my cell phone, a Motorola V600, to sync with my contacts on my laptop. And I could set up my iPod to do the same. I can still add or change contacts on my cell but I would maintain a master list of contacts on my Mac and sync to multiple devices. Setting this up with my Mac was a piece of cake.

I ran through the Bluetooth Setup Assistant to pair my cell phone with the laptop. It took about 15 minutes. Most of it spent figuring out how to make my cell phone discoverable and then trying to make sure my Bluetooth was on. Once the two devices were paired, the iSync synchronization menu popped up. I didn't have to change any of the options because the Mac is so smart so I hit sync and watched all my contacts move from my cell phone into my address book on the Mac. Next came the issue of moving my contacts from my palm to the Mac. The easiest way for me to do this was to Bluetooth the contacts from the palm and import them to the address book. One that was done I re-synced. Result - all contacts up-to-date on the cell. The last part of this is moving the contacts from my paper address book. I am slowly typing my contacts into the Mac, but I'm not in a hurry.

The final piece to this was to sync the contacts to my iPod. Again, could not have been easier. With the iPod connected, go to iTunes and select Preferences. Next select iPod and then Contacts. Check the box to synchronize all contacts and hit okay. Finally, update your iPod and watch all your contacts sync.

The only problem I had in this process involved the photos of my contacts. In the address book, you can put in a photo and with my photo iPod, I expected the photos to appear when I selected a contact. After much research, it appears that there are many of us with this expectation and we are waiting for a software update to enable this feature.

All in all, a very easy experience with the Mac. I feel it is important to note that I did this by myself which means that a regular person can do it. Bill could probably have done it with his eyes closed but he is a computer professional. I was so excited about my success, I set up Bill's cell phone and his Mac in under ten minutes and that included all the time for his fifty contacts to copy.

It was worth the time to do this. I will sleep easier now that we are both more organized.

Sweeping the Bucs!

Margaret Napier — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 01:39:00 +0000

I went to one of my favorite places this weekend - PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. It's a hike for us, but worth every minute! The ballpark is beautiful, the fans are friendly, lots of Cub fans attend, and I have not left the ballpark without an autograph.

The weather was absolutely perfect, both for the drive and for the game. Our seats were absolutely fantastic; we sat four rows from the field, the second section over from the Cubs bullpen, where the grass meets the infield. Every time Todd Walker had to backup the play at first, he ran right at me and distracted me from my scorekeeping.

PNC Park is the one place where I am a cheap date. We always grab a hot dog, but my favorite souvenir is a $1 scorecard. It's a way to remember the game and perfect for player signatures. This week I got Matt Murton (rookie) and Derek Lee (MVP candidate). To be honest, Bill got D. Lee's autograph for me (thanks to his having long arms since he was three people deep). I did get a picture of D. Lee signing my scorecard. That's my scorecard and my Sharpie in his hand. The Sharpie has since been retired, enclosed in a glass case for safe keeping. (I'm kidding, I still have to buy the case.)

My absolute favorite part of the day was seeing the players in street clothes, Todd Walker in particular. He is a rock star. Seeing him sustained me during the long ride home.

I can't really think of a better way to spend a Sunday - quality time with the hubby, autographs, Todd Walker, D. Lee, a Cubs win, and a series sweep.

New iPod

Margaret Napier — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 00:54:00 +0000

Apple was so thoughtful and sent me an email to let me know about the new 20 and 60 gig color iPods.

I'll be perfectly honest: I don't need a new iPod. I'm just at 20 gigs of music and even when I add to my collection, I've got a pretty good system for swapping out music. But when I got this email, I just couldn't help myself. Pretty colors on the screen. Tons of space. I could store photos! 15 hours of battery life. Podcast ready (just in time for Lance's tour podcasts!!). And me with a bonus burning a whole in my pocket. It was all too much to resist.

As I have said before, my husband has the patience of a saint, so that night we went to the Apple store to check out my future iPod. I drooled over the pretty screen. I debated. I rationalized. I walked away. I walked back. And then I gave into temptation and bought myself a beautiful new iPod.

The beauty of Apple is that it's so just easy to use. Charge the iPod. Plug it into the computer. Answer the questions and watch the music copy. Listen to music. The "hard" part was figuring out how to copy my photos on to my iPod. With 60 gigs of space, I could keep copies of all my photos on my iPod but that seems a bit excessive. I only want to keep my favorite pictures or new pictures to show my friends. What I did was set up a folder in iPhoto and that folder syncs with my iPod. Anytime I put new photos in that folder, the next time I sync my music, that folder of photos syncs as well. I did have to set this up in my preferences in iTunes. I will say that it does help make things easier that I use an apple computer.

The next day I started to feel some buyers remorse. Why did I buy such a huge iPod? What was I going to do with 60 gigs of space? One of the things I loved about the iPod was the size. Compared to my first mp3 player, it was tiny. The 60 gig iPod is larger to accommodate the bigger hard drive and I was not looking forward to lugging this new, huge piece of technology around. (The 60 is .12 inches wider and weight .5 ounces more.) Bill, ever the voice of reason, said "try it out, you can always return it." To my delight, I could not tell that it was heavier. I use a leather case with a clip by Incase and I didn't notice the additional weight, even while walking.

As for my concerns about space, I have a huge pile of CDs that I am going to convert to mp3s and import into iTunes. My other justification is that when I travel for work, I travel with my work laptop. I can save myself some time and dump my photos from my travels onto my iPod (we already have the adaptor) which would then sync easily with iPhoto when I return. I'll make use of the 60 gigs of space.

Verdict: I am thrilled with my new purchase. I highly recommend the color iPod. Everything is better in color. And it you need it, I am more than happy to help you rationalize your purchase.

Now if only I could find the perfect headphones...