A Sunday Post

I had originally planned to post yesterday, or maybe even Friday evening, with some pictures of knitted things, but the fates have worked against me, so you'll just have to wait for that post ...

However, if you are on Ravelry, and you feel that you simply MUST see said projects, then you can look here, here, and here - as long as any comments you leave HERE are generic, since I would not want to ruin any surprises. For those of you that are non-Ravelers, the participation will just have to keep building, sorry!

However, I can show you the Snuggle I am knitting, though it has grown somewhat since this photo was taken.

I just cast on 100 stitches, knit a few garter stitch rows to begin, and then I'm planning to knit five inches worth of six stitch patterns, so I don't get bored. So far, I've done a slip stitch pattern and double moss stitch (both in the above picture), and basketweave stitch. It's moving along pretty quickly, since I'm using size 10 needles, and I've been working on it when I sit down to watch any TV show or movie that is an hour to two hours long.

I know that a lot of people were in an ecstatic mood this past week, with the inauguration of Barack Obama - but how many people do you think went this far??? Seeing this reminded me of two things: 1) The Porkers' apartment, and 2) the art sale outside the window of a former workplace. Both of which I'm sure now require explanation.

1. The Porkers' apartment. During our Life in the Great Midwest, our first apartment in Oak Park, Illinois had a building superintendent and his family who lived on the first floor of the building. No matter when you went anywhere near that apartment, it smelled like bacon was cooking. Because The Tim and I give nicknames to everyone, we christened said family The Porkers (OK, there were additional contributing factors. But I digress.)

One morning, the building had to be evacuated, because the apartment right below ours was on fire. It was late December, and cold, snowy, and icy outside. Once the firemen had determined that it would be OK to return to the first floor of the building, we were all allowed to go inside. My mother was visiting, and she was in a wheelchair, and so Mrs. Porker kindly offered to let us go into their apartment where the heat was turned on, until we could return upstairs. And there in all of their glory were two huge, wall-sized velvet paintings side-by-side of The Agony in the Garden and Elvis.

2. When we lived in DC, and I worked at George Washington University, our department had one wall that was glass, and located right at the top of the steps of the Foggy Bottom Metro Station. Needless to say, there were tons of food trucks, jewelry stands, etc. there, to catch people as they went to or from the Metro.

My colleagues and I had constant entertainment as a result. But our favorite vendor by far was the guy who sold velvet paintings. And our favorite velvet painting was a triptych of three great heroes: JFK, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Alf*! (I always think of those three together, don't you?) We hoped no one would buy it, because it gave us a reason to come to work each day ...

So no crocheted Obamas for me, thank you.

And since there has only been one picture so far in this post, here's another for you. I call it "Jetsam Looking Out the Window on a Sunny Winter Day." (I was going to call it "Untitled" but then I thought of something much more original.)

*If you are not familiar with Alf (!), information and pictures are here.