5/25/12: How to Back Up Your Blogger Blog - Step by Step

As promised, I'm back this week to tell you how to back up your Blogger blog, both past posts and the blog template. Backing up is a good habit to get into and it is really quick to do with Blogger. Especially when you have a road map like this one I put together for myself:

To backup blog's content (i.e. past posts):

Go to your blog's "Settings" and click on the subcategory "Other."

At the very top of the page click on "Export blog" and download the xml file. That's it. This one single file will hold all your past posts.

Blogger suggests testing this file because sometimes a post may be missing. To test the file, I made a make-believe blog titled Rebekah's Test Blog and I imported the xml file to this blog. (You can import by clicking on "Import" found right near the "Export" option you clicked previously.) I then compared the number of posts from my real blog to the newly imported posts found on my Rebekah's Test Blog. The number matched.

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To backup blog's template:

Go to your blog's "Template" and click on the "Backup/Restore" button found right below your account button in the upper right corner. Click on the "download full template" button and another xml file will be created. Test out this file by uploading the template your make-believe blog. (The upload option is found right below the "download full template.")

Now go forward and back up!

5/20/12: Dot Com

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Blogger has been a good host for me over these years but I just didn't like the long URL. I know I should have done it eons ago, but last evening I finally got a domain for this blog. Simple dot com address! Yes!

So instead of www.artandneedlework.blogspot.com, just type in www.artandneedlework.com. That's easier to remember.

Just in case you're looking at the same market, I bought my domain name from DomainHostmasters.com. My brother recommend them and you can get a domain for $8.99 a year. I was shopping around and the usual amount is $14. 

This little techno moment reminded me of a post I wanted to write up a few months ago. It will be about how to back up a blog hosted by Blogger. Backing up is a good practice (especially in the case of a blog that has archives going back years), and so once you know which buttons and links to click, it will become more of a habit. When I first tried to back up this blog I couldn't find much documentation or tutorials on the subject, since Blogger just recently changed its interface. So I think a post on the subject should help fellow Blogger users and I will get one typed up this week. See you then!

5/12/12: How to Find the Straight of Grain without the Selvage

Kind of lost when you need to find the fabric's straight of grain and the selvage edges are gone? When starting out in sewing, that baffled me, too. That is why when it came time to make a sewing-themed video, I thought of this right off the bat. It is just one of those petty sewing conundrums that go under the radar for most seasoned sewers, and only surface for those folks who don't have a sewing instructor or good sewing book nearby. Aka: ME. :) That's the way I started out in sewing and I'm sure there are a lot of people in the same situation.

Besides finding the straight of grain (by using three different methods), I also discuss in the video the importance of fabric grain, how to distinguish from crosswise and lengthwise grain, and what are weft and warp threads.

Hope you enjoy!

Link to VIDEO.

P.S. Just wanted to come back and let you know that I updated my tutorial page here on this blog. Check it out by clicking on the box link near the header or by clicking here.

5/9/12: Sit Back and Enjoy + Design Passion

Sitting back and enjoying some small hands-on project can always calm me down and that's why I've been knitting a pair of fingerless gloves. I've talked about them briefly before. . . They're called Holi Mitts, a fingerless glove pattern designed by Jaya Srikrishnan, which was published in the Interweave Press book, ColorSTYLE. 


I am working them in the round on four double-pointed-needles. I casted on using the tubular method (which I just learned from this video), and knitted a 2x2 rib until the cuff reached 2.75" in length. Then it was time to start the fascinating slipstitch pattern that involves colorwork. The colorwork aspect of this pattern is what motivated me to start. It is so hard for me to believe: I've been knitting since I was 15 (which is about 8 years ago), but up to this project, I haven't done colorwork, except for my crochet afghan.

I was elated to find that the slipstitch pattern is incredibly easy. No need to worry about wrangling four different colors in one single row, this pattern uses only one color for two rows. Very happy about that! These mitts are just the thing for me right now.

How do you like the colors? Wasn't sure if these solid choices of mine would "jive" since the original pattern used spectacular variegated yarns. I'm very happy with the 21 rnds I've made so far! They look like a cheery quartet, don't they?

And for a side note. As if I don't have enough things filling up my days, I'm feeling the urge to design something yarn-y, knitty, or crochet-y. Just something! I came across a call for submissions from Petite Purls magazine. They're looking for designs for their upcoming Fall issue. The theme is cold weather colorwork. I don't know why but I really want to participate. The practical side of me says that is utterly stupid because a) I just started out in colorwork, b) I haven't made many children clothes, and c) I haven't designed much before. But the lofty, free spirit side of me says: go for it!

Tell you what, I'm going to dabble a little into this design plan of mine and see if the passion will carry me through. It won't hurt to try it out and see where I end up. Hey, it gives me the chance to play around with things I love!

5/8/12: My Wares

Last month my sisters and I attended a craft show at our church and I put together a video to show what we sold. OK, to be completely honest here, Catherine is the one who edited this video! She is a whiz with video making (I have proof here), and had this video done and published in a blink of the eye. Thanks, sis!



If you are interested in those potholders or rosaries you caught a glimpse of, I have them up for sale in my Etsy shop. Those potholders are fun, aren't they? Both in creating them and the finished item!

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5/2/12: A Million and One Things to Do

Is it common? I'm talking about the number of crafting related projects I have going at one time. "Oh, it can't be that bad!" people might say. But what do you say to this list?

Works in progress. . .

• Crocheted Cable Afghan
• Log Cabin Throw
• My Quilt
• Holi Mitts
• Straight Skirt for Catherine and for Etsy Shop
• Video Tutorials for FaveCrafts and AllFreeKnitting
• Felted Purse
• Crocheted Baby Afghan
• Alterations and Mending Jobs: Seven
• Jeans for me
• T-shirts for me
• and I'm sure there's more!

Do you think I have a problem here?

My sister has said in the past that I start too many things. I chuckle to myself and think, "Me? Nah!" But then I look at the five or so tote bags that I have sitting on a shelf. They are chock full of forgotten works in progress that are usually remain in that forgotten state until the kitten curls up on one of them.

Most days I don't find this bothering me. But there are certain days when I just feel like I'm swimming in too many things and have bitten off more than I can chew. I think this culmination of "things going" is caused by the worry of being bored.

If I was asked if I got bored often I would say, "No." The secret to this is having 101 choices at your finger tips. If I feel the onset of boredom coming when I'm knitting I can switch to sewing. Or if I can't stand inserting another sleeve, I will work on a quilt. And it goes on and on like that. That's why I have those tote bags and a Ravelry queue full to the breaking point. I love the word "queue." I use it all the time.

I listen to the Knit Picks podcast (which I talked about before), often when I'm crafting away and the host, Kelly, is like me. She doesn't have tunnel vision; she needs multiple projects. She really only knits but she knits lots of different things at once. She has on-the-go projects like socks, lace knitting when she wants some mind stimulation, and just lots of stuff on the needles. . . Just so she doesn't get bored and always has fun knitting.

So in conclusion: I'm not going to change this predicament I'm in. Having a long list of crafty tasks to do suits me fine. Most of my crafting projects do not have deadlines and some might not even see the finish line. But I think that's OK. Crafting shouldn't become a real chore and should be treated more as your haven. I know for a fact there has, and always will be, moments of frustration and monotony, but that's OK to. As Kelly from the podcast would say, "It is part of the process."

Other parts of life can be trimmed, downsized, and scheduled better, but for my crafting, well, it is going to stay its sporadic, crazy self.

What about you? Do you share the same style of crafting as me and have a long list of things to do? Do you think less is more or more the merrier?