Fun with Photo Booth

I don't have Photoshop so I'm excited at any chance I have to manipulate photos other than in iPhoto.

Today I happened to accidentally click on Photo Booth, and was staring at myself on the screen. Since I don't use the web cam feature on my Mac, I rarely open this program. I clicked on the effects which I had never noticed before.

This is "Pop Art"

"Color Pencil"

and my favorite, "Glow"

Since tomorrow is the 29th I have one day off from Blogging 365. I leave you with "X-Ray" to remember me by:

I am dense

Sometimes I am very dense. Here's and example - Wiknit. It is a blog that lists knitting contests. I think I mentioned it before. It's fun to enter contests, and learn about new blogs. In my head I call it "We Knit". I don't have a Wii, and don't remember ever hearing it's name, but I thought it was pronounced "we". Every time I go to Wiiknit I wonder what a "Wii" has to do with knitting contests. Is it because you play games on a Wii and contests are games? Finally it dawned on me. The website is pronounced "Win It". Duh! (Or maybe it's not, let me know if I'm wrong). Edited to add: Bigger Duh! It is WiKnit. One 'i'. No Wiis involved. That explains a lot.

But this is a story about my dense-ness at it's densest. There was or is, for all I know, an easy listening station here in San Francisco called KABL, pronounced "Cable". Their jingle was spoken slowly by a man in kind of 70's Al Green voice "Cable...K A B L..." and then a bell: "ding-ding". I never thought much about it.

One day I was at the Cliff House with my sister and my first husband, and one of those tourist buses that look like a cable car went by. I think it was a promotion for the station. It passed by with a big KABL sign on the side, and the driver rang a bell "ding-ding", and my brain went "ding-ding", too. KABL - Cable Car!! I get it! No wonder that bell was their trademark. I truly had no idea why this radio station in San Francisco, home of the world-famous cable cars was called KABL.

Is anyone else as dense as me? I would love to hear your stories.

Speaking of dense, I've been trying to get these socks going, as a side project when I get stuck on the Fana Sweater. I've had this beautiful yarn from Rio de la Plata for a few months. I've been fussing around with socks, trying to customize a pattern for my size 10.5 feet, small ankles, and sturdy calves. I can't seem to get it right, they are always too big. So I decided just to stick to Ann Budd's basic 8 stitch to the inch sock in size large from "Getting Started Knitting Socks". I wanted a little more challenge than working plain so I picked a pattern that I thought would subtlety show up with the multicolored yarn.

I copied the page with a "wishbone" lace pattern which I was going to put on each side of the sock with two reps of eight stitches. This was my "while the kid is napping in the back seat" project, so I didn't want to take the whole book. I made notes, and cast on and did a K2P2 ribbing. Then I pulled out the pattern and realized I didn't know what one of the symbols meant, and couldn't look it up because I didn't have the book. I didn't want to waste valuable knitting time, so I went ahead with "slanted wishbone", on the same page, which I didn't like as much, but whose symbols I knew.

At the next knitting session, I realized that I had done something wrong, the pattern didn't look right. So I tore it out down the the ribbing. It was a pain to get the stitches back on the needles facing the right way. And I started again. With the pattern I originally liked? No, I was stuck without the book again. Things went better, until I realized I didn't plan very well. Duh, using just two reps didn't show the beauty of the pattern. Note to self - learn how to read charts better.

So the project sat, in great peril of never getting picked up again. I just couldn't bear to rip and have to pick up the ribbing again. Yesterday I was stuck without a project because I'm in a holding pattern on the sweater, so I tried the socks one more time. Ripping out and putting the stitches back was worse this, as the yarn started to split, and I dropped some stitches. This time I'm doing the pattern I initially chose, with three reps, only on one side of the leg. That means there is a left and a right and the socks will potentially wear faster, but I don't care. I just want to see if this pattern fits because I've got two beautiful balls of yarn waiting to become socks.

You can't see the pattern yet, I've done more today, but it doesn't show as much as I had hoped. But that's okay.

Thanks, Pal

I've started jogging again. I usually go to a nearby lake that has a dirt path and is 4.5 miles around. I've have been walking, riding my bike, and jogging there for over 20 years. I guess I just feel comfortable there.

Jogging is really hard for me. I never thought I could do it. I tried about seven or eight years ago, but went all out on the first few laps and of course couldn't get far without getting sick and overcome.

