no sign

Spring break was spent in the Bay Area.  Catching up with dear friends.  Eating good food.  And then there’s this -

embracing the sky

Drawing me in and making me not want to leave.

No sign of winter there.  No sign of spring here.  At least not yet.

More pictures here.

 

care and feeding of blogs

Since I last posted, I have been to Atlanta, where I spent the holidays with my cousin B. There was much laying about doing nothing, eating good food and trading of family news. There was also a trip to the High Museum to see the excellent Chinese Army terracotta warrior exhibit. It’s so strange to see these in the flesh – I still remember the 5th grade class where we talked about the Chin dynasty and the warriors buried in Xian. More pictures from that trip here.

comparing heights with the terra cotta warrior at High Museum

On to the Bay Area, where there was much laying about doing nothing, eating good food (sensing a theme here?). There was an awesome camping trip to Point Reyes, where it is impossible to turn around and not encounter a breathtaking vista. More pictures of that trip here.

there were sea lions sunning themselves at the beach

 

ta-freaking-da!

Ummm…I sort of fell off the face of the earth, didn’t I?  I think I’ll blame ennui for this one.  Also end of semester grading purgatory and workplace moving hijinks made for an extended stay in crankypants-land.  So there.

Anyway, there were quite a few knitting projects completed since the last update so -

with extra purple for pizzazz!

Pattern: Gentleman’s sock in railway stitch, from Knitting Vintage Socks.
Yarn: Crystal Palace Panda cotton in jet black (2 skeins) and royal purple (1 skein), size 1 DPNs.

These were a present for Oki, who seems to like ‘em (huzzah!).   Contrasting purple heels and toes on request.  The yarn has a nice heft and feel to it, but was a bit splitty.  The colors are pretty vibrant and kind of sheeny.  Pardon the somewhat washed out photograph – I wanted to try to show some of the stitch detail and the black was not cooperating. 

 

september summary

Wow, where does the time go? I wish I could say time flies when you’re having fun, but really, this little matter of being employed is a huge time suck. So while time is flying, the fun? Not so much.

At any rate, September’s almost over. Here’s a mishmash of the months highs and lows:

I finally made it to Niagara Falls! I live a few hours drive away from the Falls and have been meaning to go check it out for the longest time. My friends Meg and Jenny (we’ve known each other since grade school!) were visiting from Manila and Niagara Falls was on their must-see list.  I met up with them there, where we joined a large throng of tourists on the Maid of the Mist, got thoroughly drenched and had a great time. The Falls are pretty spectacular, although there was a lot more construction near the shores of the Falls, both on the American and Canadian sides, than I expected.

 

one last hurrah

School started this week. Although I teach in a year-round program, the summer months are typically slower, so I have a bit of a life. But fall and spring terms get really crazy. As a last hurrah before the craziness starts in earnest, I went to Seattle for a few days.

I had a great time. One of the many things I like about Seattle is how lush and green and alive everything looks, stereotypical wet Seattle weather notwithstanding. I mean, who can resist an explosion of color like this?

This trip also turned out to be mini reunion of sorts. My aunt made a last minute trip up from SoCal, one of my cousins was in town for an extended business trip, my globe-trotting 90 year old grandaunt was in town between trips, and two of my friends from Manila (who I’ve known since we were in the fourth grade together) were in town visiting. The stars were aligned this time.

Seattle also happens to be home to many totally random and odd sightings. This was one among many “huh?” moments. Spotted inside a Chinese dimsum restaurant. Maybe because the red in the sign matches the decor?

More photos here.

 

must be something in the water

My little circle of friends and family seems to have come down with a case of baby fever. Gotta be the water.

This is for my cousin B’s little one, who is supposed to make her entrance in a few short weeks!

I’ve made Bobbi Bear before, but he’s so cute I had to make another one! Plus Bobbi II can help scare away the monsters under the bed, or stand guard while the baby’s napping. I used 2 balls of Lion Brand Organic Cotton on this one – I’ve lost the ball bands, but I think it’s the Almond colorway. Size 10.5 DPNs.

I also made some booties and a hat. I was originally planning on making a sweater, but nixed the idea because my cousin lives in sweltering Las Vegas, and is giving birth at the height of summer. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in periwinkle; the patterns courtesy of the good folks at Ravelry. The hat is Vibegrrl’s Bananahead Baby Beanie, (Rav link) and the booties Ruth B’s Perfect Baby Booties. (Rav link)

Knitting for babies is fun because it’s instant gratification! Also I got to use stash yarn for this project – I feel so virtuous. Bobbi II wanted to try on the booties and hat, but he’s a big bear.

 

passing muster

Yesterday, my apartment got “randomly” picked to be inspected by the city. You know, to make sure I wasn’t living in a total hovel. Heh.

At any rate, the inspector shows up at my place promptly at 9 in the morning, digital camera in hand. Proceeds to test the lights and electrical outlets, then snap a bunch of pictures of the fire extinguisher and the fusebox. Casts a critical eye around the apartment -

Inspector: You don’t seem to have a lot of furniture in here.

Me: …

Inspector: Are you a student?

Me: Nah.

Inspector: Oh.  Sometimes, student habits are very hard to break. Very hard.

Me: Are you trying to tell me my apartment is messy?

Inspector: Uh-huh.  You should get better furniture.

Me: At least I don’t have milk crates.

 

planes and trains

My, posting has been a bit sparse, hasn’t it? At any rate, back from a short trip to the Washington DC area. Mostly for work, but also a bit of play.

Work = boring and stressful. The less said about that, the better.

Play = exploring a city with so much to see, going to this awesome exhibit (picture a roomful of adults happily singing along to obscure Sesame Street songs!), getting in some aikido practice at Shobukan, catching up with friends.

 

monkey see, monkey do

Shameless follower I am. Please pardon the extreme bad hair day.

Pattern: Gloria cowl
Yarn: Sundara superwash sock, somewhat solid aqua with purple. Size 8 DPNs, yarn held double

Cowls don’t get much easier than this! This project turned out really well. Looks good, perfect for social knitting, and a great way to use up stash sock yarn. The Sundara yarn was squooshy and knits up very well. I’m a big fan of the semi-solid color, I think it gives depth to the finished garment.

I cast on 91 stitches instead of the called for 99, and did 5 rounds of seed stitch instead of 3. I wanted to use up the entire 2 skeins of yarn, so this turned out just a teeny bit longer than ideal. But no leftover yarn! In fact, I managed to overestimate the yardage a bit that I ran out of yarn before the cast off row. Problem solved by using leftover purple sock yarn. Design element, ahem.

 

travelling fool, part 2

Better late than never!

The Summer of Travel continued on to Boston, for my friend Mike’s wedding! Boston is a city I really like. Yeah, the streets don’t make a lot of sense, which is the kiss of death if you’re as navigationally-challenged as I am, but it’s got a lot of character and a lot of history, plus a lot of good places to eat.

Weddings are a good excuse to see friends and pig out. The ol’ Houston gang turned up to wish Mike well. Here’s a rather grainy picture ganked from Oki of the gang at Dali’s, a really good tapas place.

The wedding was perfect. The bride looked radiant, the groom didn’t look too bad either. The wedding banquet was fantastic (yum yum!) You’ll have to take my word on the food because my camera died at the banquet.