Taxing.

From a 2011 art show at the Charter Oak Cultural Center.

Today is Tax Day in the USA, except in Maine and Massachusetts where it is Patriots' Day and they have an extension.  Mine are done and filed, and since I was a part-year resident of two states last year I had to do calculations that are naturally different in each state.  Hopefully everybody accepts my maths.

Last week was National Libraries Week and I didn't visit mine but I did wear library-themed T-shirts a couple days when I didn't have to be in business wear.  I do like my libraries!

Eighty percent-ish

That's now much of an eclipse we were supposed to get, although the sliver looked pretty small when I saw it.  I used the ISO 12312-2 glasses and went out every so often to have a peek; I couldn't take off two hours from work, although I did have it blocked on my calendar so I wouldn't get pulled into a meeting.

I'd won a bucket of eclipse-related items for a very low bid in the Dallas Winds fundraiser auction, and it arrived on Thursday:

The contents included:

- 10 ISO compliant solar eclipse glasses,

- Total eclipse T-shirt, with The North -Texas Tour printed on it

- 'I got mooned in Dallas' mouse pad

- Solar eclipse iron artwork

- Moon pies

- Sun chips

- One bottle and two cans of Sunkist

- Starburst candies

- Milky Way candy bar

- Mars candy bar

- Total Eclipse DFW Christmas ornament

- Two eclipse cups, one orange and one green

- Spaceship pencils

- Silver, 1 ounce bullion Texas total eclipse bullion coin

I took the chocolate items (except for a Moon Pie I gave to my parents; my father said it had been years, decades since he'd had one) and soda pop and some of the glasses to the Astronomy Club meeting on Sunday, where the leader talked about eclipses and preparation and safe viewing.  He and another member set up a viewing station with special lenses on their telescopes, but I didn't walk over.  I was a bit afraid that if I did, there'd be a line and I'd want to stay and view more and I'd miss work, which I couldn't do as I had evening plans.  Turns out over 90 people were there, so I am glad I viewed it from my front yard.

A friend posted this question; she was well outside the zone:

So how was the eclipse for you all? The only way you could tell there was one here was that the wild rabbit popped out of the bushes as if it were daybreak or dusk and started mowing away at the weeds. Which I thought was pretty funny.

I meant to post this last night, but went to the first meeting I've been able to attend of a local fiber arts group.  This is a different one from the one I've attended previously and I think I'll attend both for a while and see who I meet and what they do.  This one had a local spinner and dyer come to tell about the dye garden she has and her experiments with plant dyeing.

Recapping Lent 2024

There is a stress when you limit yourself, by whatever means.  I really wanted to start some new things, especially when I didn't have a small easy-to-knit project when going to the theater this week.  I ended up repurposing a project for the evening, even though it ended up with a bit of a flaw.

Of the items I quick-started on Fat Tuesday, all have been completed:

Instead of two scarves, the Ferris Wheel in "Evergreen" became a scarf and a hat.  I decided to convert the started bit of knitting, then tried to knit the pattern during part of a theatre show, which did not go well:

Restarted and knitting with light and when I could pay attention, I was able to complete the pattern properly.  Then knit up to make the crown, and sicne it was long enough, just a bit of garter stitch to finish the bottom edge.

How did I do on the UFO pile?  Progress made, but there are still items in the pile.  I didn't finish the Raven Wings socks, nor the mitts, although I decided to restart the mitts with a skein of yarn I bought at the Carolina Fiber Fest which I thought would look better than the stash yarn.

That reminds me, I should post the things I purchased.  I tried to keep to one smallish fiber bag, but one vendor put their items into a drawstring bag that I like, and the kits at the end didn't fit:

Walnut-dyed on the right.

 

Buy three, third one is 50% off, so.....

 

I might skein and dye these.  Maybe just one of them.

Handspun yarns.  I do have plans for most!

  

The grey for the Raven Wings Mitts.
These are all handdyed on a commercial base.

Non-yarn items I couldn't resist.  Felt is for shoe lining.

These were in the fundraiser fiber tools sale.

As for completing UFOs, I finished the Ghost Ranch Cowl and will partly frog the hat and reknit it in the same stitch pattern, so they are more closely a set:

Another set finished is from a skein of hand-dyed acrylic I purchased at DFW Fiber Fest two years ago.  I bought two skeins from this dyer, and one made a scarf that I donated last year, with a hat from the leftovers that is going to the Blue Elves.  So I made a hat and scarf of this skein, having left it at my friend's house in North Texas, so it was an in-progress item:

I almost finished the blue baby blanket, other than not having enough yarn for the edging.  It's no longer made so I have requests out for people to check in their stashes for the yarn or something similar:

I made only a little progress on the Caledonian Cardigan, because I had trouble with the sleeve decreases, but with time to focus I hope to get it finished.

Something I didn't report as a commitment, but which I'd made, is to write out as many Thank You cards for the military as possible.  A friend of mine is a social worker attached to the Navy at Pearl Harbor, and she asks people to send handwritten cards that she can distribute to the troops.  I'd done a bunch in December and decided to try to write five a day during Lent.

I stocked up at dollar stores, and the cards come in packets of four, six, or eight.  I bought as many of the last two as I could, naturally, and since I have two messages decided it was easier to write a pack a day.  Some days I did more, a few days I had to catch up, and when I was writing at the North Texas Irish Festival during some downtime a couple asked if they could buy some of the cards to give to bands.  I gave them three.

