It has come to my attention via notices from kind Ravelry folks that the blog had been hacked.  To what end, I have no idea.  However, some bot (probably) found its way into every .html and .php file and attached a wad of code for its own nefarious purposes.

I don’t know what nefarious purposes - for obvious reasons, we didn’t run the code to see what it would do.

The situation should now have been taken care of - by dint of Myria’s hard work.  There shouldn’t be anything left to cause any problem.  However, I strongly advise you to run a virus scan and a malware scan as soon as possible on your own systems.  The following links will bring you to sites where you can download free scanners of various types, should you not have any already installed.

Antivirus

Avast Antivirus Home Edition
Avira Antivirus Personal Edition
AVG Antivirus

Malware

AdAware
Spybot Search and Destroy
Spyware Blaster

The Malware items are less about viruses than about keeping your system clean and free from spyware and the like.  While not absolutely necessary, they are very useful.

Further, and for what it’s worth, the scuttlebut has it that there are a couple of things you can look for that could be evidence of an infestation by this virus (Frame.Z).  Check in your C:/Program Files directory for a directory called Bravesentry.  Also, look in your root directory for an .exe file that consists of a longish string of numbers and or letters.  Should you find them, run your antivirus software and do a full scan.

In fact, you should do that anyway :)

I hope this hasn’t and doesn’t cause any undue problems.  The situation should be fixed on my end so there should be no further issues.

And thanks to those who alerted me to the situation!

We have baby degus :) They are just a week old and beginning to get brave about venturing out of the nest.





We were hoping the litter of pups would be small - three or four maybe…





Myria thinks she has counted eight…

We will be bringing them to the pet shop when they are weaned - at about 5 or 6 weeks.  In the meantime, they are delightful to watch :) There’s nothing like having babies in the house!

Resume break :)

I guess the time for a sort of semi-hiatus has come round again.  I have neither the focus nor the dexterity to knit much - though I keep trying :) Crocheting is less difficult and less painful, but I’m not doing much of that either.

So the blog (and Chatters) is going to take a spring vacation.  I will likely be posting things from time to time, but not on anything like a regular basis.  I will continue to correspond and to comment on blogs and, hopefully in a couple of months, things will be getting back to normal.

Have a wonderful spring my friends - I appreciate your kindness and patience more than I can say!

Sorry folks - I can’t seem to get the chat room working properly so I’m afraid there won’t be any chat this evening.  I know some of you have already stopped by and I thank you for the effert and humbly apologize for the problems.

We’ll try it again next week, eh?

I don’t crochet very often these days, knitting having filled my fiber craft needs fairly well for that last few years :) However, with the completion of the afghan, I have realized that, for the time being, crochet is easier on my hands.  So I went through my wools and wool blends.  I have lots of ones and twosies of - big surprise - pinks and purples.  I also have several hanks of a medium, heathery blue-green that would compliment them.  I had in mind making another blanket.

However, after testing out a couple of patterns, I couldn’t settle on anything that especially tripped my trigger.  Maybe I didn’t want to make another blanket?

And then, this morning at about 5:00, I woke up with the word scrumble running round and round in my head.  And so, since I couldn’t go back to sleep, I turned on the lap top and went in search :)

This site, Crochet by Sylvia Cosh and James Walters offers a series of tutorials as starting points for scrumbling which is a sort of free-form fabric or item creation often using crochet but sometimes including knitting and other fiber arts.  There are separate sets of instructions for US and British crocheters.  Prudence Mapstone (Knot just Knitting) is also a seminal figure in the field.

There is also an extensive gallery of the work of various talented people ranging from whimsical to fine art.  Kay Adolphson’s Ancient Future and Jeanne Taylor’s From Little Acorns are amazing pieces of art and not what most people think of when they consider crochet.

I confess, given that this is a free-form style, the idea of tutorials and instructions make me a bit nervous.  I mean, how can anything free-form have rules?  But I suppose there are basics for everything, so I will read and learn what I can and I will look at the magnificent work that others have done and be inspired.

And I will play :)

See the “Knitting Chatter” button on the side bar for more information.

Chatters is on for Saturday evening!  Bring your knitting (or crocheting!) and join the fun :)

Happy Spring - and have a great weekend!
Chatters is on for Saturday evening!

This was completed by 8:30 last night :)

This is Chris Simon’s Flowerburst Square and a nicely designed piece it is.

Materials:  Red Heart acrylic in various pinks and purples, cream and black.
Hook:  Size I/9 (5.5 mm)
Finished size (square):  12” x 12”
Finished size (blanket):  60” x 72”

I have no idea about actual amounts because I was using left-overs, for the most part, and trying to use up colors.  I worked with what I had available and didn’t measure anything beforehand.  I will admit, however, to being absolutely abysmal in judging how much yarn I’m going to need - especially for crochet so, in the end, I did have to purchase more black yarn in order to finish the squares’ borders.  It goes without saying that I bought twice as much as I ended up needing :)

Maybe I should make another blanket?

Happy Monday!

I did some dyeing this week.

More information is available at The Dye Pot under Pigeon’s Blood.  I’m so pleased with this color that I can’t wait to get my hands on it!

That will have to wait until the blanket is finished.  At my current rate, that should happen on Sunday.  The final rounds are being worked now and, as I acquire enough, they are being sewn into strips and the strips are being sewn together, I’m halfway down the length of the blanket, so things are coming together nicely :) Hopefully, I’ll have a finished item to show you on Monday.

I sorted through the half-way bin a couple of days ago.  This is where projects go when I’m undecided about them - and there were a lot of things in the bin.  So many, in fact, that Myria was getting nervous about them reaching critical mass and staging a coup on the rest of the living room :) Something had to be done.

I seldom use straight needles any more.  It’s either circulars or double points with point protectors on the ends.  Can you guess how many point protectors (not to mention DPNs) I re-acquired during this exercise?  A bunch :) I also discovered a circular I thought I had lost and several balls of yarn (and partial balls) I had forgotten about.

As it happened, a bit of blue, left over from The Lake and the Summer Sky, got tossed onto the work basket where it landed up against the yellow I’m using for the top-down hat…

This doesn’t look bad to my eye - what do you think?

Sadly, I think the possible sweater…

...isn’t going to go anywhere.  I should have started earlier in winter, while the cold weather was there to spur me on.  Now that warmer weather is arriving, I have no desire to work on a sweater.  I could put it away for a while and see how I feel later on.  After all, the half-way bin needs filling out again, now that it’s been pared down :)

Don’t tell Myria I said that!

Chatters is on for tomorrow evening.

See the “Knitting Chatter” button on the side bar for more information.

Bring your projects and enjoy the conversation!

And have a great weekend :)