Bear is Home!

He seems happy, looks healthy, and I swear that he's grown at least an inch! It's the end of his first year of university, and he has survived!

Apart from him, I keep getting hit by AI in the social feed. I found this video, and I know that it's AI and that it uses a facsimile of Stevie Nicks' voice and Fleetwood Mac vibes - but...

It's a video and song about a cat worrying about getting old and whether their human will be able to manage. It breaks my heart. Someone has used AI, and I'm still not comfortable about the voice, though it's far from an exact copy, but they've used it as a tool and included their own creativity and ideas. 

Maybe that's what AI can do - support independent creativity. I'm unlikely to use it as I'm still fighting battles with spellchecker, but I feel that I don't understand enough to contribute properly. All that I know is that I was ready to cry at the end of the video. 

Another example comes from a friend. They're about my age, they don't have access to musical instruments and they haven't had opportunities to work with music the way that they would have liked. They've taken their ideas, though, and used AI to produce music to fit their words and, I'll be honest, have enjoyed it. It takes me back to the eighties and an easier time in my life. They have a clear vision of how it should be but don't have access to other means to share their ideas. 

Everything feels so complicated. I'm still not using AI in writing. 

I've done all the editing I'm going to do on the collection of Kane short stories and and written some extra content, and they should be available on Amazon in theory in the next month or so. 

Hugs and good health to all.

Gothic Knitting Guide is About Crochet

 I had a shopping fail. 

I was on Temu, which is not a good friend to me, and I saw Gothic Knitting Guide which, to be fair to me, includes a pic of knitting needles on the cover, and invested in it. I was thrilled when it arrived - until I opened it and found that it was all about crochet.

I've had a grumble about it on Facebook, and it was pointed out that in some languages knitting and crochet are the same word. Not to mention that I've been told that there are books of patterns out there written by AI that have amazing pics but with instructions that don't work. I'm putting it up here because I had a quick rummage around when I was thinking of buying it and I couldn't find any information on it. I took a risk for a few pennies, and I was wrong. That's why I'm posting here, so that if anyone is considering buying it, then there is at least information here. Not to mention that the print is tiny. I would have to scan it and enlarge each page to have a chance of reading the thing!

I should also add that I got that great book of knitting stitches from Temu as well, which was written in British English, and which I've already dipped into for scarves. I'm not ruling out books from Temu, especially those that are flagged as coming from local warehouses, but this is a fail.

To add to the annoyance, I'd been wanting some sticky notes for the writing stuff (going horrendous) and I put some on the order. I wasn't feeling in a serious mood, so I ordered this.

There were a couple of different designs in the pack and they are all as much use as candyfloss in a thunderstorm. You can't even use them as just note squares because the dratted things curl up! 

The heat is affecting me. Last night I didn't bother with a cover, and it must have left me cool in the middle of the night. At least, I think that I was cool as I dreamt that I was in a snow covered chalet, high in the Swiss Alps, as half frozen waves of sea water lashed against the windows and disturbed the polar bear in the next room. I took it as a hint. I'm certain that I won't dream anything like that tonight!

Hugs and good health to all. 

Sad About Soap

It's finally happened. Some time last year I got a deal on a bar of shea soap from Morrisons, a 'when it's gone, it's gone' offer as they were getting rid of the last of the stock. I put it in a mesh bag that I got from Temu and I've used it ever since. It's been wonderful - lovely and rich, and the mesh bag really helped to not only grip the dratted thing but also to keep the bar going long after it was plausible to hold the last sliver outside the bag. It finally washed into nothing. 

I feel unreasonably sad about losing it. 

I've replaced it with a bar of Pears lemon scented soap. I got a deal on a pack of twelve for £16.99 from Price Panda, and they will probably last a good while. The mesh helps me get the lather and it's still nice, but not nearly as good as the extremely cheap bar of shea soap from Morrisons.

The soap is apparently lemon flower scented, but it's not a strong scent and it does great for washing hands, so I'm not complaining. 

The mesh bag is double walled and a lot finer than the string bags that I've tried before. Those thicker bags aren't nearly as nice, and if or when I run out of the mesh bags, I may try putting some together from the mesh of produce bags. I say if or when I run out because the five I thought I was ordering turned out to be 100 so bear is likely to inherit a stack of them. Me and Temu, well, it's always a little hit or miss. 

I realised early in the week that I hadn't driven since I took the car for an oil change. DH has taken it out once or twice since then, I think and that's not good for a car. One good thing about keeping a blog is that I could check when I'd last driven - and it was 9th May! I took it out on Wednesday night, confident that the roads would be emptier as England were playing, and the poor old car grumbled along. I was thinking of trying the motorway next time England played, but I'm not sure the old girl would make it up to 70mph. I need to check the tyre as well, as I scraped the kerb at one point. 

