Eternal Sushine Swap

A few weeks ago, I volunteered to make an angel package for a swap based on the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. This is a very bizarre movie, but I happen to like it a lot. Even though I am not a Jim Carrey fan, I really like him in this movie, and as always, I love Kate Winslet. Charlie Kaufman helped write the screenplay, I think, and I am also a huge fan of all the movies he has had a hand in. So strange, funny, sad, and realistic all at once.

Needless to say, I was excited to have the opportunity to do this package, and since my intended recipient most enjoyed the character of Clementine (Kate Winslet) in the movie, I had a fun time of picking out two (of many!) handmade items Clemetine wore in the movie that I though my recipient would also like. Of the many, many eclectic hand-knitted/crocheted items, I chose an orange beret and a very chunky pink scarf made from underspun wool. This website has pictures showing the originals from the movie (though you will have to search the pictures for them), and the items I made are shown below.

Since I only used one skein of the orange for the beret, I am sending her the second one in case she wants to make matching mitts or something. I am also sending along some other goodies that relate to the movie, such as erasers (since the main characters had parts of their memories erased) and chopsticks (there was a scene in a Chinese restaurant). I hope she likes it!

Well Worth the Trouble

On Friday, I received a notice in my mailbox to pick up a package at the post office. The notice said that the package would be there on 4/24 (Friday) after 5:00pm. This was some sort of trick because the package pick-up door closes at 5:00pm. Anyway, I went to the post office on Saturday morning a little after 11:00am (the package pick-up door closes at noon on Saturdays), and it was even crazier than usual. Both the line to the counter and the line for package pick-up were almost out the door, and I would estimate that there were about 30 people total. I wish I would've actually counted them. I definitely had time to do so.

After waiting about ten minutes, a postal worker came to the door to take our pick-up notices and then disappeared back behind the door for about ten more minutes. During this time more people came in and kept asking if we'd been helped yet. As someone who frequently picks up packages here (about once a month), I laughed inside at their impatience. Didn't they know you couldn't walk into this post office without spending at least thirty minutes?

Finally, the postal worker came back and called my name. He asked for my ID and then asked me to sign my notice, but as I looked over at the package he was about to give to me and glanced at the name on it because the package is much smaller than I expected, I read "Richard ..." Richard! I'm not Richard, so I pointed this out to the gentleman before I signed anything. "Oh," he tells me, "I couldn't find your package...they are still looking for it." I wasn't surprised, but I was a little disappointed.

After the postal worker gave Richard his package and some other people their certified letters, he once again collected notices and disappeared for about ten minutes. Upon his return, I looked at him questioningly, and he told me that they were still looking. I watched everyone get their packages and leave, and I watched the new batch hand over their notices. Finally, a lady at the counter called out my last name, and I knew it was bad news. (If they had my package, they would hand it out the door to me as usual.) She tells me that they cannot locate the package and that I should call on Monday after 9:00am when my carrier will be in. I see her write a note (presumably to my carrier) and I leave.

I called the post office yesterday morning at 9:30am, and I informed the person who answered of my situation. He put me on hold for a long time, and then a lady picked up. I again related the situation to her, and she informed me that I should have called between 7:00am and 9:00am and that I was too late. She advised me to call the next morning. I was frustrated, and after thinking on it, I thought it was possible (likely, even) that my carrier had received the note left for him, located my package, and put it in the correct location. Neither person I had spoken to in the morning had even checked for it, so I decided that I would call again after work.

This time when I relayed the information, the lady put me on hold to go look for the package. When she got back on the phone, she told me that yes, my package was there, so I immediately went back to the post office to pick it up. I again handed my notice to the postal worker and waited. When he returned, he had no package for me, and told me that he couldn't find it. I informed him that I had just called right before driving there, and the lady on the phone said my package was there. He nodded and handed the notice to another employee who I heard say that I had been there on Saturday and that my package was missing. At that, I peeped around the corner and told her that I had just called and that my package was apparently there. She looked surprised and disappeared.

About ten minutes later, my name was called at the counter, and I tried to swallow my disappointment as I walked over to where she was standing. Lo and behold! There was a packaged wrapped in pink plastic sitting in front of her with my name on it! She explained that my carrier misidentified this "parcel" as a "large envelope" and that's why they couldn't find it. Whatever. I was just glad to finally have it in my hands.

The package arrived for me all the way from the U.K. from my Lego Swap partner. Inside was this cute crocheted bag that looks like it could be made from Lego bricks.

See the cute button and stitch markers?

Inside of the bag were even more goodies: dried fruit (black cherries and strawberries), goat's milk soap shaped like Legos (great minds think alike--I got some Lego-shaped soap for my partner, too), a knitted washcloth and a crochet scrubbie (to use with the soap!), and a skein of Araucania sock yarn in the same color green as green Legos. Araucania is usually my go-to yarn for sending in swaps but I have actually never used any myself. Now I can!

