Knittin' Crap: Uh-Oh

Given the numbers, this must have happened awhile back, but...

Hansen Jr is no longer #1.

Whiteboard Jungle: Lolmeerkats

Saw this this morning and it made me think of Hansen, who hasn't gotten a new tag in ages:


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Whiteboard Jungle: Hansen Jr Hits 100!

Hansen Jr got his 100th hit today on flickr.



My campaign to knock him from the top spot has failed. However, Hansen Jr has some stiff competition in the Crushed Cultist. He's only been up a week, but one post on the Puzzle Pirates forums has gotten him over 60 views in that time!

The flickr statistics page is like crack, I tell you.

Knittin' Crap: Miser's Purse

So, not in an effort to toot my own horn¹ but to dethrone Hansen Jr from the top of my most-viewed picture of all time², I'll refer back to this post on the Crochet Liberation Front blog which features my crocheted, beaded miser's purse.


I actually made it about maybe 10 years ago when I was still in the midst of my bead obsession. The pattern comes from a reprint of a book first published around 80-90 years ago.

What is a miser's purse, you ask? Miser’s purses were usually worn by Victorian men. The two pouches were usually different shapes/patterns so a man feeling in the dark would know which one he kept his different coin denominations in. The two pouches are joined by mesh with a slit in the middle, and two rings which they could slide to get to either pouch through the opening. They were miserly because they would be worn looped over the pants belt, requiring the belt to be loosened to get the bag out.

“My dear Nigel, would you mind taking care of this one? I’m afraid if I loosen my belt to get to my money, my trousers will fall down as they are a little too large.”
“Of course, Cecil. Just make sure to wear your suspenders next time! Ho ho ho!”
“Jolly good!”

---

¹ Why does that sound obscene to me? Never mind. I'd say this was a family blog, except for all the posts where I curse freely argue against that.
² Currently at 63 views, whereas one of the purse photos is in second place at 44.

Whiteboard Jungle: Hansen's Own Label

At my farewell lunch, Hansen noted that he'd searched for his name in my blog "and it came up all over the place!" So, to make it easier for him, I added a "hansen" label to posts where he gets mentioned. I'll even post the label feed for it to make it easier for him!

Whiteboard Jungle: Hansen Sr Responds To View-Fixing Allegations

As I reported yesterday, Hansen Jr's picture became my most-viewed picture on flickr. When I pointed this out to Hansen, he denied any point-fixing on his part.

Hansen: hey that is not true - I did not visit him everyday to pump up the numbers
Karen: every other day?
Hansen: I did realize that you were counting
Karen: flickr counts
Hansen: now that I know --- he he he
Hansen: I should pump up the numbers even higher
Karen: you realize I'm going to post this chat on my blog
Hansen: what!
Karen: I'll take that as your permission
[uh... I'm pretty sure this next line was garbled]
Hansen: not
Karen: I'll change your name... to protect, um, yeah
Hansen: actually murloc is more popular
Hansen: it has a combine 59 votes
Hansen: combined
Karen: well, I figure people looking at the murloc check out multiple views,
Karen: so there's overlap
Hansen: so Jr is not that popular after all
Karen: but the miser's purse has been up for months and is linked on a crochet website
Hansen: oh really
Hansen: wow
Karen: and Hansen Jr has been there a month
Karen: and he was up to 47 this morning
Hansen: Well that is great for Jr - I am glad people like him
Hansen: what the numbers don't accrue?
Karen: no, that was a screen shot
Karen: you can't link to the count
Karen: and I think I can only see it anyway
Hansen: oh
Hansen: that's cool
Karen: top 10:
Karen: meerkat-profile 47 0 0
miserpurse 44 1 2
murloc-side 31 0 1
murloc-front 28 0 0
smackdown3 24 0 0
murloc-top 18 0 0
gaugebook1 14 1 0
komon2 11 0 0
komon1 11 0 0
miseropen 11 1 0
Hansen: wow murloc does take top honors with 70 views and miserpurse a combined 55
Karen: like I said, there's probably overlap, one person looking at multiple views
Karen: knitting and crochet people are obsessive that way
Hansen: yeah but I think that still counts and it is pretty cool
Karen: plus now I'm getting World of Warcraft people
Hansen: really?
Hansen: looks like your site is going to be popular
Karen: someone left a comment about it
Hansen: you may want to crochet some for WoW characters
Karen: whereas knitters/crocheters will usually leave a comment on the knitting site
Karen: [name deleted] says:
I LOVE YOUR MURLOC !!!! MMmmmmrrrrllllll WoW ftw
Hansen: ha ha
Karen: most of the people on the knitting site who faved it seem to also be WOW people, too
Karen: they're a strange lot
Hansen: ha ha