One thing, we are definitely hiring a car when it gets time to bring bear home. Red isn't a bad little car, and she's very economical to run, but she's not a big car, and bear has accumulated a few bits in his year away. Add to her age and her reluctance to hit 50mph, and it's better to get something for the weekend. I hope DH gets something that's fun for him to drive.

I've been meaning to share this. I know the creators, and I love the song. It takes me back to when I was young and hitting the dancefloor. 

Writing stuff - it's been a bit aaaaaaaargh for me for the last few weeks, but another instalment of The Guest was posted last Monday here. At least that bit isn't a problem. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Failure to Photo

I haven't done much to take pics of, so I didn't feel that I should blog. I made a decision and tonight I sat down with a scarf and settled to watch the opening game of the World Cup. At the start, it was this big.

It had been longer, but I kept changing my plans for the pattern, undoing it, starting again, then changing my mind, undoing it, etc. By the end, it was this big.

However I'm not sure that I won't have to start again. I've only got two of balls of yarn that I picked up from Aldi ages ago, and it would be impossible to match. The scarf so far is 10 inches, or around 25cm, and I think I must have used nearly a quarter of the yarn, that is, half of the first ball of yarn.

I may not have got fully half way through the ball, but there's not much more than half left. If it is a quarter of the way through the yarn, that would give a scarf that was 40 inches long, or around a metre. I would say that my minimum preferred length for a scarf is around sixty inches long, so I'm going to have to undo it and re-start the scarf again. 

I also accidentally left the door of our freezer open. It's a full, upright freezer with five shelves. It was open for, I guess, around 24 hours and when I tried some of the frozen fries that were in there, I made myself poorly. DH had to do a special run to the tip because the freezer was crammed. I was so despondent. I lost out on the rosemary that I put up with oil that I hadn't got round to, the last few portions of the extremely pleasant soup I made with the cheap veg at Christmas, not to mention the veggies that I'd prepared myself. 

I've started restocking it with basics, but none of my favourite stuff to stash is currently on sale! I got a couple bags of Quorn mince and chunks, which DH likes, that were around 25% off, but it wasn't the best sale I've ever seen. 

 Writing stuff - apart from grumbles, the only thing I have to share is a Research and the Author post about the hazards of getting geography wrong. You can find it here.  It was prompted because someone posted on Reddit complaining about an author putting mountains in the wrong place. I suspect that the internet is awash with complaints like that.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Sorry for Absence

I'm determined to catch up with everyone over the weekend. This week, well, I watched an instalment of Welcome to Wrexham and did a little knitting with the yarn I picked up a few months ago from Aldi.

The rest of the week, well, there's been issues with the writing stuff and it currently looks like this.

Hopefully back soon. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

I Have No Idea What's Happening

It's been a scattered couple of days. Whenever I started doing something, I've been interrupted. Today it was a very lovely man installing a new alarm system. I've got all sorts of writing stuff that I want to do, but I'm getting disrupted from, and I don't know if I'm coming or going.

I'm not impressed with the new yarn. I think I've been here before. I bought this yarn thinking that it was one solid strand with pretty bits. Instead, it's awful to work with. So far, it looks like this.

And I think I'm just under a quarter of the yarn in.

The smaller ball is much looser and feels significantly lighter. 

I feel like if I knit it, it will be like my Everest - knitting it because it's there. It will be an achievement. I'm not sure that I'll want to wear it, as it's scratchy. I can't imagine using it as a decoration for anything, even though it's shiny. I don't bother with fancy gift wrap and I don't do much crafting apart from knitting. At this point, I wonder why I want to invest time in it, apart from the challenge, which I'm loathing. 

I decided that I was feeling called to knit a blanket. I had a rummage around the back of cupboards and found a project that I abandoned a while ago. It's knitted in stocking stitch with two strands. 

I've cut the yarn and I'm starting with new yarn, and I'll join it up and knit from the piece once I've got to the ends of the cones. I thought that the stocking or stockinette stitch wasn't working, and, besides, I wanted something to knit while watching Welcome to Wrexham, so I settled down to cast on loads of stitches. I haven't written off the fancy yarn yet, but I'm considering options. 

Writing stuff - nothing today, but yesterday I posted an article in the Research and the Author series, which you can find here. I was reminded by a post on Reddit where inaccuracy in costumes had irritated a reader so that they couldn't finish the book. I thought that it was worth a quick mention that it's good to check on details, even if you think you know - I would absolutely got that detail wrong, but that's why I'm carefully vague about a lot of things. 

It's Finished!

 

That's 200g of yarn (no idea of the yardage), 32 inches long, around 81cm, and roughly the same wide. It's lovely and snuggly and I plan to use it. 

Co-incidentally, look what arrived today after a moment of weakness.

I didn't realise that it was multistranded.

I guess that I'm making a scarf. If I can knit it, I know that I'll wear it, but that's if I can knit it. Wish me luck. 

Hugs and good health to all