A couple years later I tried again in a more sensible manner. You know, run a couple minutes, walk a couple, etc. I worked up to running the whole 4.5 miles without stopping. I ran some 5Ks. Slowly, but I ran them. My biggest accomplishment was running the Bay to Breakers, 7.6 miles, including the infamous Hayes Street Hill.

Here is a little hill near my house. Sometimes I run on a nearby dirt path and come back up this street. Boring.
















What's that up ahead? Something interesting, I hope.

















Thanks! Just what I needed.














I don't know if I'll be able to keep up the jogging. It's hard to fit it in with the toddler and all. I certainly won't be doing the Bay to Breakers anytime soon, but I am signing up for the 5k part of Run for Arctic Awareness on May 3rd. It's part of Norway Day.

Tangled Web

I finally found a way to link knitting with viking stuff in one post.

I discovered "That's my middle name" yesterday and she's having a contest. The prize is yarn for a Kauni skirt. You know about the beautiful Kauni sweaters, right? The Yarn Harlot, among others have posted their progress with the beautiful sweater. There is even a photo of That's My Middle name and Stephanie and others in their sweaters on her site.

What does this have to do with Vikings? Well, I had never been to Ruth Sørensen's site, she is the designer of Kauni. Be sure to visit. Not only does she weave, but she makes Viking Jewelry.

Knitting Update

I have been working exclusively on the Fana sweater. Here is a photo of how far along I am - almost to the armpits.

Now I have to decide how to proceed. I originally was planning on doing the whole thing in the round, with steeks at the armholes, and cutting out the neckline. But the Fana book says to work the front and back separately from the underarms. This makes sense because the neck isn't a "V", it is actually a very large "U", which I like, but I would end up cutting out a lot of knitting. However, it will be purling, which I try to avoid.

Here's a bit better idea of how it will look. Those are button holes. They will be bound in red stitching. And I hope blocking will get the edge to lay down better.

The Little Package That Could

Once there was a cute little package from Canada. She was a happy little package filled with special treats for a knitter in the U.S.A. She had yarn, notecards, a magnet, and the cutest felted flower you ever saw. But that's not all, she also treats for the knitter to eat: lollipops, chocolate, and a great big Hershey's Kiss.


She bounced happily along in the Canada Post system until all of sudden the truck stopped with a jerk. "Everybody out!" the U.S. Customs official yelled. The package was stuck in a corner for a week. The yarn and goodies were really sad. "What is the good little knitter on the other side of the border going to do without her Valentine treats?". The package said "don't worry, I'll get us out of here."

Just then a U.S. Postal worker walked by. "Please kind postal worker won't you put me onto an airplane. You can see I am marked 'Air Mail', and the good little knitter needs her chocolate badly". The Postal worker tossed her onto a truck. The yarn and goodies were ready to cry. "We're going to miss Valentine's Day!"

The package said "don't worry, before you know it we'll be in California," and they were. The yarn and goodies cheered. The package made her way to the local sorting facility and saw a shiny semi truck. "Please kind truck, won't you please deliver us to the good littler knitter, we missed Valentine's Day, but we can make her birthday if you hurry." But the truck said "I am a big semi, I only deliver big loads of packages to the local post offices."

The yarn and goodies were fed up, they missed the birthday. The package arrived at the local post office and said to the nearest letter carrier "This is ridiculous. The good little knitter and the kind knitter who sent the package are getting worried that we are lost. Please deliver us at once."

He ignored her. "You're just going to have to get in another carrier's bag" the goodies said. "But I don't know if I can jump so far. I am only a little package." She waited and saw a fast looking letter carrier coming her way. She mustered all her strength and said "I think I can. I think I can" and hopped out the bin and into the bag. You could hear her say "I thought I could. I thought I could" as the letter carrier rang the knitter's doorbell.

"Hurray!!" shouted the good little knitter as she opened the package. "The thoughtful knitter made my day with the cute little package full of goodies." And she caressed the alpaca blend yarn dreaming of what it would become.

Stinky Face

Around here we call this "Stinky Face"


Wherever does he get it from?

39 and Holding

So it is 9:00 pm on my 39th birthday and I'm about to do some knitting after getting the kid to sleep after reading rassafrassa-sassafrassing "The Little Engine That Could" for the 5th time today. Let's compare that to my 29th birthday. Oh, no comparison, it was barely getting started at 9:00pm.

