Wednesday,
January 14, 2004
Okay,
this photo falls into the "impossibly lousy" category, but let me assure
you that there was NO natural light in this city today. None at all. Dark, dark,
rainy wet gloom. And I can't photograph red knitting with a flash. So I'm afraid
this is it.
So,
what was I doing in the damp while I waited for the darling Rescue Rooter guy
all day? (He has yet to show up.) Why, I was swatching and sketching. This
is Cascade 220 in a wonderful, bright red, selected by my boy. The alternating
cable rib idea is thieved directly from Debbie Bliss, but the sweater that got
me started in this direction is knit flat in pieces, with drop shoulders, and
I started thinking about working it in the round. One thing led to another, and
it's threatening to become a raglan with side panels and underarms in seed stitch.
There will be more of the cable ribs on the front and back than my sketch shows.
Ten, if I recall.
Now
the nutty part. I worked out a few of the important numbers, but I think I'm going
to wing it, rather than trying to obsess out how the cables will disappear into
the raglan seams. This will either be brilliant or...a brilliant form of self-torture.
Added
a few more notations in the Let's Hope 2004 Improves Quickly logbook. DH
apparently demonstrated the need for a keyboard equivalent to the ignition lock
at work. To deny e-mail access to stressed out people who have worked multiple
60 hour weeks. Not sure how this one is going to pan out. And my laptop has been
Acting Up. Including a blue screen, for attention-getting effect. Waiting for
a Dell dude to e me back. Make it better, PLEASE.
Alright,
a small boy says it's bedtime, and I'm inclined to agree. 11:08 PM?? Jeez. I could
power on if there were a comfier place to read and knit, but I tell you, this
wooden folding chair isn't it.
posted
by Ann, 11:11 pm
(I'm not making
that up, Rachael :))
Tuesday,
January 13, 2004
Damn,
I wish I'd taken the camera with me to Small Town today. The snow piled in front
of the porch towers above the railing.
I
hope that one of these days I actually get to spend the preschool hours cleaning
and organizing at the house. I really want it to be lovely when we return. However,
today, Miss L's daughter was sick, so she wasn't there. Another mom was filling
in, and I was asked to stay and help. I didn't feel like it was a total imposition
since 1) I missed my day last month, 2) I wasn't entirely sure it wasn't my day,
as I hadn't written it down, and 3) well, I just like the kids. Also, it sort
of got me out of the parent meeting tonight. BUT, my house needs some deep cleaning,
and I hope I get to do it soon.
After
school, we delivered care packages to the pipe-thawing neighbors: artisan potato
bread from the best bakery ever;
bread & butter pickles, pistachio nuts, Valrhona chocolate, honey-wheat
pretzels and Vermont cheddar from Trader Joe's; and excellent
microwave popcorn, straight from Nebraska. Retrieved remaining Christmas presents
from the house, and a full mail bin from the post office. Then turned around and
drove back to the city house, where my man had been working some serious magic
with a sewer snake. I called prior to leaving Small Town, and he reported that
he was running the washing machine, dishwasher, both sinks, and the shower simultaneously,
and nothing was backing up. Hallelujah. We still have to satisfy the buyer, hopefully
we'll be able to do so without too much pain and suffering. (But he's 25, and
probably still knows everything.) I should note that we have been told in the
past that our a section of our line "had collapsed," and when we†
dug it up ourselves it *definitely* wasn't. Tree roots within, but the line was
intact. So DH has been skeptical of the latest report of doom and gloom. Whereas
I am the type to panic, particularly when my prospects of being able to go
home are threatened.
†I
use the term "we" very loosely here. DH did the digging; I was
more like the lemonade girl.
Another
cool thing: the statement I ghost wrote for the written mitigation hearing on
DH's whopping traffic ticket (speeding + expired license) shaved close to $500
dollars off the fine. The remaining fine is but a shadow of its former self...
Figured
out what I want to do for the boy's sweater. Show ya tomorrow. 'Night.
posted
by Ann, 10:32 pm
Monday,
January 12, 2004
I lack the energy (or something) to write tonight,
so how about some pictures instead:
Also:
a rice paddle, an assortment of rice crackers, and some red miso.
(Note:
I love having a little boy who says, when asked what his favorite part of the
day was, answers: "going to the store with all the Hello Kitty stuff!"
