06 Jun
2006

I’ve got a Google Analyltics account

Yay! My invite arrived this morning for google analytics. I’ve got this site and one other all hooked up to it and will wait and see how it all turns out. Both sites are very low traffic but that’s OK.

So far the features are good, I needed a Google account to log in with and can give access to others as well – they also need a google account. I’ve given access to my co-owner of one of the sites to the reports, which was very easy.

I’ll write more about how I get on once I get some statistics to look at.

18 May
2006

Textile Knowledge Nuggets

I’ve run into some problems formatting an article about markup, which I was writing in textpattern, which uses markup …. you can see where this is going. Well I learned some new tricks!

escaping from textile

To prevent a block from being processed, just use double equals signs around what you are interested in (don’t know how to show you an example without breaking stuff so I won’t try!)

This is much better than the results from ... or bc. where your code can still get processed.

to make a block style persist

When using a block quote to show lots of lines of code, or verses of a song, use a double dot, like this:

bq..

Then everything else you write

Even if it has line breaks

Will carry on being in that style until you start a new style

p.

such as a paragraph

Many thanks to AllPhilosophy for these! http://allphilosophy.com/home/guide/rich

17 May
2006

Apache FOP: formatting objects is fun

I’ve been working on a tricky problem at work this week (and last week as well actually, its been really really tricky in fact), we need to be able to output a form in both PDF (Portable Document Format) and PCL (Printer Control Language) output, because our fax system can only handle PCL format.

Ghostscript

I had a look at using Ghostscript, its been around a while and is widely-used, freely-available and, by all accounts, stable. I had some trouble getting it working initially but I think it would have done the job.

Apache FOP

The Apache Project has a project called FOP (Formatting Objects Project) which is part of their XML Graphics project. Its a module that takes a particular type of XML format called Formatting Objects (now a w3c recommendation and known as xml:fo), a type of XML used to represent a document of information along with information about presentation.

Since xml:fo is a recognised standard, its a great format to choose to implement the conversions to PCL and PDF. Other output versions are also available with more on the way too, so its an application that can be adapted to meet other needs as they arise.

XSL translations

Since xml:fo is a standard and its XML, it should be possible to get any number of XML formats (including Open Office or Word XML) translated into it using an XSL (eXtensible Stylesheet Language). I tried out a couple of these from http://www.antennahouse.com/, however although these worked well with the sample files I found that I had trouble with the resulting xml:fo formats produced from my own xhtml files.

AntennaHouse clearly have a lot of knowledge in this area though, and their site is well worth a visit for background reading on this topic. I suspect that part of the problem was that FOP only has a partial implementation of the xml:fo specification, so although I was feeding it valid xml:fo, it didn’t know what to do with all of it. There is a rewrite in progress so I expect that newer versions will be much more robust.

Final Solution

In the end (since I only wanted a simple one-page form), I settled on writing the xml:fo format by hand, producing really great results in both formats and with images as well. I’ve also been asked to look into programs to generate this output, they’re mostly commercial but if I come across anything interesting I’ll add it here. Apache FOP is a great project and I hope it doesn’t lose it momentum!

14 May
2006

The Wool Shop

I have recently moved to Leeds and am slowly starting to find my way around and build up some local knowledge. A very important ingredient in this process is my discovery that there is a great wool shop near where I live. Its so good in fact, that I have to recommend it to anyone who likes wool (or old-fashioned shops!).

The shop is at:

S & D Woodhead
Wool Shop, Wingate Junction, Tong Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS12 4NQ
Tel: 0113 263 8383

From the outside it looks quite big, however when you go in the shop part is really small. You have to have a chat with the lady behind the counter about what you want and she will disappear off and come back with some suggestions. There are big sacks of discounted wool, often just a couple of balls, and everyone is welcome to rummage (but be warned that you will get filthy in the process!)

I wasn’t sure what I was looking for and got some good advice while I was there as well as some very patient service. I discovered that they don’t take cards and I didn’t have a lot of cash on me (I’m 25, my generation lives by plastic!), I was sold enough material to start the project and the rest has been put aside with my name of for me to collect when I need it – and by that time I’ll have a good idea of how much of each type of yarn I’ll need as well.

14 May
2006

Knitted Scarf/Wrap

I’ve knitted a scarf! This is news because I although I like crochet and learned to knit as a child, I’m really not a very good knitter. This pattern was hardly knitting though. Its made with silly wool (Sirdar Frizz) and knitted on broom handles! OK so actually they were 20mm knitting needles, but broom handles would have done just as well.

Each row is thirty stitches and its all “knit”. It is so quick to knit up, because the stitches are so big! Its a multipurpose garmet which can be worn as a scarf or as a wrap, I’ve tried to photograph it a few different ways but you still don’t get a real sense of how drapey and soft it is!

scarf wrap

closeup

The idea came from a pattern in the Simply Knitting magazine, although I didn’t use the suggested yarn. Mine had bigger “bits” hanging off it and as a result of that or my tension, I needed three balls of Fizz to make the scarf. The final result measures 68 inches on scarf setting and about 29 inches by 46 in wrap mode.

14 May
2006

200 crochet blocks

I have a new crochet book! My mum had an “I saw this and thought of you” moment, and bought me this:

200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans

Its a good book with a variety of different blocks (although some of the 200 are the same pattern but with stripes, but I suppose they had to get them from somewhere). The best thing about the book is that in the contents page where it lists the blocks with their names and page numbers, there is also a little picture of the block itself, so you can see what it looks like and easily find one you are looking for.

So far I’ve managed four blocks to make a cushion cover when they are sewn together:

dahlia framed_flower peach_rose waterlilly

All the blocks are made in double-knitting wool with a 5mm hook. Mine came out at 8 inches each but the books says 6. At least they are all the same size, but as you can see from the pictures, they’re not all wonderfully square! Still I think they’ll be OK once they are all sewn together and backed … will post a photo of the finished project when it is finished.

14 May
2006

Crooks and Hooks

Well, just hooks actually! I’ve been wondering for a while where those photos of beautiful crochet hooks come from in the front of all the crochet books … they’re colourful and I want some.

After a bit of hunting around I discovered that these are Susan Bates hooks, and they are widely available in North America. I’m in the UK and couldn’t find anyone who would ship the hooks to Europe. To cut a long story short, ebay came up trumps and I found a store that would ship two sets of hooks to me for $7 after I emailed them and explained the situation – so thanks to Corona Quilts as I now have beautiful colourful hooks :) Here they are

photo of my colourful crochet hooks