Working Dogs

Today's picture was taken in Alaska in the early 1900's. It shows a dog team being used to pull a laundry delivery cart. I guess that dogs that are trained to pull sleds can be used to pull other things in the warm season. I bet during the snowy season the laundry was delivered by dog sled instead.

Graffiti Street Art by Truly-Design

Design example of graffiti murals by Truly-Design. Graffiti on the wall with some characters




Graffiti art on the walls

Dirty Dogs

I will admit that when I posted yesterday's Mystery Person contest I intended for this to be "Union Thug" week, where each day we would look at a Union Thug or examples of Union Thuggery. After looking through some pictures, I concluded that they were a bunch of Dirty Dogs, and then decided to make this "Dirty Dog" week instead. So, we start with the picture above, which was taken in Alaska in 1916. These are no doubt sled dogs, but in the off season they are being used to pull a cart. I like the picture, and I like studying the different ways people have used dogs as "workers".

Domestic Update:

OK, I am sorry I have not had a domestic update in a while. Things are very busy around here, and sometimes I just do not have time to pull it off. So, here goes . . .  

First off, it looks like Handsome Jack is finishing up his project out behind Chickie Town. It looks like he has built a rather magnificent structure for himself.

We will keep our eyes on the construction project. Hopefully he is going to put some doors on those big openings.

Things continue to go well out in the Bean Barn. With the days getting longer things are growing very fast. The new lettuce system is really producing an abundance of lettuce . . . much more than we can eat, sell, or give away.

You can see we are growing Bib, Romain, and Purple lettuce. The trick is to plant in stages so every day you have heads that are ready to pick. In addition to the lettuce, we are getting lots of cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, squash, zucchini, and sweet peas. I really like having everything growing, so when Mrs. PJM is cooking, she just tells me what to go out and pick. It is like having a fresh vegetable market right in the back yard.

Now, I am in the process of trying to figure out what the project will be for this summer. I am thinking about putting in a corn and black eyed pea patch, expanding the orchard, or drilling for water, and putting in a wind mill. I have not exactly figured out what to do, but I will need a challenging summer project.

Guest Post: C.S. Harris talks about her research

Today I am pleased to bring you C.S. Harris, author of the newly released Where Shadows Dance, as she gives us a glimpse into her world of research for the acclaimed St. Cyr Regency mystery series. Thank you, C.S. Harris, for being here with us today! 

Synopsis (From the Publisher):

"Sebastian St. Cyr proves his courage once again, with murder and marriage-in a brand new historical mystery.

Sebastian St. Cyr finds himself in the realm of international intrigue when he investigates the murder of a foreign office diplomat-a murder his reluctant bride-to-be, Hero Jarvis, knows something about. And when a second body is found, Sebastian must race to unmask a ruthless killer who is now threatening Hero's life-and the life of their unborn child."

And now I give you C.S. Harris:

"Because I have a PhD in nineteenth-century European history, people often think I don’t need to do much research for my Sebastian St. Cyr Regency mystery series. But the truth is, I probably spend almost as much time on research as I do writing. My historical background gives me a good understanding of the zeitgeist of the day—the spirit or culture of the time in all its political, intellectual, philosophical, and artistic manifestations. But when you’re writing historical fiction, the devil is in the details. And sometimes those details can be very elusive.

I can spend hours searching for the kind of tiny facts that most readers breeze past without even noticing, whether it’s a description of the uniform and cadenettesof a French hussar officer or the price of a bunch of watercress in 1812. And that’s as it should be. It is very important to me for my books to be as accurate as possible, but I want those details to be subtle, to give a sense of the flavor and mood of the period without being boring or weighing down the story. I like a good, fast-paced read, so that’s what I try to deliver.

But what ends up as fast-paced can sometimes be excruciating to create. I have maps of London from 1747, 1810, 1811, and 1814, and I spend hours peering at them with a magnifying glass. I also have a wonderful thick six volume set from the nineteenth century on the history of London’s streets and buildings, from which I’ve gleaned all sorts of fascinating details and facts and even a few plot ideas.