Whiteboard Jungle: Hansen Jr Is Mr Popular!

I was checking my flickr photo stats, and the picture of Hansen Jr has become my all-time most-viewed picture!

I have no idea what that means, but it seems so wrong. Actually, maybe it means Hansen Sr is visiting him once a day, trying to pump up the numbers.

Pandora's Litter Box: The Cat Stays in the Picture

Spoon, for a rather shy cat, loves sticking his chubby butt in the picture. And because he's basically a very large patch of white, he usually ruins the camera's automatic light-level detection.


(Don't tell Hansen about that last one with Spoon and Hansen, Jr. He's allergic to cat hair.)

Whiteboard Jungle: Top 10 Things I'm Most Likely To Say At Work

Top 10 Things I'm Most Likely To Say At Work^*

10. Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.
9. Ok, what'd you break this time?
8. Hansen, I already told you that last week!
7. Why do these people think disk space grows on trees?
6. Not my problem; not my fault.
5. I didn't do it. Unless I was supposed to.
4. Why the hell didn't they give this information to us before now?
3. (speechless at the stupidity, but making very articulate facial expressions)
2. Don't know; don't care.
1. I am so going to start carrying around an undated letter of resignation.

---

^* Excluding exclamatory expletives

Whiteboard Jungle: Hansen, Jr.

I previously mentioned my co-irkers', um, animal mascots. Hansen is not part of our group, but he's here so much, he seems like family!

Anyway, here's Hansen, Jr., which I stayed up way too late last night to finish before Hansen, Sr. went on vacation.


BTW, Hansen, Jr. turned out a little chubby. No hereditary implications intended.

Meerkat pattern from Roman Sock, again

ETA: Hansen just informed me that he meant he wasn't going on vacation until after next week. Goddammit. I should repossess the thing and give it to him again next Friday.

Other: Welcome to the Whiteboard Jungle (Plus special Knittin' Crap extra!)

For reasons better left unexplained, my group at work somehow ended up with animal versions of ourselves on the giant whiteboard in Mr Bob's cubicle. No one was allowed to choose their own animal, except for Bob, but he chose the animal we would have chosen for him anyway.


For reasons better left unexplained, I ended up drawing most of the animals.

Trust me; I am not very good. For reasons left unexplained to me, I was elected a frog. Dan-the-invisible-giant-rabbit

chose it, then drew a frog which was so bad, a pre-schooler would have been ashamed of it. So I drew my own frog.


Hansen is the only person not in our group who has an official portrait.

(He drew a doubly-aprocryphal animal for someone else; doubly both because we did not sanction it and the person chose her own animal.) Hansen is the meerkat. Hansen is the meerkat always popping up in our cubicles and driving us nuts. Don't get us wrong; we love Hansen. As long as he is bugging someone in some other group. Hansen's alter ego is a gnat; he's also buzzing around, driving you nuts, and it's impossible to swat him away.

I did make a pleasant discovery earlier this week. The incredible limbless ninja

I made from the book Creepy Cute Crochet doubles as Hansen repellent! I was showing it around, realized I hadn't gotten all the Spoon-supplied white cat hairs off, and picked one off. Hansen, ever-present, jumped back.

He's allergic to cat fur.

Ninja pattern from Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden