Nixe Shawl, Blocked

If you are a knitter, you know what blocking is: washing and shaping a knitted item. For some things, washing is enough, while for others, pinning it into shape is practically demanded. For me, Nixe fell in between. I wanted to see if I could spread out the bind-off edge, to make it a bit less ruffled, and also fix a gathered bit in the early part of the shawl, with the plain knitting that was between the patterned.

Laid out, pre-wash. These squares are two feet by two feet.

The bind-off edge.

The central ruffle.

So I soaked it in wool wash, then put it in towels to stomp the excess water out.

Knit burrito!

Damp and pinned out. You can see that it grew both wider and longer (as aligned to the blocks).

I pinned all along the bind-off edge.

And then on both sides of this part, to flatten it.

Ta-da! 

I can see much experimentation in my future as to how to wear it, but it is so soft and cozy (and warm!), who cares how it lands?

Finished Knitting x2

I finished two very different projects this week, one of which was started and finished in under a fortnight, and the other that took more than 9 months. Quite the contrast!

The long project is the Nixe shawl, which I wrote about working on last summer. I bound it off on Monday, but it needs blocking, so I'm not going to go into detail yet. But it's done!

The quick one was a hat, for which I used a baby hat pattern but bulky yarn, so it fits me nicely:

Although off the head, it definitely looks like it wouldn't fit, and would also be much too long. Such is the mystery of ribbing.

I actually knit it for an inch more than called for, so that it would cover my ears. This is for me to sleep in, so that the strap of the eye mask doesn't bother my ears, and I think it's going to work well. I'm also planning to make a headband, about three inches, for when I'm too hot for the hat but want the ear cover.

And there we are! I'll show the shawl blocking when I get to it.

Some Olympic Humor

When I heard that a dog had run onto the course during Olympic skiing, I had to look for the story, and the Guardian did not disappoint. This was a day the headline writer lived for.

And also the article writer:

NPR also got in on the joke:

But I think the Guardian won that one.

Three Good Reads Recently

I read three books via the library recently that were all good enough to mention--and a fourth that didn't click and was a DNF, but that's still a good result. I'm not writing up real reviews here, but just wanted to share what they are. Good reads, entertaining enough to finish, enjoyable, but not me trumpeting that you must read this book. 

Recommending books is hard, y'all. I struggle.

The Forget-Me-Not Library by Heather Webber is a romance with an element of 'is it magical realism or not' that I mostly bought into, but partly just decided to roll with. It was an enjoyable read but I sort of think it's not one that will stay with me, if you know what I mean.

For various reasons, I've been reading almost exclusively ebooks, so it felt big that I got an actual paper copy of this when an ebook was not available. The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory had a fun premise and was an entertaining read, though when I saw it was the first in a series, I hesitate to get the next one. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I did like the supporting character who is a main in book two...

After seeing this book mentioned on Stephany's blog, and then Kim's, I decided to give it a try, and I'm glad I did (and if I hadn't, Engie might have persuaded me!). I don't always get into books this way, but in this case I really enjoyed it, and I'm glad I did. Thank you, library!

Pretty Pictures

After yesterday's somewhat bleak post (news these days, I tell you), I thought I would share some pictures I took this weekend and lighten the mood a little. My mood is pretty light, actually: I took Friday off work, and with today being a US holiday (Presidents Day), that gave me a four-day weekend! Woo, I need to do this more often, it's awesome, even if I did spend some of today dreading going back to work.

Increasing the awesomeness is that I had friends in town for the weekend, so I got to have dinner with them Friday night (after a lovely lazy day at home, not working), and then they came down here Saturday, and we had lunch and hit a little local art fair and then walked on the beach. I loved showing off my neighborhood, and it was a very fun time with no downsides.

The restaurant Friday night is on a river, so there's always some boat traffic, but the gondola rides are new to me.

But I was just glad it was clear weather, since most of the day by me was like this:

The fog did roll in at the restaurant later, after the sun went down, but at least it was clear for most of dinner. 

And then Saturday was beautiful! The view from lunch was worth eating early so we could be there when they opened to get a table by the water. Check out the view.

We even saw dolphins!

And in addition to the rest of the boat traffic, we saw the pirate ship boat tour nearby. It's a whole production with a pirate in a dinghy trying to board, and a water pistol fight.

The food was good, too. After lunch, we wandered around the little art fair in the park, and I bought a decorated mirror:

And a photo print:

And my friend got some things as well.

They came back to my place and met my mother, and we chatted a bit before walking to the beach. Someone had made a turtle in the sand:

We saw this odd thing, perhaps an egg case? Not really sure. I should have stuck my hand in for scale; it was big.

What a beautiful day.

I loved having them here. And once they were gone, kitty loved having my undivided attention again.

