Nearly a year since my last entry. Hello? Anybody there?
To my distant friends and family, I'd like to suggest that email and blogs work both ways--not just my little blog/emails--others could share their own if they are hovering around. (Just a hint...)
With that out of the way, I've had a ten days off at the end of this last hectic year and have loved every single second of it (the ten days, not the year which was survivable, just). I had too many tasks planned for this break and have tried to enjoy each moment after no vacations since last year.
Good things in 2009--I finally got my roof replaced ($9,000) by cashing in an IRA. Had to get a new water main that broke in several places ($7,500). Got an old root canal redone (insurance paid for it, thank Gods) and other health maintenance requirements.
Felt the joy of Obama in the White House and the frustration of Republican "mischief" in the Congress, preventing us from getting universal health care. Something is better than nothing, but really--how disappointing.
The grandbabies are doing well and now live in a neighborhood with hundreds, if not thousands, of trees. They still come to see me on the weekends.
Next year, I'm committed to buying no new clothes since I've got more than I need; to get the big bills paid off and the credit cards as low as possible. Goodbye shopping. I'll try to use the time blogging or in some other heady pleasure.
Guilty pleasures? Saw "Sherlock Holmes" with Downey Jr. and loved it. Although Jeremy Brett will always BE Holmes to me, Richie's version is fun, crazy and a pastiche. So inaccurate and tongue-in-cheek, it's funny (and I love the music). Went to LUSH and got three soaps for the price of one and a luscious moisturizer. Reread my favorite Terry Pratchett books and mourn his illness because we'll have few new creations of his in future. Rock on, Terry.
Almost New Year now...Happy to All.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
HALLELUJAH & HOW TO KNIT A RUG
First off, I'm still absolutely thrilled every time I hear someone say or write: "President Obama". President Obama, thank you for not giving up and for giving us hope.
So many of us never thought we would see the day when someone of mixed race would occupy the "White" House. Even more, I feared I'd never see a man or woman of intellect and insight take that role after Cheney/Bush/Rove. May the Bush Team rot in hell. For the first time, I wave an American flag outside my window.
We've turned a big corner. Maybe America has grown up--we'll see. I hope Obama and the Democrats can save our butts from the ruin the Republicans have made of our country. We as a nation let them ruin it and hopefully never will again. If we can get national healthcare--at last--then I think our country will have really evolved in a major way. And America can prosper, economically and culturally.
To the rug:
Last year, I found many rolls of denim cloth cut about 1-1/2 inches wide at my favorite "art shop"--SCRAP on Toland in SF. I'd been wanting to knit a rag rug, but so many rag rugs look, well, raggedy. Not worth all that work.
I got the denim (about $10) and washed the fabric strips first which created huge tangles but fringed and fluffed the edges of the fabric nicely (the cloth was cut on the grain, not the bias). Using huge needles (#15), I knitted this up in a LINEN STICH@ which creates a firm, non-stretchy surface. It took months, but the rug has been a success, keeping my grandbabies warm from the freezing wooden floors in my house. The rug looks handmade and a little funky but not raggedy. Size of the denim rug is about 46" by 42". I handsewed the strips together with denim thread.
I've done a few smaller rugs with stretch polyester and cotton strips for my kitchen and bathroom and they are okay too, though the knit stitch makes the borders a little uneven. These smaller rugs wash perfectly in my machine.
--------------------------------
@LINEN STITCH: CO even number of stitches. Row 1: *K1, slip 1 with yarn in front. Repeat from * across, ending with a K1. Row 2: *P1, slip 1 with yarn in back. Repeat from * across, ending w P1. Repeat these two rows for pattern. When slipping stitches, always slip as if to purl.
The BEST part is that these can all be washed in a machine. For the large denim rug, I'll take it to the laundromat and toss it in the big $5 machine. It will probably take forever to dry, but grow softer with age. Right now I vacuum this rug and it comes up soft and clean.
---------------------------
My life otherwise in short has been: anxiety; election elation; more bodily maintenance issues; work work work; a few days off here and there; knitting; planning; seeing various doctors for foot, hand, brain; kids on the weekend (the now 3-year old is potty trained at last, the nearly 6-year old lovelier than ever); more anxiety; worry; aging mellowly often: books on tape; day trips inland (I hate to be away from the sea); work work work.
Here's to the future:
So many of us never thought we would see the day when someone of mixed race would occupy the "White" House. Even more, I feared I'd never see a man or woman of intellect and insight take that role after Cheney/Bush/Rove. May the Bush Team rot in hell. For the first time, I wave an American flag outside my window.
We've turned a big corner. Maybe America has grown up--we'll see. I hope Obama and the Democrats can save our butts from the ruin the Republicans have made of our country. We as a nation let them ruin it and hopefully never will again. If we can get national healthcare--at last--then I think our country will have really evolved in a major way. And America can prosper, economically and culturally.
To the rug:
Last year, I found many rolls of denim cloth cut about 1-1/2 inches wide at my favorite "art shop"--SCRAP on Toland in SF. I'd been wanting to knit a rag rug, but so many rag rugs look, well, raggedy. Not worth all that work.
I got the denim (about $10) and washed the fabric strips first which created huge tangles but fringed and fluffed the edges of the fabric nicely (the cloth was cut on the grain, not the bias). Using huge needles (#15), I knitted this up in a LINEN STICH@ which creates a firm, non-stretchy surface. It took months, but the rug has been a success, keeping my grandbabies warm from the freezing wooden floors in my house. The rug looks handmade and a little funky but not raggedy. Size of the denim rug is about 46" by 42". I handsewed the strips together with denim thread.
I've done a few smaller rugs with stretch polyester and cotton strips for my kitchen and bathroom and they are okay too, though the knit stitch makes the borders a little uneven. These smaller rugs wash perfectly in my machine.
--------------------------------
@LINEN STITCH: CO even number of stitches. Row 1: *K1, slip 1 with yarn in front. Repeat from * across, ending with a K1. Row 2: *P1, slip 1 with yarn in back. Repeat from * across, ending w P1. Repeat these two rows for pattern. When slipping stitches, always slip as if to purl.
The BEST part is that these can all be washed in a machine. For the large denim rug, I'll take it to the laundromat and toss it in the big $5 machine. It will probably take forever to dry, but grow softer with age. Right now I vacuum this rug and it comes up soft and clean.
---------------------------
My life otherwise in short has been: anxiety; election elation; more bodily maintenance issues; work work work; a few days off here and there; knitting; planning; seeing various doctors for foot, hand, brain; kids on the weekend (the now 3-year old is potty trained at last, the nearly 6-year old lovelier than ever); more anxiety; worry; aging mellowly often: books on tape; day trips inland (I hate to be away from the sea); work work work.
Here's to the future:
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