Another Menace on the Road

Well, I cannot believe it. My son passed his driving test on his first try. I really can't believe it. Last night, when we were talking, I mentioned how terrible his driving was, and he admitted that it probably was because of the vicodin he took after having his molars removed earlier in the week. Oh great. I was a passenger in a tiny car driven by someone whose judgment may have been impaired by (prescription) drugs. Oh great. So he calls me this morning and asks if his sister and I could carpool to work so that he could drive to the Palisades to work on his boss' computer. Just like that. He had had his driver's license for approximately 38 minutes. ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! I cannot believe the breezy confidence that kids his age have nowadays. I don't remember ever being that confident! I am going to take my time about putting him on my insurance.

One Last Thing Before I Go Home......

Okay, I know I am so inconsistent. I do three postings in one day and then weeks and weeks go by without a post. I can't help it. I'm on a roll.

Here is a draft of the little blurb I wrote to accompany my photo for the calendar:

Knitting is a connection to the past
An homage to the generations of women before me
Who knit to clothe their children and put food on the table.

Today I knit because I am grateful
For the peace and serenity and sense of order and continuity
I continue the tradition yet break free from the past
Giving my knitwear new meaning
Infused with love and hope for the future.

What do you think? Any suggestions? Thank you!

My Newest Favorite Knitting Reference Books

I love books. I love the fact that by opening a good book, one can be transported to another place and another time. Or, if needed, one need only open a book to find the answer to a problem or question. I have books of all types, but lately I have been increasing my knitting library. I love machine knitting books, especially the ones from Alles News and Views. Alles passed away a long while back, but her knowledge of machine knitting lives on. I have stacks and stacks of her newsletters. I try to buy the classic machine knitting books as references because I know that a lot of them are out of print. Here is my latest purchase:




Hand-Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitters by Susan Guagliumi is a classic! In Chapter 1, she talks about how knitting machines work, which levers do what, etc. Not in a superficial way, either. She has illustrations that show the needles' passage through the carriage (I've always wondered about that!), how certain stitches like knit, tuck, and slip are formed, and how to read a chart. And that is just chapter 1! I love this book and I am so glad I was able to get it off of Ebay.




Another machine knitting book I recently bought is by Tricia Shafer of Knitters Edge: "Translating Hand Knit to Machine Knit". This is a great book, especially for me, because I seem to be gravitating towards the hand knit look.

Lately, I have been buying hand-knitting books and magazines.







I was disappointed when Machine Knitting Sources went out of business, but later I found out that it had been absorbed into the INKnitters magazine. Although the patterns at MKS were a little home-made looking, I loved reading about the techniques and what was the latest in machine knitting. Well, it looks as if the publisher of INKnitters has done a great job in combining both hand knitting and machine knitting in one magazine! She gives patterns with both techniques. I love it, and I will surely subscribe to this magazine. The cover photo is what drew me to this magazine. You see, I had been looking for a short sleeve raglan blouse with a wide ballerina-type neck pattern, but coming up short. This blouse fit the bill! I will probably NOT do the ribbing (all those rolls around the bra strap and my waist line, you know!), but I am so glad I was able to find this pattern.

P.S. As you can see, I figured out how to post pictures (the secret: use Mozilla Firefox). Please look down 2 entries below to see the pictures of my black v-neck blouse and my cleavage.

I've Been Tagged!

Yippee! I've been tagged! Thank you, Sonja, my only internet knitting buddy!

10 years ago
I was getting ready to enter a graduate program in public health, after taking three years off to get over the absolute end of my marriage and law school. I had just started a new job, which was the second job I’d ever had in my life—as an administrative assistant to a professor of public health. I was full of hope and excitement. After being coddled and spoiled for 15 years, I was eager to show the world that I could make it on my own. I was going to study a field that held great interest for me and that would enable me to "save the world", and I was hoping that I would get a great paying job with my advanced degree. I had three children who were 10, 11, and 13 years old.

5 years ago
I was adjusting to the working life. With my graduate degree, I had gotten a $27, 500 a year position with a public health agency. With three teenage children, that did not go far! My boss at the time knew I really wanted to continue work in academia, hopefully as an advisor for students. I had worked in this area as a graduate student and I absolutely loved it. With his help, I got a job helping to set up the public health program at another university. I loved that job, loved my new boss, but hated her successor. I stayed there for a year and a half, then moved on to a real public health position as a program manager at a prestigious medical center. That lasted three months and began 2 years of unemployment (1 year because of cancer) and extreme deprivation. I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to get another job……and now I appreciate every second of employment I currently have. After having 2 icky bosses in a row, I really appreciate and love my current boss. She is great.

In 2000, I also started to date, after being alone for 11 years. I chose the guy carefully, or so I thought. After a few months, I discovered that I was really the “other woman”. His girlfriend was completing her residency in San Francisco, while he completed his in Los Angeles. So that ended that. I met the guy I have been seeing on and off for the last 4 years.

1 year ago
A year ago, I was celebrating the end of my first year at my current job, and a year and a half of cancer survivorship. I love everything about my job, except my salary.