Of News, Ways to Get

I decided recently that I did not want to keep subscribing to the Washington Post, as I have done for several years now; I've had my concerns, and their latest, mass layoffs were the final straw for me. Mine was about to renew, and it was time.

I did feel this message was a bit rich, though. 

Nothing has changed? Did you not just lay off 30% of your staff?

~~~~~

I did want to mention, for anyone who does not want to cancel theirs (no judgement) but has cost concerns, that when I was cancelling, it offered me a deep discount to remain a subscriber ($120 instead of $190). 

~~~~~

Although my parents watched the news when I was a kid (local news and then World News Tonight with Peter Jennings), as an adult I've never been a fan of getting news that way. Too loud and strident, too many commercials. I prefer reading it, and preferably first thing in the morning, when I'm not fully awake and therefore the bad news doesn't hit as hard (I'm too empathetic for my own good).

I am still a subscriber to the Boston Globe, which has been my primary newspaper all my life, since long before I moved to Florida*, and last year I subscribed to The Guardian to get a non-US news perspective. I get emails from the Associated Press as well, and though it barely counts, my mother gets the local paper. 
*In fact, I subscribed in college

What else? Well, I subscribed to Vanity Fair this year, but that isn't exactly news, is it. I supposed it may fill in some holes that the Style section of WaPo did. And I get a lot of hockey news via The Athletic (they do cover plenty of other sports as well).

How do you get your news? Or, like me, do you struggle with taking it in these days?

And politics, specifically:

Some days I would like to go back to this:

To All Companies (and especially the one I work for)

Please, read this and believe it.

There He Goes Again

That tongue needs air, apparently. 

Stop It, Google

I have used Gmail for many years, but lately they're really pushing the AI crap that I absolutely, 100%, do not want. If a friend and I are emailing casually about yarn, I do not want this:

Or this:

Or this!

No! None of that! I didn't mind so much when it wanted to suggest answers (although, why was it always trying to get me to reply "Indeed, it is the only thing that does"?), but this is a bridge too far.

I tried to figure out how to turn it off, but the setting I changed took away the Important and Unread category at the top of the inbox, so I was getting notifications for every single email that came in. I don't want an alert when CVS sends me a new offer, or The Athletic wants to highlight a story, or the Boston Globe sends a Breaking News Alert (that is about the Patriots ~50% of the time). 

I like the setup the way it is, but of course they can't just leave it that way, can they? And yet, whose email provider doesn't use AI these days?

On Second Thought

Me before today:

Of course I'm not going to buy a jersey from any team except the Bruins! Hey, I don't even buy Bruins jerseys. Why would I buy anyone else's? From another league, in another country? Why would I do that?

Me today:

Oh. 

(That's a screenshot from their video on IG; the colors are even better in motion.)

Now THAT, my friends, is how to make a Pride jersey. I love the aesthetic of rainbows and I love the messaging of support and inclusivity. Even the hat tip to Heated Rivalry with the music choice! The NHL should only hope to do so well. And yes, once it's for sale, I will buy one of those. 

Ready when you are, Guildford Flames.

Weird Spamish Email

In addition to actual spam emails, in recent months I have been getting a noticeable amount of emails that seem to come from legit sources, but nothing that I have signed up: New Jersey Beach Report, or the Alzheimer's Association, which has decided that I need an email from them every few days for no reason that I can tell. 

Today, I got this:

At a glance, at least, it seems to be a real company (and I don't care enough to search for more info about it). But "We Noticed You Stopping By..."? I didn't! I've never heard of them, and I'm certainly not searching on men's skincare. 

What the heck? Is this happening to other people?

Look at the goofball

I don’t know why he airs out his tongue all the time, but he does!

Requiem for a Lap Desk

In the early 90s, I worked in a bookstore for a few years, and one of the purchases I made with my employee discount was a lap desk. You know the sort of thing, a solid surface and then a cushion below, to give yourself a table-like option while sitting on the couch.

Not that many years later, one of my cats* chewed a little hole in the bottom, but some duct tape fixed that right up. You can see it at the bottom, unmoved after all this time.
*Hmm, that was Harold, who I got in 1998, so, yeah, it could have been more than a few years. Time is an illusion.

If you want to point out to me that the 90s is more than a few years ago, I will reluctantly agree with that math. And that is illustrated by how last year, I noticed bits of styrofoam started falling out, and I realized that the fabric was wearing out at the side.

I put packing tape on it, but this month, the same thing started happening in another spot, and I realized that the time had come. I did some comparison shopping online (there are many many options in many sizes and with lots of features), and I ordered this one:

I like the handle!

It's roughly the same size as the other one, but differently shaped at the corners. I'm getting used to it.

So it is time to bid a fond farewell to the old one, and thank it for its many years of good service.