My total through March 31st was 337 cards written.  I fit in another 42 so the mailed box contains 379.  Of course I've begun the next one.  And out of curiosity I checked what the postage would have been if I hadn't used a Flat Rate Box.  The machine said it weighed 9 pounds, 13.2 ounces.  According to the USPS site, the cost would be $33.20 for USPS Ground and $51.95 for Priority Mail.  The flat rate box cost $18.40, definitely the winning choice!

No fooling it's been a year.

Yes, one year ago I did another big move.  I'm still not settled, in many ways.  I miss people and activities in Connecticut, and still miss ones in North Texas.  At least it is easier to get to the latter.  I suffer FOMO a bit when I hear of events in Connecticut that I've enjoyed in the past, and I never got to recite the poem I was memorizing for Other People's Poems:

I've started to get involved in groups in my new home, but of course it's not the same.  Some of that is being the new kid in the area; some is because I've moved into a neighborhood with a lot of retirees; and some is because I am still not comfortable in crowds.  I have joined a fiber group, and attended a fiber festival, and have gone to a few concerts and a couple theater events.  I joined an astronomy group and have attended lectures at a local Jewish heritage organization.

It's been quite a year in other ways, too, but those mostly don't have to do with the new house and new community and new car.  The house still needs some work to be truly mine; painting is next, and installing bookshelves now that I have a better idea of where and how much.*

I frequently think of this quote:

 “We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, 

so as to have the life that is waiting for us."

---< E. M. Forster, English novelist (1 Jan 1879 - 7 Jun 1970) 

*As any bibliophile will tell you, the answer is "not enough".

Trans Day Jesus

Today is the Transgender Day of Visibility, and this cartoon is extremely appropriate:

Naturally, the far right are having a meltdown about this, claiming the President took over Easter for the event, when March 31st has been the International Transgender Day of Visibility since 2009.  I guess that shows how little they've paid attention to the date in the past.  Easter is the date that moves all around the calendar.

Following up on last week's post, here are some photos I took while wandering around the UCLA campus.  Several buildings wear mosaics that align to the coursework inside:

Other buildings are just pretty:

Apparently there is a show being filmed on campus during break.

The conference center was filled with all kinds of art - sculpture, paintings, prints, photography, and so on.  Many of the artists have a connection to UCLA.  I may do a post later with some of the images but this one is getting long enough.

It was spring break, so most students were away, which meant most places on campus were closed.  This only affected me on Sunday evening when I decided to get some food, preferably takeout.  The restaurant in the hotel had a basic menu of burgers, pizza, and salads that I did not find appealing (apparently there is a better menu Monday-Friday), and when I asked about food options nearby I was directed (vaguely) to the student union.  Luckily I found it, but only a Carl's Jr was open, so I got a chicken sandwich.  The next night I learned that not far away were many eateries of all kinds, but the maître d' at the hotel restaurant wasn't about to send a guest to an appealing option.

The student union also had a vending machine room that featured Asian treats.  I was overwhelmed!

  

  

  

I chose preserved mango, which was
not what I expected. Edible but meh.

In addition to the architecture, there were lots of plants with which I am not familiar:

I could recognize wisteria - this is the seating area for
one of the food courts, closed due to spring break.

  

  

Monday night the event scheduled some "Dine Around" groups, and mine was sent to a pricey steakhouse.  We discussed quickly and decided to find a local place, ending up with hotpot that was tasty and much less expensive.  

Definitely a place to check out next year - and next door is a Korean quickstop that I noted for my Sunday meal because we're supposed to be in the same place next year.  Less than a mile away, so definitely an easy walk for me!

It's Easter today, for those who follow the Roman calculations (Western Christians count from the vernal equinox), and I bought a small treat for myself:

My mother suggested that we have our weekly soufflé today, and it was very well-risen, which seems in keeping with the holiday that some are celebrating:

This week it rose higher than the rim of the dish!

Knot quite there.

A report before I head out for some travel, including a cybersecurity conference.

First, I (nearly) finished some things - ends need to be woven in, and that might wait until I return:

  

Those are the very fraternal mittens made from a hank of handspun wool from The Knitting Buddha.  It was going to be a hat, then I changed my mind.  When I decided to make mittens instead I divided the skein in two with a knot at the halfway point - you can see that the second mitten finished just before the knot.  That is the restarted mitten, when that end was thinner enough that the mitten was coming out very differently from the first one.  The cut-off started bit is on top of the mittens, and below is the remainder of the ball of yarn, with the knot marked by a yellow pentagon in this second photo:

I also finished (but it also needs to be blocked) the "Age of Brass and Steam" shawl in Forbidden Fiber's Pride DK, colourway 'Merchant Dynasty' is no longer in production:

  

I changed the pattern by adding rows of eyelet between the stockinette bands, it should have been only one but most have two.  And I was tempted to frog back and make all of them two, but decided that was more reknitting than I wanted because it was almost done when I changed.  I'd been adding a row each time, but didn't have enough for four at the end, so frogged back to the third eyelet band and made it just two.

As for other projects:  The blue baby blanket is ready for it's I-cord bind-off, but I didn't like how the first two starts looked so I am going to wait until I return to try again.  I am down to the "don't think I'll need it" project from the six I quick-started on Fat Tuesday (technically, the red/white/blue C2C scarf isn't finished, but it's bulky enough to wait for my return), and am taking it plus the Caledonian Cardigan on this trip.  Plus a book.