And knows that his mom is partial to Chococat.)
Later,
as usual, there was drawing to be done, this time on the Magna Doodle. This is
reported to be a picture of a person knitting:
We'll
close with a shot of Freddie in his latest hiding spot. This is in the front bedroom,
but any open door will suffice. Can you spot the hint of Kureyon?
Meow.
posted
by Ann, 12:22 am
Sunday,
January 11, 2004
Well.
Household
mood: cautiously optimistic. Details to follow. Holding breath. No; must breathe.
There.
Last
night was just lovely. I dropped my boy off to be cared for by the next-door neighbors.
He's been looked after by someone other than family on only three or four previous
occasions, and during one of those, I was close at hand, just working. Then my
dear, dear long-lost friend picked me up, and we tooled downtown to listen to
Ellie Belew read from her novel, Run Plant
Fly. Ellie is the writer for whom I do freelance research (&etc).
I've read, enjoyed, and gifted the novel; it was great fun to hear it in her voice,
in that wonderful book-lined reading space,
with my friend. Ellie is currently embarking on a West Coast reading tour, and
the details are here.
After
the reading, we returned to the city house, retrieved the boy, who was repported
to have been a perfect gentleman, then went to a neighborhood coffee house for
hot chocolate & chai. The boy was *so* excited to meet my friend, and very
happily chattered away with him, while slurping down his cocoa with joyful abandon.
I was approximately that giddy, too; though more self-conscious. At the coffee
shop, we also ran into a fellow I once worked with—he and his wife were among
my favorite coworkers of that era†.
Then
back to the house, where the Jr. Social Director had us watching Miyazaki's
Castle in the Sky and playing Pokémon until the hour grew late.
My friend, who is wonderful anyway, seemed perfectly happy to relax into the four-year-old's
agenda. And what a gift that was: to spend time with someone important to me who
was more than willing to weave in and out of the adult and child worlds.
†Random
encounters like this are what I missed the most when I lived in California. We
lived in Fremont, I worked in SF, and there was only one time when I just "bumped
into" someone. And that was a friend who moves through more planes than the
rest of us do; he's sort of a special case.
posted
by Ann, 11:59 am
(still)
Friday, January 9, 2004
Clarification:
the posting below at 4:05 am was on the getting up—as opposed to going to
bed—end of things. Because with me, the latter would actually be more likely.
However, I went to bed early, and woke up fretting. I did go back to bed for a
bit later.
Fiber
adventures: I'm working on the body of Gerbera. It's not going super-speedily,
mainly because of the amount of time I've spent fussing and/or acquiring new things
to worry about. BUT, the pattern stitch is very easy to remember, and I even fixed
a dropped stitch. In lace. Mild lace, to be sure, but lace, all the same. Also
ventured out to the LYS (by bus; the kid loved it). I returned the extra skeins
from the baby sweaters for credit, picked up a 16" 3.5 mm Addi Natura circ
for Gerbera's sleeves, and let the kid pick out some red Cascade 220 for the sweater
he requested. I was really wanting to browse around and pick out something for
a silly/quick/fun project, but the patience levels of my sidekick weren't quite
up to an extended browse. However, part of my Christmas gift from DH was a "permission
slip," i.e. time to gallivant around solo. (He works long graveyard shifts,
so this isn't as easy for us to accomplish as it is for other families.) (The
other part of my gift was mostly green, 2 5/8"x 6", plus a pot of forced
tulips.)
As
for the sewer situation, I have chilled somewhat. It's bad (quite), but realistically,
it's not any worse than it was a few days ago, when we just didn't know. DH will
see what he can do on his next day off, and we'll go from there. And Melissa,
you would think that the city would have some responsibility here, inasmuch as
they laid the original pipes and planted the trees in the parking strips
which are the likely source of the problem, but alas, homeowners are responsible
for all the side sewer lines—everything from the house to the big main running
down the middle of the street.
Good
car radio day: "Martha My Dear" and "Mercy Street" on the
same outing....
posted
by Ann, 9:44 pm
Friday,
January 9, 2004
To
live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement
rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not, rich; to
listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to
think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word,
to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common--this
is my symphony.
-
William Henry Channing
The
main sewer line at the city house appears to be broken. I am ready for this season
of problems to be over.
posted
by Ann, 4:05 am
