No more sitting at the kids’ table!
This is my first sock! I’m really proud of it. I got a little teary when I was done; I was so pleased with my accomplishment. Now I can make regular socks (this one I’ll use as an ornament). It was knit on size 6 needles.
I’m a knitting teenager now. I’ve learned to knit a hat in the round! (Next week I’ll learn sock knitting and then I’ll almost be grown up.)
I learned how at my friends’ store, Purlescence Yarns!
I had one 91-yard ball of Bouton d’Or Ksar 50% wool/50% camel hair, colorway 612 Veloute left over; I knit on size 9 needles.
3 skeins of Lion Brand Homespun, colorway Corinthian; size 11 needles
Made with the tail end of a skein of Cascade 220; size 7 needles.
I made this tea cozy from Cascade 220 on size 5 needles. It fits a two cup teapot. Now I need to pop it in the mail to my sister-in-law, who has patiently waited for it since June! I used the Lily tea cozy pattern I found at Michaels. I varied the stitch slightly.
Another month, another Snuggle. Yay!
If you love to read, and if you love not having to spend money to read books, then visit WorldCat Beta. It’s the world’s largest library network. If you search for a book, it will tell you what libraries near you have it. This saves the effort of having to look in each library’s online catalog. You click on the book in the WorldCat list and it takes you directly to the library’s online catalog. This works for music, videos, and articles as well. The entire world of books is at your fingertips.
I made bread tonight. It feels like winter.
I haven’t felt much like writing or web surfing. The days, as usual, have been busy.
First off: I’m looking for a therapist within 15 miles (in any direction) of Santa Clara. Do you know of one (LMFT, Psychologist) you’d recommend?
I’ve been seized by a desire to clear out my closets of clothing I haven’t worn for 7-10 years and never will again, since they don’t fit. Goodwill has been nearly a daily stop.
This left a void in my closet. I decided my short, fat body deserves nice clothes. I am now the happy owner of seven pairs of new pants (jeans and dressy), two dozen shirts (I got carried away), cool socks (more than I care to admit), lingerie, two cardigans, and several lacy, feminine nighties. I’ve tried to be budget conscious as I’ve hit Walmart, Kohl’s, Mervyn’s, Target, Lane Bryant, Macy’s, Nordstrom, and Sears. (Whew! Yes, did go to all those stores in one week.) Now I simply need the cool weather to arrive! With today’s high being 91F I don’t know when that will be.
This is what I’ve been up to:
Now pardon me, I have another rental movie to watch: Road to Perdition.
Tomorrow is Talk Like a Pirate Day!!
This was a busy weekend! Saturday was the inaugural occurrence of the Snuggles project in the South Bay for HOBA. Everyone who signed up showed up! We met at Barefoot Coffee Roasters, where I had a vat of coffee. Zoom!
On Saturday I baked 16 dozen cookies for the opening celebration of the brand new Opportunity Center in Palo Alto. (Maple walnut and chocolate chip cookies, and trust me, they were delicious.)
That evening I rented a couple of movies for us to watch. We saw V For Vendetta. Eerily timely. It raised provocative questions about terrorism and revolution. V was considered a terrorist by his own government and destroyed government buildings, because he believed his government was evil. Timothy McVeigh thought similarly. One is real life, the other an allegory about truth. I have no answers, and I’m not trying to start a debate. Just noticing the questions, similarities, and differences the movie produced.
Sunday I attended church with the recently transplanted Austin friends at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto. I enjoyed the service, and I especially enjoyed attending with my friends. I also experienced sadness, which arose from several sources, and I’ll not go into at the moment.
After the service I came home did some stuff for work (packaged posters to send out to volunteers to hang in their communities for Hands On Bay Area day). Speaking of work, apparently the burglary was more extensive. I got an email from a staff person saying that she’d cleaned up my desk (glass was everywhere) and that there’s no telephone power because the cords were cut. Who the hell steals from a non-profit and vandalizes the office??!!
And then I went to Sur la Table to use a gift card (bought a cutting board) and ran grocery errands, came home to make dinner, went to the bookstore with Husband (but couldn’t find anything I wanted to spend money on), and watched the other movie I’d rented, Everything Is Illuminated. I adored Eugene Hutz. The movie was quirky and surprised me with its poignant turn of plot.
And now, it’s time to fold laundry and think about going to bed.