Sunday Sewing

After getting frustrated with my current knitting project, I decided it was time to try sewing again. Remember that ridiculously expensive sundress fabric I bought a few months ago? I measured out and cut the fabric, and I think I must have been nuts to get two yards to make one sundress--I needed far less than one yard to make a single dress, so it looks like I will be making four dresses instead of two. That at least makes the cost ratio much better.

I couldn't start the actual sewing until I got a bobbin for my sewing machine. A few weeks ago I had went to the fabric store with the intention of buying bobbins for my sewing machine, but it turned out that bobbins come in many different sizes and forms, and I hadn't done adequate research to know which ones to get. When I returned to the store on Saturday, I was prepared with the specific bobbin number from my sewing machine's user manual; however, none of the bobbins had a number that was anywhere close to it, so, once again, I left without any bobbins. Yesterday, I was determined to get some bobbins, so I did some online research, and in the process, I found that my sewing machine was made in 1962 (!) and that I could order the correct bobbins online. Because bobbins are so cheap, I decided to just take the one I had out of my machine and bring it with me to the store to compare before resorting to online ordering. I ended up finding some very similar bobbins that listed a model number very close to mine, so I bought them for $1.50. They are perfect!

For me, the least fun part of sewing is setting up the thread. It took me twice as long to wind the bobbin and get the thread set up correctly as it did to sew the entire dress! This dress was so easy that I almost feel silly showing it off. All I did was to sew a hem around the bottom of the skirt (the top ruched part was already hemmed) and then sew the seam up the back. I like it a lot, but I'm thinking of making it shorter. Since I will end up with two dresses, I will probably make a short one and a long one for variety.

Not Meant to Be...

My plans upon departing work this afternoon included going to the DFW Fiberfest to browse the yarn selection there and to possibly make a few purchases.

For some reason, this was not meant to happen today.

First incident: Soon after I'm on my way I notice a sign up ahead saying that the middle (of three lanes) is closed. Since I was in the middle lane, I act proactively by getting into the left lane. Upon reaching the intersection, it turns out that it is actually the left lane that is closed (contrary to signage), not the middle lane, and I am forced to turn left at the intersection. I decide that I will take a right at the next major street going east again to get back to my original path, but no such street exists until I am so close to the freeway that I realize now the freeway will be the quickest route to my destination.

Second incident: As I approach the freeway, I don't see the usual freeway sign pointing 'East' or 'West' but rather a street sign with a street name. Since this name is not the name of the freeway, I don't turn, but then immediately realize that I should have as I am now driving over the freeway. Ugh. (I late notice that there are different signs at other points on this freeway. Either I didn't notice new, different sign or it hadn't been replaced yet.)

Third incident: Quickly deciding that the best course of action is to turn into a parking lot and drive through it to pull out at the opposite end directly onto the freeway access road and then make a u-turn to get going to right direction, I try to do so. As I pull onto the access road, it is empty except for one car, which should pass quickly and allow me to get over three lanes to make my u-turn. For some mysterious reason, this singular car slows way down so that it is driving right next to me instead of quickly passing me, and I am unable to slow down/speed up to get around it in enough time to make it to the u-turn lane. I end up in a lane going straight ahead, towards the direction I would be driving to go home. Sigh.

I give up. And now I'm home.

Maybe I'll try again tomorrow or Sunday.

Dinner and Dancing on Amber's Birthday

Last Saturday was my best friend Amber's birthday. You may recall that I knit some socks for her (they fit!) a couple of months ago. Anyway, she came to Dallas to celebrate her birthday with Sara and me, and we had a great time!

Sara's fiancee Brandon and I both recommended eating at Pappasito's Cantina (independently) because it is the best tex-mex food ever. James and I had taken my sister Mandy there for her birthday last year (my only prior visit), and I was really, really impressed with my fajitas. So much so, in fact, that I even broke down and got chicken AND beef fajitas this time, too. I don't feel too bad, though, because James got ribs and bacon-wrapped shrimp.

After eating a huge dinner, we drove into downtown Dallas and went to Sambuca, where the local Beatles cover band Hard Day's Night was playing. After standing in the bar area for a while (for there were no empty seats at the bar), we decided to ask for a table and figured we would have a little coffee and dessert. Our table ended up being one of those large 3-sided booth tables in an area behind the main dining room and it was completely secluded from the rest of the restaurant. I couldn't even see any other people in the place except for those at our table, so we felt very 'V.I.P.' The desserts and coffee were delicious, and I hear that the chilled Amaretto shots were pretty good, too. Our waiter was nice and took this picture of us.

This picture of Amber drinking her Amaretto shot is pretty hilarious because of the expression on Brandon and Sara's faces in the background. They look like they just dropped some poison into her drink and are eagerly awaiting her demise. We really didn't plan this photo, so that makes it even funnier.