Yesterday
Yesterday, I was stressed out because I had a deadline to meet. I stayed at the office until 10 p.m. last night. Then I realized my deadline was self-imposed and so I went home and had a great night’s sleep. My papers are due this coming Friday.

Today
Today is the first day of my HMR diet. It is now 5 p.m. and I have been faithful or “on” the diet without cheating. That is a major accomplishment! I want to lose 50 pounds, but will settle for 15 pounds over the first couple of months, if I make it that long. I can’t really afford this diet, but I want to start dating again and I know I had better look good!

Tomorrow
Tomorrow I have no real plans. I will do some stuff from my to-do list. I will be good on my diet. I will clean up my office.

5 snacks I enjoy
French fries
Nuts
Fruit—especially tropical fruits like mangos and papayas.
Chocolate
I also really like Filipino desserts A LOT. But really, almost anything that is sweet, or salty and crispy.

5 bands/singers that I know the lyrics of MOST of their songs
Kenny Loggins—my absolute favorite! And that is about it.


Things I would do with $100,000,000
First of all, I would not tell my children about my windfall. Then I would ensure my children’s future with trust funds to be doled out to them in a responsible way so that they would still feel the need to work and be productive citizens and raise my future grandchildren to be productive citizens as well. Also, I would tithe a healthy percentage of the money to the church (not necessarily just the Catholic church, but to religious organizations that work for the public good, especially charity work).

Then, I would secure my own future with investments and real estate. I would still work at my job, though. I would cut my hours down to half-time and hire an assistant, but I would still work. I love my job that much.

Third, I would endow all the schools my children and I have ever attended with scholarships for underprivileged children. These include the parochial Catholic schools of my youth and my children’s elementary schools, Harvard-Westlake School, Cate School, Barnard College/Columbia University, Tufts University, and Carnegie-Mellon University, UCLA English Department, Law School, and Public Health, as well as a big big big donation to USC (but not to the Department of Public Health. For undergrad eduation, perhaps.)! Education is big with me! My children are scholarship kids and went to prep schools and elite colleges because good people out there felt that my children could excel in school and life with a little financial help. I would like to make sure that other kids would have the same opportunities as my children.

I would also endow some college schools/departments with scholarships for single parents. I would establish free/low cost day care centers for infants to teenagers in the inner city so that parents could leave their children in good hands and not worry while they work. This would increase productivity on the parents’ part and prevent wrong turns on the children’s part. I would fund public health programs for children and the elderly. I would establish a foundation that would help foster children develop job skills/go to college/transition to the real world. I would hire lobbyists for Sacramento and Washington, D.C. to further my own very liberal social and political agenda, which would focus mainly on education and public health issues. I would make major contributions to the Democratic Party to ensure that we win or maintain a Democratic president. I would establish a foundation to counter all the mis-information that we have had to endure for the last two presidential terms, well, really since the 1980s, with the exception of the Clinton years.

I would do an Angelina Jolie and contribute to already existing foundations to help world poverty and hunger. I would send a chunk of money to foundations in the Philippines and in war torn countries, not only to help re-build the infrastructure but also to help with children and poor families.

After a long day of doing good (see above), I would like to be able to go to my brand new home in Pacific Palisades or Beverly Park and get a massage. I would like to have Pilates every day. I would like to hire a personal trainer to whip me into shape, and a chef to cook low-carb balanced meals for me. I would like to look in the mirror and not see rolls and flab, wrinkles and grey roots. So, I guess that means lots and lots of chemical peels and a standing weekly appointment at the hair dresser. My friends and I have already agreed that if any of us ever wins the mega lotto, then we have to treat our friends to any plastic surgery of our choice in Brazil, the home of the best plastic surgeons!


5 locations I’d like to run away to
Santa Barbara
Fiji
New Zealand
Napa Valley
Taos
(these are all assuming I have the money to maintain a lifestyle there!)


5 bad habits I have
Procrastinating
Laziness
Yelling
Eating too much
Cussing

5 things I like doing
Knitting
Reading, hanging out at bookstores
Talking on the phone
Flirting
Traveling

5 things I would never wear
Anything that shows my fat arms
Miniskirts (Fat legs)
Bra-less blouses (saggy boobs)
Crop tops (flabby tummy, saggy boobs)
Bikinis (stretch marks, flabby tummy, big butt. Oh, face it, my whole body is gross!)

5 TV shows I like
I like reality shows, believe it or not. My favorite right now: Hooking Up.
Law and Order
CSI
Network and Local News, especially the Sunday network news shows
That finance show with Maria Bartolomo. I love her hair.

5 movies I like
I am not really a movie fan, but my favorite movie of all time is Gone with the Wind.

5 famous people I’d like to meet
Do these people have to be alive now? If yes, here are
my choices:
Hillary Clinton
Bill Clinton
Kenny Loggins—I love his music
I can’t think of anyone else.

5 biggest joys at the moment
My kids, in and of themselves
My kids’ academic and life accomplishments, which up to now have been very rewarding for me, if not for them.
Knitting
Exercise
Lying in bed all weekend

5 favorite toys
My Treo phone, which holds my whole life—-calendar, quicken, internet, address book, photos, etc.
My 3 knitting machines, which keep me busy and happy. My kids like the machines, too, as knitting keeps me engrossed and less inclined to get on their cases.
My falling apart Mazda, which takes me wherever I want to go!
My laptop, which also takes me wherever I want to go!
I have another favorite toy, but I don’t think I want to put it in writing…….

That is it! This was fun, but time-consuming.

Well, it looks like I cannot load photos from my work computer. I don't know why.

Black V-Neck Almost Finished! But I Wore It to Work Today Anyway

Last night it was hot and I was grouchy because after taking my 20-year-old son out to dinner, I agreed to let him practice driving so he could finally get his driver's license. Now honestly, what 20-year-old male does not already have his driver's license? Well, I'll tell you: this particular 20 y.o., because he has a zillion friends who don't mind acting as his personal chauffeur and driving 15 miles from the Hollywood Hills or from Hancock Park to pick up the 20 y.o. only to bring him to their homes so they can play video games, as well as two sisters who also love to drive and spend precious money on gasoline, and a frazzled mother who figures she's done her share of chauffeuring over 23 1/2 years of motherhood and would really rather not drive said 20 y.o. boy (or man, as he prefers to be called) when he could so easily just get his driver's license and drive himself. Oh, and also, Pittsburgh, where he goes to college, has an absolutely fabulous (so I hear)public transportation system, thus eliminating the need for cars for students, and any incentive for him to get his license. Not so here in Los Angeles, where 15 miles is considered a short drive, and distances are measured in minutes, not in miles. (Where does your father live? Oh, about 45 minutes to an hour away. Translation: 40 miles in no traffic. How far away do you work? Well, it's 9 miles away, but a 45 minute drive through the canyons during rush hour.).

Anyway, driving with my son was so traumatic that this morning I hired a driving instructor to lay down the law with him and to practice with him and to take him to the DMV to get his license. Never again will I put my life in that boy's hands. My younger brother had been driving around with my son, but apparently, it hasn't helped much. My son thinks I yell too much, and maybe I do, but when I see a car backing out of a driveway and my son is speeding down Woodman at 45 miles an hour and I point it out to him, I certainly expect him to put on the brakes! But no, he just tells me he sees the guy and keeps on speeding. He says he's not going to hit the car. Well, of course he's not PLANNING on hitting the car (I hope), but how do we know what is going on in the other driver's head? How do we know he's going to stay put? Try telling that to my 20 y.o. Also, I drive a small car, and so when I am driving down a regular sized street, I usually figure there's going to be lots of room between me and the other cars. Not when S (my son) is driving. Seriously, there was about 4 inches between my side of the car (the passenger side) and the cars parked on the street. When I told him, he said he was cool (whatever that means!), and I should really stop shouting. Youth has no fear! Or respect for the elderly! I don't know whether he can't see at night or whether he has a problem with depth perception. Anyway, since I'm not really talking to him anymore, I will just let the driving instructor put my not so little boy in his place.

ANYWAY. I was so grouchy when we got back home that I went to my bedroom and dug out my black v-neck and started to crochet the neckline and the armholes while watching my new favorite reality show: Hooking Up. Unfortunately, I had to go to bed early because my eldest daughter wanted to sleep with me because I have air conditioning in my room and she had to get up early to take her GRE. (She got a 1380 out of 1600, by the way, and she took it cold, without taking a prep class!). So, I finished the neckline and started on one of the armholes, but didn't finish. I wanted to wear it today with my $20 skirt from the famous Alley (behind Santee in the Garment District). It looks cute! See for yourself:




The double crochet trim did not really come through, but the cleavage shot looks really sexy!

Calendar Girl

Here are two pictures of me with some of the stuff I made. These are from a group of photos that may be included in a fundraising calendar for my cancer support group. The theme of the calendar is "What inspires you/makes you happy?" Of course, I chose knitting! Some of the other cancer survivors said being surrounded by men (lucky girl!), tai chi, roller blading, and (my favorite!) simply lying in bed. I clumsily blocked out my eyes....I'll come back and do a better job when I have time......

I Made Something, Part 2

Here are pictures of the rest of the stuff I dug up and plan on finishing and making cardigans for:

I Made Something!

Hello again--I haven't blogged because 1) I've been kind of busy at work, 2) haven't knit much, and 3) I don't have much to say about knitting. BUT....over the last week and a half, I have been on a knitting tear, knitting a little bit at a time. Here is the proof:





I knit a green cardigan to go with the green shell I knit a couple of years ago. Also, I pulled out some of my unfinished sweaters and put them aside for finishing. These include a red v-neck, a black v-neck, and a rust-colored cowl neck sweater. They all need either crochet finishing, strings cut off, a matching cardigan, or all of the above!

My favorite yarn for items for me to wear is venetian, a 70% wool 30% rayon blend. I like it because it is light enough to wear year round (except in the extreme heat we are now experiencing in Los Angeles), yet warm enough to wear in our mild California winters. Also, I don't have to iron it....usually a light steam will make my outfits ready to go in minutes! And the most important thing about this yarn: It was on sale at Newtons a few years ago for $9 a pound! Yes, that is right, $9 A POUND!!!!!!!!