On September 16, Hands On Bay Area has several fun and easy volunteer projects that also help your community! We need your help. Check these out (the project names are links):
LEND A HAND with the “We Can” Expo (San Jose)
The “We Can” EXPO provides an opportunity for nonprofit & community organizations to receive in-kind donations that will be used directly by the people they serve & inform the public of what they do and need. Volunteers will help unload and carry electronic equipment FROM PEOPLE’S CARS. Rolling carts will be available, but some lifting (20-30 POUNDS) is involved.
SPRUCE UP the “Field of Dreams” at Vargas Elementary (Sunnyvale)
Help transform a promising little patch of land into a bountiful hands-on garden for the students of Vargas Elementary. Plant flowers and shrubs, remove weeds, and pitch in with seasonal activities. Wear close-toed shoes, gardening clothes, hat, sunblock and bring plenty of water.
A PLACE AT THE TABLE with Gateway Family Garden (E. Palo Alto)
Help families who live in low-income housing to build their community and grow their own healthy food! Volunteers work on starting seeds, weeding, adding soil amendments and bark chips. Assistance with art-in-the-garden activities is also welcomed!
LEND A HAND with Snuggles for Animals (Santa Clara)
Do you love to knit or crochet? Join with Hugs for Homeless Animals to make small blankets for animals living at the Humane Society of Silicon Valley. Volunteers should bring their own supplies (machine washable yarn, tools).
SPRUCE UP Half Moon Bay State Beach (Half Moon Bay)
It’s Coastal Cleanup Day! Join the efforts to restore this unique beach and dune ecosystem: work may include cleaning up beach debris, planting native plants, removing non-native plants, and maintaining trails. Afterwards, tour the beach walk or head into cute little Half Moon Bay for lunch.
Visit our website to create an account. Then look at our calendar for September and sign up! You’ll receive an email with location, directions, project time, and who your project leader will be.
This indie movie is showing in San Francisco every Thursday this month. My co-worker’s brother is one of the co-writer/co-director/co-producers and a character in the film. Here’s the story behind Four Eyed Monsters from their website:
Arin and Susan both live in New York. Arin works from home with his wedding videography business documenting other people’s love. Susan is a waitress at an all-night trendy diner where she spends her Saturday nights serving chocolate martinis to women on diets wishing she’d get her artistic career in order. Both live lonely lives in one of the most populous cities in the world until they find each other online and begin their alternative courtship. Wanting to avoid a mundane date they decide to only communicate through artistic mediums and have no verbal communication while they work through the start up phase of their relationship. Communicating via note pads, emails and video cameras the question begins to arise, is their relationship just an artistic experiment or will they give into being a couple and become a living breathing “four eyed monsterâ€.
But wait, there’s more!
Four Eyed Monsters has been in 18 film festivals in the US, Brazil and Germany from Slamdance to SXSW to Gen Art to Oldenberg Germany. In 2005 it won the special audience award at SXSW, best new directors award at Brooklyn International, a special teenage jury awarded our film with a jury prize at Newport International and we received an honorable mention from Sidewalk Film Festival in Alabama.
You can find out how to buy tickets here. I’m going September 7. Will I see you there?
Tomorrow I shall depart for San Francisco at 7:00 a.m. I’m drafted to assist with painting for Project Youth & Families Connect at an elementary school. Afterward, Husband and Newly Relocated Friends will pick me up, and we will go to the Exploratorium. One of the Newly Relocated Friends is having a birthday tomorrow, and this is what he’d like to do. (Me too!) Later we will change into slightly dressier clothes and go out for a fancy meal of tapas. Then they will go dancing into the wee hours, while Husband and I head home, where I will promptly pass out from exhaustion (the good kind, I’m sure).
Today I managed to knit a few minutes and to finish a historical novel by Anita Diamant, The Last Days of Dogtown, about a place that really existed in Massachusetts near Cape Ann (a pretty good read). I couldn’t get into The Onion Girl yet, so that’s on the shelf until I’m in the mood. The next novel I’ll dive into is Freddy and Fredericka, about which I know nothing. One of my co-workers handed it to me, and we have similar tastes. It’s described as “rollicking,” “a delightful romp,” “funny, antic, and purely escapist.” I could use a little of that.
Sunday I’ll try to attend the service at the Palo Alto UU church. (Famous last words. I’ve been saying this for months.) We’ll see.
Now I must lay me down to sleep.