Does this mean I never get things wrong? Unfortunately, no. Sometimes the mistakes come from simple forgetfulness: I once casually referred to a certain breed of dog without stopping to think that the breed might not have existed in 1811. It didn’t. Or sometimes I’ll think I know something when I actually don’t.

But I do own an eighteenth century double-barreled flintlock pistol similar to the one Sebastian carries; it hangs on the wall beside my computer. And I’ve a shot a flintlock rifle so that I know exactly what it looks, smells, and feels like. I do everything I can to bring the London of Sebastian St. Cyr to life in my books.

You can visit my website at http://www.csharris.net/, and my blog at http://csharris.blogspot.com/."

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My review for C.S. Harris's new release, Where Shadows Dance, will be coming soon!

Mystery Person

Name the person on the calendar, and the lady. Ready, Set, Go!

Graffiti Happy B'Day

Graffiti sketch happy b day

Mosby Raiders

We wrap up Gentleman Raider week with this picture from the 1920's. It shows what was left of the Mosby Raiders. The picture was taken at a reunion of the raiders at Warrenton, Virginia. In the 20's, many Civil War veterans would have been in their 70's and 80's.

I will have to admit I am sad to see Gentleman Raider week come to an end. Now, off to figure out next week's theme.

Undergrowth Hat, Extra Leafy

I know I should have used colors with a stronger contrast but I wanted to use these yarns anyway. This is the Undergrowth Hat (in the current Knitty) and I used Wool of the Andes Sport in grass and amethyst. This yarn tends to be a bit fuzzy, especially if you end up ripping anything out. I knit the large and went up a needle size to fit my large head and it fits perfectly. The design is inspired by hosta leaves.

I channeled my inner Nicky Epstein and added some additional leaves (page 37, Knitted Embellishments).

The only other change I made is that I did a row of purl sts before the braids instead of a row of knit sts. I wanted to see if it would keep the braids from curling and it did. I wrote down in my knitting journal to do that all the time when knitting braided cuffs.

Graffiti Street Art: Character Creator and his Creations

2 Design graffiti on the wall with a character creator. New-Graffiti

William T. Anderson

Blog comment opinion is continuing to run decidedly against my boys this week. Yet, we must persevere and finish Gentleman Raider week. Today we feature a picture of William T. Anderson. Mr. Anderson was one of Quantrill's raiders, and was a fairly important member of the group. He participated in the Raid on Lawrence Kansas. After the raid, his family was rounded up and imprisoned. They were housed in a three story building in town, and the building collapsed, killing his sister, and crippling another sister. 

In 1864 he had a dispute with William Clark Quantrill, so he started his own raiding group. He was killed in an ambush in 1864, and his head was cut off and put on display on a telegraph pole in Richmond Missouri.

SPUT - TPG KGS

ECOLOGICAL GRAFFITI

FAT SK

BOKS - VR6

DIB

RALLE RALE

DEKOL

YUPI

VR6 - KECY

Graffiti Art Hain Teny

Graffiti Street Art. Graffiti with new lemon alphabet city now

Younger Brothers

Good Wednesday Morning to you all. I notice in the comments section this week you all are being pretty hard on my boys, calling them common criminals and such. I remind you this is Gentleman Raider week, so lets lighten up on them a little. Perhaps the harsh comments are coming from Yankee Sympathizers, still smarting from the thumping these boys gave during the unpleasantness of '61. In any case, Gentleman Raider week continues with this photograph of the Younger Brothers. Pictured is Robert, Henrietta, James and Cole Younger. Robert is on the left, and Cole on the right, with James in the lower center. The Younger brothers were part of the Quantrill Raiders, and after the war joined up with the James Brothers to create the James-Younger gang.

BELGIAN TRAINS

DUBIZ

HEVN

KOZBY

ROKY

GTA

3MERS

SPRAY ART

PPSOP Instructors Chris Hurtt and Kevin Focht do a free live video webcast answering YOUR questions every week. Check out the live feed HERE! When you get to that site keep in mind that this isn't the PPSOP site so you have to create a new login or just view as a guest.

