This post is just for Wordpress users who have found this blog by following a link from a more, shall we say, technically themed blog, and have been surprised (and even dismayed) to find a WP hack in amongst a discussion about stuff like hand-knit socks and yarn. This is a knitting blog. That’s what I talk about, more or less. But sometimes other things creep in. Wordpress, for example. You can get the link to the hack here, without having to search through knitting stuff.

Although there is much to like about WP 2.5, the write panels suck. A great deal of scrolling up and down is required, disrupting the once smooth workflow. The width of the write area is limited, even on wide-screen monitors. The notification of pending posts and drafts has been removed. Usability is way, way down.

So I took matters into my own hands and fixed what I thought were the most egregious faults.

You can see a picture of the new panel here. If you are a self-hosted WP 2.5 user and would like to incorporate these changes, you can download them here. The files all go in /wp-admin/, except for global.css, which goes in /wp-admin/css/. Back up your files first. Use at your own risk. No implied warranty. Etc.

A ticket was opened in Trac requesting that this be made an enhancement in a future WP release. The ticket has been closed by TPTB as not being valid.

An idea has been posted in the WP Ideas Forum. Please go over and vote for it. This is the only way that we will get the developers to fix the write panel workflow. You will have to register in order to vote, but it’s easy and painless and you need not give away any personal information. Your email is used only to send your password.

Sorry, I can’t help you directly if you are on Wordpress.com. But you can still go over and vote for the idea. Whatever changes are in the next release will impact you as much as me.

clown-barf-socks

OK. So can you tell that I’m happy that the clown barf stripy socks are finished? Oh, I cannot begin to express my joy at this event!

I don’t hate them. Really. But I want you to follow this link and then scroll down until you find High Desert. Then pop the bigger picture up.

That’s the yarn that I saw in the skein. Glorious, isn’t it? Whodda thunk it that it would knit up like this? The colors in the sock picture are brighter than they actually appear in real life. It’s early in the morning and raining again so the light was a little weird.

These socks had it in for me right up until the last. I finished up the ribbing, and leaned forward in my chair to fetch my needles from my knitting bag. As I sat back I heard crrruunnnchhh. Yep. Broke two harmony needles. One from each circular. Aaaaaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhhh I’m not safe around wooden things, apparently. I’d best stick to metal.

The Particulars:

• Yarn: Great Adirondack Yarn Co. Soxie, 100% wool, 360 yds/skein, in color High Desert
• Needles: US#1, Knit Picks Harmony circulars
• Pattern: my own - toe-up, short-row heel, plain stockinette. Started with Judy’s Magic Cast-on, of course

In completely non-knitting, techie news, I’ve been fighting with the new WP 2.5 admin panels. All I can say is ICK. The write panels were especially horrible, as all of the little check boxes and drop-down lists were moved under the post write area, making it necessary to scroll for a bazillion miles every time I posted. Which I realize has not been often lately, but let’s not digress.

A long, long, long thread started over in the Wordpress.org support forum amongst those of us not happy with the new arrangement. The end result was that this intrepid reporter, along with a few others, made changes to the panels to make them more usable. You can see a picture of the new panel here

If you are a self-hosted WP 2.5 user and would like to incorporate these changes, you can download them here, although I think this is the version that has an extraneous comma in the draft list. Or, to get the very latest version, download directly from the Wordpress bug report. The files all go in wp-admin/, except for global.css, which goes in wp-admin/css/. Sorry, I can’t help you if you are on Wordpress.com.

Didn’t know I had such mad codr skilz, didja?

strange flower

My camellia starts blooming around Christmas, and is done by the end of February. It’s bright and cheery pink flowers always lift my spirit when I see them through my kitchen and dining room windows during the dark, gloomy winter days. Each flower stays pink through its life. Then in the end they drop off whole and the ground around the bush is littered with pink and brown globes.