Today started rough, the kid had a restless night and was hollering from 5:00 am on. Husband got up with him at 6:00, but I couldn't get back to sleep for the noise. Got up after a while and was told "happy birthday. Nice bags under your eyes." Grumpy discussion about logistics due to one vehicle in shop. General grumpiness on my part. One bright spot: got to pay bills in peace, project that had been cut short last night due to kid's mystery ailment. Drove cross town, dropped off husband, picked up my mother, drove back cross town to kid's to swimming lesson, dropped off mother, got home and spent half and hour getting kid to nap.

All the while I was kind of grumpy about my birthday. My husband is a flake, he knows he's a flake, I know he's a flake, everyone knows he's a flake. I reminded him about my birthday several times. I knew he had forgotten when I told him last night that I had been tempted by a German Chocolate cake I saw when I was grocery shopping and had thought about bringing it home for today. He said oops, but don't worry, he would get one today. I reminded him he wouldn't have a vehicle. I actually already got my present, the book from Norway, but some recognition of the day would have been in order. And I got cards and checks, which I really appreciate because they funded they yarn for the Fana sweater. But still, the actual day should be a little special, in my opinion. Mainly I was dead tired, though, and sick and tired of the kid not sleeping well.

I actually napped for a while, but woke up feeling awful after an hour. Then the kid woke up and I had to coax him back to sleep. Thank goodness it didn't involve reading "The Little Engine That Could" again or I may well have started to cry. I got to knit for a while and the nap headache dissipated. 3:00 pm and I stated to feel like a human again. The kid woke up and I had to work him up to the prospect of getting back in the truck to pick up his father. I have probably mentioned the kid is not good in the car. Fortunately he understood the concept of "getting Daddy", and that helped.

(Are you still here? This is my longest post ever!!)

Well, if no one was going to make plans for my birthday, I was going to make my own. "How about Louis' so I can have a birthday chocolate malt?" I suggested. No, I was told cake was covered. Hmm. We decided to go to the mall so I could get a bite to eat and buy a book with a 40% off coupon I got from Borders. We ended up with dinner at Chevy's. At 4:45 pm. Only way to do it with the kid. I had one margarita, woo-hoo. (Let's compare that to my 29th birthday. Again, we can't, because I don't remember what I was drinking. I mean, I know I was a beer drinker back then, but I have vague memories of shot glasses). The kid actually stayed at the table for 20 minutes, a record. After that we took turns showing him the tortilla machine. Then off to Borders where I got Greenlanders on Audioknits' recommendation.

The bookstore was a fun experience. My husband asked if the kid had ever been in a bookstore. Yes, but not let loose, I told him. It was decided that Daddy would take him to the kid section while I browsed. Okay, snigger snigger. I looked up the author's name on the computer, found the book quickly, and went to the kids' section. My kid was pulling books off the shelf. Husband asks if I have seen him like this before, I said "oh yeah, I forgot about the time at the library." It was so gratifying watching him chase the kid around. He asked me to hold him at one point because he had to take his jacket off, he was sweating. Sometimes when I complain about how tough the kid is I'm told that I need to loosen up. I showed the kid the rack of Thomas the Tank Engine books and he darted toward it. I asked him to pick one, and luckily he pointed at several so I was able to pick one with an actual storyline, without guilt.

We got home and I dropped them off because it was raining, and went to park the truck. When I came in the husband was searching through the kitchen drawer and asked where the birthday candles were, I told him, and milled in the entryway. As a birthday bonus I used this opportunity to remove a pile of laundry from the bedroom because it actually smelled bad and put it in the stairwell. The candle was lit and the three of us sang "Happy Birthday". I think our son remembered his first birthday party because he was pretty excited. He did manage to swipe a handful of frosting, thanks to aging parent syndrome. Having a 50-year-old father and a 39-year-old sleep deprived mother has it's advantages.

(Still here?!?)

We had small pieces of the very fancy, very rich cake. I saw the label and noted that it was from a place across town we like. Now some of our worst parenting comes into play. We let the kid eat a piece of chocolate cake an hour before bedtime, albeit a small piece of cake. While we are licking our plates, my husband wonders why I didn't ask how he got the cake. I said I figured some place in the neighborhood he was working in carried them, wasn't that lucky. He said no, he actually walked a far piece, caught the bus and got it at the bakery. Then he handed me two boxes (sealed with masking tape) and said they were bonus presents. He got me a nice pink t-shirt and a pink fleece pullover.