We go live tomorrow at 10am Pacific time! Have a question? Ask on line. If you can't watch live? No worries, we have you covered! Post your questions to our facebook page and we will get to as many as we can. You can watch the episode at your convenience any time after the broadcast.

Hope to SEE you tomorrow!

Graffiti Letter Styles Curly Alphabet A-Z

Graffiti fonts curly. Graffiti style alphabet letters A through Z color

Short Rant, A Cupcake, and a Few Links

So it looks like my glove knitting booklet got dissed again on Amazon, this time by a reader who I think is having some confusion about thumb gussets. He/she stated that the booklet contains only one pattern (it contains two patterns) and wrote "Do not write "make the second glove as the first and reverse the thumb gore pattern". A novice knitter most likely has not reversed a pattern or even made their first pair of gloves."  I NEVER SAID THAT - the Geometric Gloves use a sore thumb gusset and you knit two of the exact same glove and the Colorblock Gloves have a peasant thumb and there are separate instructions for the right and left hand thumbs.

The reviewer also reviewed The Knitter's Handy Book of Knitting Patterns and was also unhappy about the same right hand/left hand glove issue. I left comments under the reviews trying to explain that sore thumb gussets do not have a right and a left side so perhaps their confusion will be cleared up. It doesn't seem fair to receive a one star review that says things about my booklet (including using quotation marks??) that aren't even true. 

To sweeten things up around here, how about a cupcake potholder? I was approached to do a book proposal for a British publisher last summer on the subject of knitted potholders. Each potholder was to highlight a different technique. The proposal was a rush job and not particularly pleasant and the cupcake would have looked better if the green I-cord was longer. I like the cherry though. I haven't heard back about the book but I have already decided to stop designing and writing technique booklets (and reading my Amazon reviews!!!) and learn to enjoy knitting again. I just have one final fingerless glove design to knit up next month using Carol Sunday's beautiful yarns.

Here are a few new links for color knitters. I am going to try to post these more frequently so you don't have 100 links to go through at a time.

FREE PATTERNS

Dale of Norway is offering this free pattern for a cute toddler dress with flowers (PDF).

Designer Varian Brandon has done a series of free chullo-type patterns with earflaps using Cascade 220: River Fire (my fave), River Blossom, and River Star.

I'd make this geometric Drops sweater for DH in a flash if it was sized up to XL. Best part? No boring plain color sections.

This colorful hat was inspired by the book the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and uses Shetland Spindrift.


PATTERNS FOR SALE

The Wintry Mix Mitts by Grace and Alice Schnebly use 3 colors of sport weight yarn.

I like these Zigzag Tams from Classic Elite Yarns.

The Douglas Mittens are a wonderful lined mitten using Cascade 220. I think DH would love these and it is usually hard to find colorwork mitten patterns he'd like.

I like the Cascade 220 colors used on these Folklore Mittens by Randi K. Design.

I love all of Mary Ann's designs - check out her newest Tulip Mittens. I love how you can add your initials and date on the inside of the thumb.

KALs

Here is a KAL for Ann Feitelson's pretty Hillswick Lumber sweater.

EBOOKS

The Four Seasons ebook includes four colorwork hat patterns for $6 CAD.

YOUTUBE

Kristin Nicholas has a whole video series showing how to embroider on knitting HERE.

KITS

Holiday Yarns is offering this pretty sock kit, Coeur d'Oro.

BOOKS

Norsk Strikkdesign is being republished next month as Norwegian Knitting Designs.


ETA:

I apologize that I keep forgetting to mention the Warm Hats Not Hot Heads group to promote civility in politics no matter your political affiliation! HERE is their Ravelry page and they are attempting to knit hats for every member of Congress.

Frank James

Today we feature a photograph of the Gentleman Raider Frank James. Frank actually rode with William Clarke Quantrill in the Civil War, and was one of the famed Quantrill Raiders. After the war, this group did not enjoy the general pardon issued to other southern soldiers, so Frank James and his brother Jesse teamed up with other Quantrill Raiders to form the James-Younger gang, and the raiding continued. Frank James was born in 1843, and lived all the way to 1915.