boooring

Right? I rode all the way to Boring on the SpringWater corridor. It was sunny and beautiful and reaally fun. I brought a map with me and it served as a great conversation center for a couple of people that I met. I am remembering that I really like looking at maps with people... My absolute favorite moment was when a crazy old man with a golf club burst out of the bushes next to me. There are some colorful folk out there in them woods.

bicycle! bicycle! bicycle!

This morning was beautiful and I was not in a hurry, so I decided to try a new route to get to school. I turned off of Capital Highway and took Terwilliger instead of Barbur. I anticipated a lengthy hilly ride. Amazingly enough I got to school faster than I usually do. I think it is because you can go reeaaaallly fast down the hills on Terwilliger. I noticed the bright green of new leaves on a few little trees, and everything smelled sweet like Spring today.

I have been using my new days off this semester to do some serious exploring by bicycle. Last week I rode out to the end of Sauvies Island (past the nude beach) and hiked out to Warrior Rock. It was fun combining hiking and bicycling and I love the little mini lighthouse at the end of the hike.

I don't have any friends with the same days off (Monday Wednesday and Friday) so I have been spending more time than usual alone, but I have been enjoying it a lot. Tomorrow is supposed to be really nice (60 degrees and sunny). I am planning on trying to go further out the SpringWater Corridor than I have before. Last time I made it to 182nd. I ended up bonking on the way back, but I hadn't planned to go so far, and didn't bring any food or take any breaks. We will see how tomorrow turns out...

Some good ways to use the time you would otherwise be wasting in lectures.

I am really excited about this sweater! In real life it is almost finished, I just need to find some good buttons and maybe put on some pockets.

Portland memorial mausoleum… roof!

 

The largest mural on a building in the US! We went on an Audubon walking tour from Sellwood Park to the roof of the memorial building.   The mural looks fantastic from up close!!!

I go ape like… Eek eek!

 

Watch out!  something about my bike makes me go wild.   You can kind of see the new bullet light and basket.  The Missing Link out on Sandy has some really cool old bikes, neat stuff, and the man there gave me a sample of some amazing chrome polish.  Nick and I scored some sweet Halloween costumes at goodwill yesterday. I think I am going to try riding to school in the costume, sans mask, on Friday.  we’ll see how that works out.

With a face like that, who wouldn’t want a sandwich?

Fox finds a sandwich? Well. Here is a not so good picture of the sandwich guy that stole Fox’s face.  I bought an amazing poster, unwisely, on my way to the Timber’s game, and promptly lost it.  I may have to go get another. 

Lisa and her Kin

 

Last night got crazy… Claire and I had planned to see Lisa and her Kin play a happy hour show at the Laurelthirst, at 6:00.  It was fun… too much fun…  I bullied Claire into going to see them play again, at 10:30 at Duff’s Garage.  But what to do until then… We went to Holmans, picked up Douglas, went to Ladd’s Inn and made our way back to Duff’s.  We made some delightful friends and listened to the same great show. We ended up walking to My Father’s Place for breakfast and then Claire and I walked back to sweet sweet Keith’s, who listened indulgently as I walked him through every little thing that had happened.  My favorite event was when D dropped my high school ID in between the cracks on the patio at Duff’s and a really nice bartender fished it out with duct tape on a broom handle.

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Thank you to the stranger who drove my bicycle in the back of his SUV to Duff’s and sorry Claire!!!

LittleSpooky

 

Yesterday started with a good crafting session, and I finished this little guy.  I made some serious errors in the body, but I think the black yarn hides it pretty well.  I gave him to K. as an “I Hope You Feel Better Soon and By The Way Look at How Clever I am” present.  The real fun began later in the night though…

Glam hat

 

  

I really love this hat, and its bling.  The yarn came from The Naked Sheep, it’s cable cotton This week has been great! Yesterday I had dinner down the street and then we walked around the neighborhood.  I am working on my crotchet skills, making a day of the dead doll from Creepy Cute Crotchet. The only terrible thing that happened this week is that I accidentally watered my mango tree with gin…

Community Care Day

Today I went back to Robert Gray middle school for the first time since 8th grade promotion. I was amazed at how many people showed up to work. We raked, swept, pruned and did other groundskeeper Willy type projects. I'm not sure how much middle school students care about how tidy their school is, but it was fun!