Cut to the kid filling his diaper. This is where Great Moments in Bad Parenting really kicked in. The kid starts running around, I can't get a clean diaper on him. He pulls me into his room, and tries to get me onto his slide, by pushing my face into it. Then he tries to climb in his dresser drawer. I decide I need to get that mystery smell stuff into the machine to soak overnight. I was trying to sort the laundry on the stoop but the kid is shrieking into the stairwell and climbing all over and un-sorting the clothes. Daddy pulls him away several times. We note that this is the wildest he has ever been, and that's saying a lot. Then he starts doing laps around the apartment. Good, I think, he'll wear off the sugar high. I go down stairs and take my time with the laundry. When I come back up the kid is banging on his guitar. Um, it is officially bath time and he is nowhere near calmed down, so we wait a few minutes, and I get his bed stuff ready. He bathes while I try to decompress from the day.

I hear him call "ma ma" from the bath and know the daily ritual of his being carried to me wrapped in a towel and smiling is about to happen. During the hand-off I look at my husband and have one of those moments when you see yourself in your child and your spouse in your child and think what a neat little family you have. The day turned into a pretty nice birthday after all.

My 29th? Well let's just say my kid isn't the only one who likes to run around with no clothes on shrieking. Aren't you glad you read the whole thing?

Humans!

I used to think that people were basically good, with a few bad eggs here and there. Over time I've come to believe that most people are, at best, neutral. Other days I think that individuals in general don't care about anyone but themselves and I wish I could move to the farthest reaches of Alaska (but I would have to win millions of dollars first so I could have all the comforts stocked in and a deluxe heated outhouse). Where does the truth lie? Probably most people are good, the bad ones just get more press.

And I guess I don't just mean "bad" like criminals. I'm talking about rude people who don't give a thought to others. They run stop signs, cut ahead in lines, call people names. People who they they are the center of the universe. Sometimes I wonder why people can't be nice in general. For instance, the clerks at the grocery store I go to have to ask how I am doing. I always try to say "fine" and look them in the eye and ask how they are and really mean it.

But I am far, far from perfect. I try to be nice, but I have problems with the general public. Once I perceive that someone is rude to me I hate to say it, but I can be rude right back. And I try to put myself in other's positions, like when people are driving under the speed limit, but usually I get irritated. I don't honk my horn or anything, but unkind words are often spoken, luckily they can't hear them, though.

Oh, I know, people are good. Look at all the people who volunteer their time and money. But why are people driven to altruism in the first place? Is it religion? I was raised Lutheran and of course was taught to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" and that "it is better to give than to receive".

And it does feel good to things for other people. So is altruism really selfish? I think there is something in most of us that drives us to care for our fellow beings. To do the right thing because it is right. Is this spiritual or just a biological instinct to contribute to keeping our species alive?

So what do you think? Are humans in general good, bad, or just human? And why do we do good deeds, or bad, for that matter?

The Sea Cat

No Wharf Rats Here

Apparently this cat lives at the Hyde Street Pier portion of the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park.

We peeked into the boatsmith's shop and saw this, and only this, written on a chalkboard:

"Animal Control 554-6364"

I wondered why until we saw this huge, lumbering cat. She looks benign in the photos, but you should have seen her stalking the sea gulls. I don't know if she is part of the solution or the problem.

Six-Word Memoirs

Have you heard about Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure? Allegedly Hemmingway once wrote: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." Smith magazine challenged their readers to sum up their lives in six word statements.

You can submit your own here to be considered for the next book.

Here are some I made up:

Spent fourteen years getting higher education
Tried to blog 365, was hard
My home houses many crusted things
I'm daughter, sister, wife, mom, friend
Used to be sharp, had baby
Wore diapers then, will wear again?
Touching fibers is kind of therapy
Three bikes, not one ridden lately

I found it hard to sum up my whole life in six words. Can you?

Fana Cast On

I finally cast on the sweater! (By the way, Happy Valentine's Day).

248 stitches went on without incident, miraculously. I knit the first round and the cast on stitches weren't too tight or too loose. I got to the end and hadn't inadventently twisted them.

I started with this twisted stitch for two rows. Supposedly "the best of the best" Fana sweaters started with it to prevent curling, since ribbing isn't used.




It is actually purled in this case. You use each color every other stitch and twist the yarn when you switch. It was a true pain in the neck. I couldn't figure a way to hold the yarns and twist them, I had to drop and pick up the yarn for each and every 248 stitches. It took me over an hour. You twist in the same direction every time so you have to stop and untwist the yarns from each other from time to time. Even so the yarn is "twisty".

The second row went much faster. The yarn is twisted in the opposite direction. I was able to hold them both a do a few stitches without dropping the yarn. Plus the yarn was un-twisting and happy.

What a Racket

My kid loves books. This is a good trait in an 18-month-old, but it has led to my discovery of an evil empire - the children's book industry.

It all started with "Goodnight Moon". Surprisingly, no-one gave us a copy before the baby's birth, so I bought one. I read it to him at bedtime right from the start. At first he would just gaze at the pictures. Soon he had favorites, the cow jumping over the moon and the comb, brush, and bowl of mush.

I bought him more books, he received some as gifts, and a friend gave us a large library that had been her grand-children's. Soon there were more favorites: "Are You My Mother?" and Sandra Boynton's "Doggies" among others. We continued reading books at bedtime, and he would often pull books off of his shelf during the day. He is a chewer, so some nicer hardbacks are on a shelf he can't reach. Many of the board books are barely hanging together. I bought an enormous lap edition of "Goodnight Moon" when the old one fell apart. The Little Golden books are quite gnawed on, but it always seemed wise to encourage a love of books.

Two things have occurred recently that has made book reading a bit tedious: the love of trains has escalated and the attention span has lengthened. We have graduated to the "nice" books, which are not to be chewed. The current favorite is "The Little Engine That Could". Ugh! The Kid's attention span has not lengthened enough. There are just too many words per page, and he doesn't let us finish one before he is trying to turn to the next. The good little boys and girls over the mountain would be appalled. Then he wants to hear the partial story again and again. I never really minded reading the short books over and over, but there's something about the disjointed story that bugs me. And this was one of my favorites as a kid. Why did they re-illustrate it? I need to look at an old one, was there something that is now politically incorrect?


So last week I got a Thomas the Tank Engine book with a simple plot just to break up the monotony. Big mistake. I had to read it at least fifteen times today alone. Oh, and that is in addition to numerous foreshortened renditions of "The Little Engine that Could", our total book time has increased. I don't know what's worse, a disjointed story or a simplistic story. We borrowed some books from the library, one of them became a favorite. I'm going to have to take the books back by myself, I guess.

Obviously I didn't learn from the Thomas incident. I went to the bookstore this afternoon desperate for some new books. I decided on Thomas books with not too many words, but not too few either. The children's book industry sure has a racket going. They make books that kids get addicted to, knowing the parents will become comatose reading them over and over again, forcing us to buy more and more to escape brain damage. All in all, we feel very lucky that The Kid enjoys books so much. He loves to take us by the hand and lead us to the special bookshelf. At night he gets a book, gets under the covers and motions for me to put my head on the pillow and read. I just can't wait until he can make all the funny voices.

Kristin Lavransdatter III - The Cross

Just a quick follow-up about Kristin Lavransdatter - I finished reading "The Cross", which covers the final part of Kristin's life.

I've been thinking a lot about this fictitious woman and her life. I remember the historic buildings I saw at the Folk Museum in Oslo and can almost picture her in the storehouse, or at the fire. There is photo of the cathedral in Nidaros in the latest Norway.com magazine and I wonder what it looked like when she was there. Then I remember she wasn't a real person. The books describe Kristin and her surroundings in such detail that it's hard to remember she wasn't real.

I have a lot more to say about the saga, it made quite an impression on me. I just can't get a quiet moment to write my thoughts down. What I like the most is that it makes me wonder what it would have been like live then. And the realization that people not only lived differently than we do, they thought differently, too. Their world was so different.

My Golden Boy

at the magic hour:

Fanatrøyer

I just got "Fanatrøyer" in the mail from Norway and it is even more wonderful than I expected. There are so many images - old photos of people in their sweaters, close-ups of old sweaters, photos of modern re-creations. It is full of inspiration.

It is in Norwegian, but I had no idea there are about six pages in the back in English that summarize the history of knitting in Norway and Fana sweaters. But the best thing is there are instructions in English! It shows how to finish the cut edges with fabric backing and woven trim, which I was very unclear about.

Here a few things I learned in my first pass through of the book:

Contrary to what I had learned, there appears to be a bunad that uses a sweater. A Fana bunad is shown with a close fitting solid color Fana sweater underneath the bodice.

About the white Fana sweater. Very lovely with purled textured patterning.

The striped sweater was worn throughout the West coast, but has been carried on in Fana. Part of my family is from the coast, so perhaps someone way back wore a striped sweater.

I can't wait to read more, and put the finishing touches on my sweater plan. Next I'm going to look at the buttons and make a decision about those.

Heart Sachet

I'm participating in a Valentine's Day swap through Ravelry. When I signed up I knew I wanted to make this heart sachet which is from Interweave Knits Summer 2005, also available as a pdf. I had knit one already as a gift (in my haste I mailed it without taking a photo) and wanted to do another.

I cast on with some magenta Koigu KPPM and did the first square. Then I found out that my recipient doesn't like pink or magenta, light green is her favorite color. Hmm, I could do red, but why not be a little different and go with a green theme, since it's her favorite color. Fortunately I had green Koigu in my stash.

I love this pattern, it's quite ingenious, but it was pretty challenging for me. The first one took me ages to do. It isn't really hard, but it is fussy. If you do it, make sure you follow the advice to weave the ends in as you go onto the next squares. That keeps it neat and cuts down on final weaving in of ends. My main problem was the purl decreases that aren't in the first couple squares. I kept forgetting to do them on the subsequent squares.

It didn't take as long to this one as the first, and it was fun watching how the colors made every square different.

How Oatmeal Works

We eat a lot of oatmeal chez Viking Princess. Instant oatmeal is a quick, easy, and healthy breakfast. And the kid loves the sound of the tea kettle (okay, he likes watching his mother sing and dance to "I'm a Little Teapot". He also likes show tunes and high kicks) and loves to help open and pour the package into the bowl. I like using old fashioned oats in chocolate chip bar cookies.

I've read that oatmeal is good for reducing cholesterol, and was wondering how it does that. I found this at quakeroatmeal.com:

So how do oats work?
Think of rolled oats as tiny sponges that soak up cholesterol and carry it from your body...This cholesterol is "trapped" and removed from your body naturally.

Well, this is how oats work around here:

How do oats defy laundering?
Think of oats as "parasites" that get stuck to your clothes. You scrape off the oatmeal prior to laundering only to find it is still there afterwards...Worse, you pull clothes out of the drier only to find crusted oatmeal on clothes that were never worn while eating oatmeal, and then discover gooey lumps on the drier door. These lumps are oats that have soaked up water in the laundry and become like "rubber cement".

Yes, oats certainly are persistent little grains.

Knitting Contests

I'm waiting for my yarn to arrive so I can cast on the Fana sweater. In the meantime I started a new pair of socks; knit a soaker; knit a heart sachet; and am playing with some Christmas gift yarn trying to decide what to make.

I just found out about this knitting contest blog: WiKnit.

From there I have entered two contests. A blogiversary contest at Esotericknitter
and a Spring contest at Ridiculous Obsession. Check out both of these blogs!

Book Review - Håndplagg til Bunader og Folkedrakter

I cannot express how beautiful Håndplagg til Bunader og Folkedrakter is. I bought this book a couple years ago and pull it out from time to time. I was just checking to see if there are Fana gloves.

The book is full of patterns for bunad and folk costume handcoverings. It is a great resource for making mittens, gloves, pulse warmers, etc., but also stands alone with wonderful photographs of bunads and costumes.

It is entirely in Norwegian. Most of the patterns are knit, but there is also nålbinding. Some are embroidered and others beaded. The book starts with an introduction about supplies and techniques and then is divided into geographic regions. Each project shows a historical photo and instructions. Then there is a photo of the reconstructed item, sometimes modeled with costumes, sometimes with modern clothes, which shows how timeless the designs are.

Here is a small sampling of the projects: embroidered gloves from Setsedal and Telemark; stranded gloves and pulsewarmers from Flesberg; Selbu mittens; solid color patterned mittens from several places; several stranded Sami mittens; and much, much more.

If you are on Ravelry, do a pattern search and you will find several people have made projects from the book. A Google search will yield similar results.

Ocean Beach Afternoon

Jumping to Conclusions

Every once in a while I Google myself and this blog. I found this quote: "I am so glad I do not live in California. " in response to my post about my adventures at the Dump.

My initial response to this comment was "me too." I wondered why s/he was glad. Okay, I assumed it was a "he". Does he think our Dump is inferior to the dumps in his state? Does he think only in California women go to the dump? What is so "California" about my being a regular customer at the dump?

In response to this person's statement, another said "California's the trend-setter. It's only a matter of time".

Until what? And really, California is the dump trend-setter?

Turns out these people don't think it is legal to make customers show i.d. to use a credit card.

Okay, never mind.