Nope, You Can't Put a Price on This Kind of Help ...

You may remember that back in May, I posted about a completed knitting project, the Silk Kerchief. I had hoped to get a picture of myself wearing it, but between massive amounts of cloudy, rainy days, and few times when The Tim was home at the same time that I was, it never happened. Then once it actually turned summer-y, the idea of even putting it around my neck for five minutes seemed equivalent to torture.

So maybe in the fall, if I think of it, I'll give you an "action" shot.

But I did want to share the information below with you. Of course, once I finished the knitting, I pinned it for blocking on the bed in the guest room. I closed the door, so that it would be left alone. One day, when The Tim went in to find something in the closet, he turned around to leave the room and found that one member of the family felt that the whole process needed something else.

And so without further ado, I give you Jetsam's Tips for Blocking Your Knitting Projects:

Step 1: Jump onto project and stand, kneading with your paws for a while. This will make the yarn "blossom" even more.

Step 2: Find a good position where you are basically covering the entire project while resting on it. Take the time to really get comfortable.

Step 3: Settle in, and relax. This way, you get some much-needed rest, the maximum amount of cat hair is deposited on/in the knitting, and it's just a matter of time until the entire blocking process is complete.

When you break it down, the whole thing is really quite simple, you know? I was lucky, I didn't have to try and find an outside expert to help me with blocking. No, I saved lots of $$, being fortunate enough to have in-house assistance.

It seemed only fair to share this information with you - I mean, why should I be the only one who benefits??

You can thank me later.

A Couple of New Beginnings

Remember a couple of weeks ago, when I had figured out a cast-on for toe-up socks, using Wendy's book? Well, I pulled some yarn out of my stash, and gave it a try with some actual sock yarn. I decided to try the Basic Toe-Up Sock with Gusset Heel pattern in the book, and so far, so good:

By now I've made a little more progress, but I'm pleased with how well they are going. This is Socka Color yarn, in a colorway called "Daisy Dot." I bought it when I first learned to knit socks, so it has been mellowing in the stash now for probably about ten years ...

Proving that eventually, I do get around to using yarn I have bought.

I can't remember if I mentioned that as a birthday gift last year, The Tim bought me a new sewing machine. Well, he did, and it's perfect for me - not a real basic model, but not full of bells and whistles that I'll likely never use. Long ago in a distant galaxy, my sister Nancy taught me some basic sewing skills, but I decided that it would be worth taking some actual lessons, particularly since it had been so long since I'd sewn anything using a machine. The [relatively] new fabric store near my house, Spool, was offering Beginner Sewing classes, so I signed up.

The project for the class was a Reversible Grocery Tote. Everyone chose their fabrics and we got started. Here is an in-progress shot of the fabrics I chose, in the beginning stages of becoming handles:

I'll unveil the completed bag in a future post. But the class was well worthwhile, I learned a lot of things that I didn't know before. And to be honest, I would have never, ever attempted anything reversible on my own, so now I feel like I've learned something extra. Laura (the owner), is a wonderful teacher, and explained things really well, then let us take our time. If you live in the area and would like to learn to sew (or want to see some pretty fabrics!), I'd encourage you to visit Spool.

Unrelated to knitting or sewing, I walked up to our neighborhood CVS this afternoon for something, and was on my way home. I got near Rittenhouse Square, and saw a couple with a very cute, small, fuzzy white dog. So of course, I had to ask them what kind of dog it was, could I pet it, etc. They were telling me about funny things the dog does, and other such details that people usually tell you about their pets. When I stood up to go, and say thanks to them for letting me pet the dog, I realized that it was Cole Hamels and his wife!! How cool is that? I've always thought he was nice enough looking, but I have to say that in person, he is really great-looking! And a whole lot taller than I thought he would be. I didn't say anything, 'cause they had been so friendly, I didn't want to suddenly become A Fan.

But it sure was fun!

Penitentiary Life, Week 16

In which I talk about Bastille Day ...

As you may know, Bastille Day is July 14, and it commemorates the day in 1789 when the Bastille Prison in Paris was stormed by revolutionaries, and the French Revolution started.

The neighborhood where Eastern State is located is the Fairmount neighborhood in Philadelphia. It is not far from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Rodin Museum, and various other places in the city worth seeing. From what I can tell, the neighborhood association is very active, and the businesses in the area contribute to the life there in a very positive way. Every year, on a weekend near the actual date of Bastille Day, they have the Fairmount Bastille Day Festival. This year was the first time I was actually in the area during that time, and it's truly an event - there were hundreds of people there, even at 10:00 a.m. when the penitentiary opened!

Eastern State plays a big part in the Festival, and those of us who work there participate in the grand finale event, the storming of the Bastille and the beheading of Marie Antoinette. There is a "roof crew" and a "street crew." After closing time, we changed into white shirts (plain white shirts for the roof crew, costume-y white shirts for the street crew, so we would look like French peasants), and the street crew had red caps (les chapeaux!) to wear as well.

The French flag is flown outside the prison all day. The re-enactments begin, "La Marseillaise" is sung, and the crowd storms the Bastille (Eastern State). Marie Antoinette is captured, and the crowd turns against her. When she is told that the people have no bread to eat, and she responds, "Let them eat cake," the roof crew catapults Twinkies from snow shovels onto the crowd! Then those of us who are on the street crew (i.e., peasants) bring out the "prisoner" on a pallet for the crowd. Usually, the prisoner is then freed, but this year, it was "Bernie Madoff," so he was pelted with Twinkies, and we took him back inside the prison. Marie Antoinette, of course, meets her fate at the guillotine. (This year, in an homage to Michael Jackson, she dangled a baby from the platform ...)