This year it’s continued to bloom, and it’s just finishing up now. This year, most of the flowers did their usual thing. Except for this one. I don’t know if it was because of the warm days followed by cold and wet again. But, this one turned orange. I was so surprised when I saw it that I ran out in the rain and snapped a picture.

It’s gone now. It didn’t leave in the normal way, either. The petals dropped off one by one, and the base of the flower is still on the tree.

Very strange.

I’m about 1/2 way up the legs on the clown barf stripy socks. Stay tuned for knitting news.

In techie news, I have upgraded to Wordpress 2.5. Can’t say I’m entirely pleased with the admin panels. I had to hack the life out of the new media uploader and the write panels to make them usable. But there are other things I do like about it. So the jury is out. I’m used to hacking WP. But the previous release (2.3) finally incorporated most of my changes. Now I’m back at square one. Ah well.

I’ve looked at it under IE 7, Firefox and Safari and it looks OK. Let me know if you find anything broken.

Yes, I know that’s bad grammar, but we seem to be stuck with it culturally. Don’t you ever wonder who the person is who recorded that little sound bite for AOL, and why they couldn’t say you have mail? But I digress.

Sometimes (usually) I’ve got mail, and sometimes I don’t.

Last Friday my mail was moved from one server to another. Although I’ve been promised that no mail would ever, ever, ever be lost… well… I don’t have a lot of confidence since the last time such a move occurred mail was lost.

So, if you sent me any email last Friday or after and have not heard back from me, please resend. I would hate to think that anyone would feel ignored.

I also pulled the plug on something that I think was causing the blog to load slowly. Hopefully it will be peppier now.

Lenore

See what I am working on? Those are socks! Those are Lenore socks!

Yes, I’m knitting them toe-up. So sue me.

Yes, I realize the cuff lace is directional. I have swatched it. No, I don’t know what I’m going to do when I get to the top of the legs. Yes, I will figure it out some time before I get there (I hear you, Pat).

But, the real reason that this picture of sock toes is such a big deal: I’m working on socks. You know what that means, gentle reader? (The Monday night knitsters got it right away.)

The Great Green Glob is off the needles!

It’s still very glob-like sans blocking. But the knitting is done. I’ve ordered some blocking wires from Knit Picks, but they haven’t come yet. If they’re not here by Saturday, I’ll probably just take it over to Tangle and see if I can persuade the lovely Alice to let me block it there. Tangle is closed Thursday, of course, for Thanksgiving Day, but also Wednesday and Friday because they are getting new yarn, be still my beating heart! So I might be going over over on Saturday for more than just a little blocking. Not that I need any more Stash Enhancing eXperiences right now.

I am working on Lenore, but other projects are calling my name, also, as you can see from the growing list of items in the queue over in the right-hand sidebar.

And, speaking of sidebars, I did a minor WP upgrade on PI last Sunday and took the opportunity to do a little rearranging and pruning. All of my blogroll, except the Yarn Collectors, is now on the Links page. It’s getting longer and longer, but I hate to take it out completely. I’ve left all of you fellow Yarn Collectors on the front page.

A post from Mims reminded me that there are ways we can give without even leaving the comfort of our own computers — and, actually, for free! Since I am guilty of not remembering to click on the GreaterGood click-to-give sites also, I have moved those links to the front page on the right just above the news. Please, click on those links every day and link to them yourself.

In other news, #1 Son is ailing, but hopefully will be recovered soon. And I came home last night to find that Moo Cow had stripped the leaves from the lower branches of the silk dogwood in my living room, and obviously eaten the leaves which she had then thrown up in several strategic locations. I mean… I knew she would eat my yarns. But a fake plant? She has shown no interest in her breakfast, and has been curled up on a chair. I am watching her closely to see if her tummy is just a little upset or if she is going to require a more extensive look-see from the vet. Thankfully there were no wires in those leaves.

And… sometime in the wee hours PI received its 100,000th unique visitor. Thank you to everyone who comes here. I hope you enjoy.