Unraveling

Crikey

First, I heard it from the Girlie. She stuck her head inside our bedroom door around midnight Sunday with the news. And Monday morning first thing, the Boyo IM'd me from Germany. Steve Irwin is gone. Say it ain't so! A larger than life personality, he was.  So sad for his young family.

I never did get out of my pajamas on Sunday. The impromptu Pajama Day stretched for 57 hours, from Saturday night to this morning.  I didn't change when Pamela came over to give the Girlie a haircut.  And when the Girlie asked me for a ride to work, I.didn't.do.it. After all, pajama days are for staying home. And this was one heckofa stay-at-home Pajama Day, unplanned though it was.

They're not quite standing up on their own yet, but they might have after another day or two.

The Wiener kept me company.

Even while I labored through the knit two/purl two sewn bindoff.

That part of the shrug is finished. I safety-pinned it together so the Girlie could try it on after work. But I did not want to sew it together under the influence.  So, I'll try to get to it tonight - after my hair appointment.  Color and cut means I can get caught up on trashy magazines. Plus, there's about an hour of uninterrupted knitting time.  I think I'll take Charley with me.

The total for the Asthma Walk is climbing. If you haven't yet donated, remember that you'll be entered in a drawing for a pair of hand-knitted socks.  The link is on my sidebar.

And now, I'd better get back to my regularly scheduled life.

Three Bridges

Yesterday was a three bridge day.  The Girlie and I had to go to San Francisco. We'd planned to go last Sunday, but didn't leave Fresno until it was too late to make it to the Japantown shops.  So yesterday, even though the east-bound deck of the Bay Bridge was closed, we went.  We've known about this closure for weeks.  Honestly, you could hardly miss at least some notification of it.  They handed out flyers at BART stations. Announcements on TV, radio, newspapers, billboards, and message boards on the freeway proclaimed the closure for weeks ahead of time.

You see, Caltrans is seismically retrofitting the bridge.  They're building a new western span, you can see it on the right in this photo.

And on the eastern side of the bridge, they're strengthening the bridge and all the approaches.  It was time for some major demolition on the east end of the upper deck. MAJOR demolition that would cause debris to fall down on the lower deck.  Hence the closure of the lower deck. 

So, no problem getting into San Francisco in a car by going west on the Bay Bridge. 

But how did we get home?  The l-o-n-g way, of course.  The other two bridges come later.  First,we shopped.  We visited Mikado (to look for Enka cds) Kinokuniya Bookstore (they conveniently had a very nice knitting book section), Soko Hardware (for specialized Japanese cookware), Sanko Cooking Supply (we found the cutest lunchboxes!), and loaded up on Japanese food at Nijiya grocery.

Then, we headed north to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Which took us to Marin.  Then we made a big loop back to the East Bay via the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

And we could look back and see the Bay Bridge, which we'd crossed at the beginning of our journey.

It took about twice as long to get home as it would have taken if we'd been able to go back over the Bay Bridge.  And, surprisingly, there wasn't too much traffic. It was scenic and a nice departure from the norm. A very nice three-bridge day.

Today, it's nearly 4 p.m. and the Girlie and I are still in our pajamas.  I'm trying to get out of going anywhere, but I might have to at least get dressed sooner or later.  Hopefully later.  I've already watched The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (a great documentary to knit to), and Andre Agassi's last professional tennis match (which had me weeping at the end).  Now I'm off to try to accomplish the knit two/purl two sewn bindoff from the Vogue Kniting book, so I can finish a shrug for the Girlie.  You may remember it as the absurdly simple pattern from last May, which is when I finished the knitting. 

The shrug has been languishing since then, for lack of concentrated time to learn the bindoff, which has eluded me thus far. Today, I'm determined to get it.  I'll let you know how I fare.

P.S. Don't forget to give, give, give to the Asthma Walk and maybe win a pair of hand-knit socks!!!

 

September Sky

Holy Cats! It's September! And this evening, the sky was spectacular.