The bathroom at Sambuca is pretty unusual because all of the walls are completely covered with mirrors. Even inside the stalls (eek!). We tried to take pictures (not in the stalls), but it was kinda dark, so they didn't turn out well. It was kinda cool and also kinda creepy.

After having our fill of Beatles songs, we left and went to the Mambo Cafe, where most of us were going to dance to Salsa and other Latin music in public for the first time. Amber was the only one who was not new to this, and to be honest, I was a little nervous. There was a live band playing out by the spotlit dance floor, and I was really enjoying the music, though not how sparsely populated and brightly lit the dancing area was. (I really didn't want to have any extra attention drawn to myself--being one of only a handful of non-Hispanic people and being a crappy dancer would already be drawing enough attention, I thought.)

When the band took a break, the lights went dim and more people went onto the floor. Good, right? No, not really...because now the music was weird Latin pop music and not Salsa. I couldn't really imagine dancing to that, so we sat back and waited for more appropriate music. Finally, one came on, so James and I went down to the floor and tried to do the steps Amber had shown us earlier...hmmm...it wasn't working so well. I was embarrassed and when the spotlights came on after just a couple of minutes, I quickly hustled off the floor with James and sat nearby while Amber danced with some of her friends from Waco.

I felt like I was in a catch-22 with the dancing situation because I wanted to dance to the band music in the dark, but that wasn't an option apparently, though those options were available separately. After a little while, I simply suggested dancing near the table where we were sitting (in the dark, far away from the dance floor and far away from most people in the club) and that seemed to work best. I felt like James and I finally did get the hang of it, and we had a lot of fun. In fact, there are rumors that we are all going again this coming Saturday, though to a different (dark, crowded, closer-to-home) place in Addison.

Thanks for getting us to experience this, Amber! It was a lot of fun!

What to Blog?

On Monday mornings, I nearly always have a clear idea for a blog entry, but today I am at a loss. This is even more unusual since I had a very fun, busy weekend involving the following:

• getting off work early on Friday and going to the Woolie Ewe
• knitting and laughing with my buddies at Starbucks
• having a positive shopping experience at Old Navy
• getting my new Ravelry T-shirt in the mail
• knitting and finishing 3 projects
• hanging out with my family for Easter
• eating way, way, way too much excellent food, including creamed asparagus, homemade mac-n-cheese, brownies, and boiled crawfish.

Maybe the problem is that there's too much to blog about for one entry. I can't make a decision to narrow it down, so I'm going to call this my blog entry for today since I hate skipping Mondays. Maybe I'll feel inspired later.

Slant Socks

I finished these up last Friday, but I was so busy over the weekend that I didn't have time to photograph them. I really like how they turned out (even the pooling!) and I love the symmetry. I had never done a toe as written for this pattern, and it was a little too cramped for me, so I will probably use my standard toe in the future. I wish I had made the socks a little taller (even though I did make them taller than the pattern called for), but I didn't want to run out of yarn. Since wearing them for half of today already, I must say that they are definitely the best-fitting socks I have made for myself. All of my other ones usually become too loose after a few hours.

This week has been pretty quiet, but this weekend will be very busy. I am going to the yarn store after work and then going to my knitting meetup tonight. Hopefully I will make it to the local farmer's market tomorrow morning (if I get up and out early enough) which will be following by grocery shopping, patio plant shopping, possibly a little fun (clothing and yarn) shopping, and then baking food to take to my grandparents' house for Easter Sunday. I'm sure I'll also try to relax at home since this will be our first Saturday at home in a month!

More Painting

We (my mom, sister, brother, James, and I) spent all day Saturday and most of Sunday continuing to help paint my parents' house. We didn't finish, but we were 99% done with the front of the house when James and I departed at 5pm on Sunday.

Before (but after scraping/prep):

After (except for windows, which need repair):

What's left? A lot of eaves and overhangs, trim for a few windows, and two gables. The rest of the house is brick, so I think one more weekend should get the job done. Especially since it has all been powerwashed already.
My dad also powerwashed the deck, which made it look a million times better. It still needs a little sanding and some water seal (or sealant?) and some paint on the rails, but it is still a major improvement.

He also knocked down the little dilapidated awning/overhang over the front porch and has plans for improvement.

The moment of the most excitement occurred when my mom yelled out that she had stepped on a nail. We all look at her foot, and there is a small block of wood attached to the bottom of her shoe by a nail that had been protruding from it. She asked me to pull it out, and after a gentle attempt, I said I couldn't (was unwilling) to do it (for fear of hurting her). Then, she clarified and said the tip of the nail had poked her toe, but the nail wasn't stuck in her foot, so I wrestled the nail out of the shoe and was very relieved. I also kept thinking of how I refused the tetanus shot I was offered last time I was at the doctor's office.