Diva Challenge #189: Yuma

Black and red Micron with pencil on 4 inch bar coaster

I was immediately drawn to Yuma when I saw it on Tanglepatterns.com a few weeks back, but I had a surprisingly difficult time grocking how to use the seeds, where the "rays" should start and end, etc. On this attempt, I decided to simply let it go (sorry, fellow over-Frozen parents!)  I am not sure that it looks exactly like the step-out - actually, I know it doesn't  - but it felt like it was flowing pretty well while I was doing it, and I am reasonably pleased with the result. 

I actually started with LG and then added a single iteration of A1 (it's the spiral-y thing center right - sorry, no link*) and finally added the Yuma, using the first  variation growing out of the LG aura lines. Oh, and of course some Fescu cropped up on top! 

Things I like: 

• I left a border, which I usually forget to do
• I didn't fill every single square centimeter within the border - again, something I have trouble doing
• The basic homogeneity of the patterns which allows them to flow together without obvious "string" breaks. 

Things I am less fond of

• Still not excited about my red micron. I bought a new one from the open stock area at Michael's, but it turned out to be closer to plum than the brick red I am seeking so I didn't use it here. 
• I would leave the Yuma seeds white next time
• Maybe a little less red overall would have been better. 

And now, a little rant PSA regarding the appropriate linking of blogs, yours or others. 

Fellow blog owners may be aware that blog engines such as Blogger display your most recent four or five posts on your "home" page. This is what visitors will see when they visit (in my case) tarkheenacrafts.blogspot.com. 

This is, of course, a changing set of posts - every time you add a new one, the oldest one falls off the bottom. 

"That's interesting Annette," you say, "but who cares?" 

Trust me, You do! 

How many times have you followed a pin from Pinterest for a promising pattern only to find that the page on which you arrives contains absolutely Nothing about the recipe, craft project, or tangle pattern you were all excited about? 

This is almost always because the original pinner linked to the blog's Homepage (i.e. tarkheenacrafts.blogspot.com) rather than the specific post (i.e. tarkheenacrafts.blogspot.com/my_great_post.html) 

Days or weeks went by, and the blogger kept adding great content. Eventually, the post in question fell off the bottom and got lost - maybe forever! 

(*This is what happened to me with the pattern "A1." The image I re-pinned linked to http://kunstkramkiste.wordpress.com/page/30/ which, while not technically her homepage, is still a page whose content is dynamic rather than static. The blog is furthermore in German, one of many hundreds of languages that I, as a typical American, have never learned. She doesn't have a search function, and my chances of finding more about "A1" - or even giving you a link! - are pretty much nil.) 

"OK, Annette, I get it now! How can I stop this from happening to me?"
Thankfully, it's pretty simple! When you link to anything - or even PIN anything - take a moment to click on the title of the post you are reading. For instance, if you want to link to my little PSA, you should click up where it says "Diva Challenge #189: Yuma." 

When you do, you'll see the page address change from tarkheenacrafts.blogspot.com to http://tarkheenacrafts.blogspot.com/2014/10/diva-challenge-189-yuma.html

This is the address you want to copy and paste if you are (for instance) entering your blog post in the Diva's challenge. Or, if you are pinning an image from the post, this is where you want to click the Pin button.

Having trouble deciding if you are on someone's homepage vs. a specific blog post? Here's your big clue: if you scroll down and see more than one blog post (or post summary), you're either on the home page or another dynamically generated page, and you Should Not Link Here! Again, click the title of the post you are reading, and Then you can link or pin.

Please, Never click the "Pin" button when you're on someone's homepage. 

And, like the Diva says, never put your homepage in the "linky" machine. It may work today. Unless you're really prolific it will probably work all week, even all month. But eventually it won't, and those who really want to see the entries to, say, challenge #126 will be sorely disappointed. 

OK, thanks for listening. Pin safely fellow crafters!