The rocket on the front is my favorite part!

Today C and I rode to Selwood on the Springwater corridor. I rode my new bicycle for the first time since it has come home from the shop with new wheels. I discovered a few things whiles riding as well...

My bike is definately a lady. I usually assign a male gender to most of my prized possesions, but you cannot argue that this bike is female.

I was confused at first. walking her out of the bike shop I got invited to dinner by a stranger. 10 minutes later I got picked up on at the bus stop. After the fourth or fifth time, I got

suspicious, and confused. Today I realized... it isn't me, it's the bike, and she is doing it on purpose, and she loves it. She definately has a mind of her own, and isn't going to let me get in the way of her persuit of romance... What can you do right? We had a lot of fun, explored selwood, and met some really fun people. I bought 0000 grade steel wool in selwwood, and tonight I am going to work on getting rid of some of the lady's rust. I don't quite know her name, but I feel like it is on the tip of my tongue.

Deserted?

I have been feeling a little abandoned. My knitting is still there, a few projects are halfway completed, but the urge to knit has been completely absent. I have still been having ideas, that might someday become projects, but I haven't been knitting at all. Or sewing. Or making anything. I was feeling a little concerned about this, and wondering if this might be the end for me.
I am starting to realize that it might just be the time of the year. I rode my bike out on Sauvie's island and visited with the new tiny lambs at the end of the road, and I have been clearing out the winter mess in my grandparent's garden, and I have been walking or bicycling to school, and it feels good to take a break from creating. I think this almost Spring feeling has been inspiring me to look around at the world and investigate, and that knitting feels a little too wintery for me.
I am going to try to keep the ideas for later and enjoy the restless feeling this time of year gives me.

Winter term

My first week back at school was fantastic. The only newnew class I am taking is yoga. It has been really fun and intense. I have to wake up at 4:30 to get to school on time! This weekend I went out a little, did a lot of school work, and did a little crafting. I felted some old guage swatches and made bracelets out of them. It was quick and I got to use a couple of my buttons. I think I might have a button problem. I also started the "Two Block Hat" from the book "Knit to be Square". I am trying to make it big enough to fit me, but I'm not sure how that will work out.

The birdy in a birch

A lot of crafting took place in our house during the "Arctic Blast" snow storm of 2008. Luckily North West Wools, in the village, stayed open. I hiked there to pick up some felting needles to experiment with. I knitted and felted this laptop case a while ago, but it looked pretty boring. I used salvaged wool scraps from old sweaters and Manos del Uruguay yarn. It was great to do the kind of project where you can start and finish it in one sitting.

I am really excited because my aunt is giving me her floor loom for Christmas. I don't think she has ever used it before. I need to clear out a space for it, its huge! I don't really know too much about weaving, but the Multnomah Art Center has classes.

Blue shrug

When I finished this I didn't think I was going to actually wear it, but I have, and I like it. It doesn't show too well in the picture but the pin that Skunk made is holding it together at the top, and makes it great. Sometimes I think the things that I like to knit control my fashion sense. Last week I was in Target (I know right?) and I saw these chunky knit arm warmers. I remember when "mitts" seemed like something that knitters wore because they were fun to knit and no one else understood how great they were. I think knitters exert an "under the radar" sort of power that is largely unrecognized. I think we are responsible for bringing back: legwarmers, ponchos(sorry), mitts, shrugs, etc.

We have a big responsibility for protecting the world from unfortunate trends. Only you can protect this country from shoulder pads, over sized eighties sweaters and painful color combinations. Remember, this holiday season, knit responsibly and consider the repercussions.

Thanksgiving

Things got pretty rowdy at the island this year. My cousins and I enjoyed a little quiet time after dinner. Earlier we played on the beach for a few hours and watched Honey We Shrunk Ourselves. Classic.

Yesterday I found a yarn store downtown that I had never been to before. amazing really. I bought some great roving.

Later, I went on an adventure to The Ship to meet Pete. good times were had.

Elephant

I got the most amazing gift, a stack of workbasket magazines from 1969 and 1970. They are filled with iron on transfer patterns, which is how the elephant came to be. I have been working on my sweet suzy homemaker skills.

Spring Break.

Just Like MTV. Girls gone wild. Barefoot cleaning the gutters, that's hot right? Today was less beautiful outside, so I stayed in and channeled Martha in a serious way.