It was so much fun! People really get into it, and they seem to have so much fun. The re-enactors of course are all dressed in period appropriate costumes, with muskets and swords. Poor "Bernie Madoff" had Twinkie filling all over him! (And trust me, you haven't lived until you are holding another human being, on a pallet, on your shoulder, as Twinkies whiz past your face, missing by only the smallest of margins ...)

Once the celebrations were officially ended, we opened up again for "quick" tours, and in the first half-hour, 170 people came through the gates! For the most part, people were in a good mood, and sober, and many of them had never visited before, so they were excited to see what was behind the walls.

So in conclusion, I can say that it was a more elaborate celebration of Bastille Day than I've ever been part of before. (Our celebration usually includes pastry, wine, and a toast to "Liberte, egalite, fraternite," and that's about it.) It was fun, even though it was a long day, and I was really tired by the time I was heading home. If you are in the Philadelphia area, or visiting next year, I would encourage you to come to the Festival, and do your part to overthrow the royalist government of France!

Notes:
(Pictures from last year's event are here, if you want to get an idea what the day is like.)
(OK some of this may be out of order, but I was inside the prison and only heard the outside events. So sue me.)

Short

Honestly, some days I think that it's not worth it to try and take care of yourself. I had called my doctor's office the other day, and because he always responds quickly, he called in a prescription for me, in an attempt to forestall things getting worse. Fortunately, the reason I called him is pretty well taken care of, thank you very much. Unfortunately, the medicine has made me feel pretty awful. I'm glad that I'm nearly done taking it!

But it just doesn't seem fair. Such is life.

OK, on to other things. First of all, I got a haircut the other day. I tried a new place, and was really very pleased. I got a haircut that I like, and it was cheaper than the place I had been going (which was cheaper than my original place, which got deep-sixed when I was unemployed). When I was finished, the stylist told me that I looked "Chic and European" (what? I didn't before???), and the salon owner said, "You look like Jean Seberg."

(Oh my God - is it me, or is it Jean Seberg???)

I don't have a picture of me with my new haircut, but truly, I look pretty much just like this. (To quote Gilbert & Sullivan, "In the dusk with the light behind her.")

Well, except I don't, really. I do have a very short haircut, that looked like that when I left the salon. (I don't do well in the heat, and in my current job, there is no air-conditioning, so the shorter the better, as far as I'm concerned.) I'm still getting used to it though, so the past few days, I've looked more like this:

(Please note: this really isn't me.)

But I'll figure it out, I'm sure ... and in the meantime, I am more comfortable. And in the summer, that's what it all boils down to for me.

In other news, I've just started a new knitting project (for me!), the Eyelet Cardigan from Blue Sky Alpacas yarn. This is Blue Sky Cotton, in the colorway Pickle:

(Smooshed together on a needle - it really does have an eyelet pattern when spread out ...)

It's a cropped (short) cardigan, but I plan to add a little bit of length to mine. I do like it, and have looked around on Ravelry to see what other people have done, what they had to say about the pattern, etc. I took inspiration from some others who have said they always knit a sleeve as a swatch - what a good idea! I even thought ahead enough to print out the errata.

I know, go figure ...

Penitentiary Life, Week 15

Last week at work was particularly interesting, for two very different reasons.

For one thing, I was kissed by Ewan McGregor. He asked first, like a real gentleman.

He was waiting in the Gatehouse (i.e., the entrance) of Eastern State with his mother, since his older brother and his father were taking the tour and were scheduled to be finished within a few minutes after his arrival. His mother was very nice, and was telling me about their visit to the States from Scotland, how much they were enjoying it, and how nice people were treating them. (Always nice to hear that a visitor from abroad is forming a good impression.) She said Ewan was a family name, and that for a while, they'd considered calling him something else, but decided it was silly to worry that people would tease him. Man, was he cute! Then when his father and brother came out, and they were all ready to leave, he asked if he could give me a kiss.

Are you jealous yet? I thought so.

Oh ... did I mention that he was two years old and in a stroller?**

That was fun!

***

The other thing is more serious, but something that has really had me thinking. Last week, a family with grown sons was touring through the penitentiary, and one of them asked me where the electric chair was, because he wanted to sit in it. I told him that although there was a Death Row, there was no electric chair, since there were no executions at Eastern State. He was really disappointed. Then he said to me, "This is my last day to do anything fun, since tomorrow I leave for Iraq for 18 months. I was really hoping to sit in the electric chair."

OK, the electric chair part is not what made me think. The part about it being his last day home before going to Iraq was what stuck with me. Because he is the third person since I've started working there who has been visiting right before they leave for Iraq. And each time that's made me wonder if something like that was going on in my life - or the life of a family member - if I would want to spend my last day touring the penitentiary.

On the one hand, I would guess that it's good to have a specific activity to occupy your mind, so you don't drive yourself crazy thinking of what could/might happen once you are there. But on the other hand, I'm not sure I would be completely focused on visiting a historic site. This could be largely because I am, at heart, a true chicken. (Plus, I would likely be the worse person on earth to be in any branch of the military, being sent anywhere, in any capacity.) So I am not the best judge of this.

But I will admit that it fascinates me, and though I would never come out and ask someone why they were choosing to spend their last day at home that way - it is after all, none of my business - I would love to know the answer.


**(Children under seven are not permitted - a city of Philadelphia code - so people with young children either have to come back another time, or figure out who visits when.)