Weirdly, although we're less than a half from the sound, the hurricane was sort of a non-event at my house. Sure, it rained a little, and there was some wind, but we were really lucky--our power barely even flickered, no water went anywhere it wasn't supposed to (not even the street that usually fills with water as soon as it drizzles), and all of my mental berating of the construction company for not weather proofing their site across the street was wasted.
We thought the storm had skipped over us entirely, but when I went for a run in a park next to the water on Monday, it turned out that there had been a storm surge after all. Running along, I could see that the park itself had gotten narrower. There were a few spots where the sidewalk had washed away entirely, or sagged when the ground beneath it had washed out. And there was a layer of reeds and seaweed (and plastic bottles!) left behind when the water retreated.
There's a small nature preserve at one end of the park which did much better--except that there's a sailboat stranded in the middle of it, maybe 50 yards from any visible water. I'm not sure how they'll get it out--or how the owner will know to look for his or her boat there, since it says it's from East Lyme! (Are you looking for the Abba-Gale II? Leave a comment!)
Next time, knitting!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Factory
Kevin is out of town again, and I'm catching up on sewing again. This time, it's my niece's birthday presents--made mostly of glitter, sparkles, and tulle:
I love fancy fabric, but there's not much call for formal dresses in the archives, so it's been fun to actually use some... finding glitter everywhere for the next several years will be less fun. I think I may have eaten some glitter yesterday.
It's also been a nice break from my other activity: thinking about hurricanes.
My first job after grad school was at the Corning Museum of Glass, and the time I was there included the 30th anniversary of the flood of 1972 (caused by the remnants of Hurricane Agnes). The museum is right next to the Chemung River, and during the flood, the river came through the museum, filling it with muddy water more than 5 feet deep. At the time, the museum director was on his way to Turkey, and (according to the recollections of staff members), was greeted with a telegram when his plane landed: "Museum destroyed. Come home."
Thirty years later, there was still dried mud in the spines of some of the books, and the bottoms of some folders. In commemoration of the flood, they painted the flood line on all the interior walls... and I moved my favorite collections and documents to the top shelves, above the line.
I was there for a year, and for most of that year I worried about the museum flooding every time it rained. Then I'd start worrying about my bunny--who would take him somewhere safe if I was at the museum when my apartment started flooding? Where would he stay while my apartment was under water? (It was a basement apartment, just down the street from the museum, and was clearly doomed.) It seems silly, but as soon as I decided that I'd put his cage in my car, drive up one of the hills surrounding the town, then walk back down to help at the museum, I felt a million times better... and thanks to the magic powers of planning, I never needed to implement my plan.
So: plan!
I love fancy fabric, but there's not much call for formal dresses in the archives, so it's been fun to actually use some... finding glitter everywhere for the next several years will be less fun. I think I may have eaten some glitter yesterday.
It's also been a nice break from my other activity: thinking about hurricanes.
My first job after grad school was at the Corning Museum of Glass, and the time I was there included the 30th anniversary of the flood of 1972 (caused by the remnants of Hurricane Agnes). The museum is right next to the Chemung River, and during the flood, the river came through the museum, filling it with muddy water more than 5 feet deep. At the time, the museum director was on his way to Turkey, and (according to the recollections of staff members), was greeted with a telegram when his plane landed: "Museum destroyed. Come home."
Thirty years later, there was still dried mud in the spines of some of the books, and the bottoms of some folders. In commemoration of the flood, they painted the flood line on all the interior walls... and I moved my favorite collections and documents to the top shelves, above the line.
I was there for a year, and for most of that year I worried about the museum flooding every time it rained. Then I'd start worrying about my bunny--who would take him somewhere safe if I was at the museum when my apartment started flooding? Where would he stay while my apartment was under water? (It was a basement apartment, just down the street from the museum, and was clearly doomed.) It seems silly, but as soon as I decided that I'd put his cage in my car, drive up one of the hills surrounding the town, then walk back down to help at the museum, I felt a million times better... and thanks to the magic powers of planning, I never needed to implement my plan.
So: plan!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Taking Indecision to a Whole New Level
I'm turning into that friend who only calls when she has a problem. Sorry.
But I have a problem (fortunately, only a knitting problem, so very minor in the scheme of things).
I made these gorgeous mittens--Clematis, and really the gorgeousness is all in the pattern, I just executed them without mishap--using green and gold wool (green for the background, gold for the flower). I have about a skein of green and a half skein of gold leftover, and I've been trying to make them into a hat since the beginning of time.
Here's attempt #3, which I think may be doomed:
First, I tried a picot-edged cloche from Knitscene, but the yarn was too fine and it seemed more floppy than I wanted. Sadly for the hat, I didn't decide about the floppiness till I was ready to start decreasing at the crown, and and I didn't love it enough to make it a second time, on smaller needles with a million stitches.
Then I tried the Rikke hat, with stripes to incorporate both yarns. It was also too floppy, and again, I didn't love it to reknit it on smaller needles (that time, I'd only gotten 4 inches knitted before the floppiness became apparent).
Since Iw as unwilling to knit a million stitches on small needles, I rewound both balls of yarn so they were doubled, then started the Noho Boho hat, which I've made before and enjoyed. My thinking was that it would be mostly green, with 2 gold stripes. But now the stripes seem kind of excessive. Like maybe I'm a Green Bay fan.
Since my Green Bay knowledge ends at the fact that I know their colors are green and gold, I'm wondering whether I might prefer to use the cuff pattern from the mittens for the brim of the hat, then have a solid green top once the yellow runs out.
Come back in a month when I will have forgotten all about this, and will write about something else entirely!
But I have a problem (fortunately, only a knitting problem, so very minor in the scheme of things).
I made these gorgeous mittens--Clematis, and really the gorgeousness is all in the pattern, I just executed them without mishap--using green and gold wool (green for the background, gold for the flower). I have about a skein of green and a half skein of gold leftover, and I've been trying to make them into a hat since the beginning of time.
Here's attempt #3, which I think may be doomed:
First, I tried a picot-edged cloche from Knitscene, but the yarn was too fine and it seemed more floppy than I wanted. Sadly for the hat, I didn't decide about the floppiness till I was ready to start decreasing at the crown, and and I didn't love it enough to make it a second time, on smaller needles with a million stitches.
Then I tried the Rikke hat, with stripes to incorporate both yarns. It was also too floppy, and again, I didn't love it to reknit it on smaller needles (that time, I'd only gotten 4 inches knitted before the floppiness became apparent).
Since Iw as unwilling to knit a million stitches on small needles, I rewound both balls of yarn so they were doubled, then started the Noho Boho hat, which I've made before and enjoyed. My thinking was that it would be mostly green, with 2 gold stripes. But now the stripes seem kind of excessive. Like maybe I'm a Green Bay fan.
Since my Green Bay knowledge ends at the fact that I know their colors are green and gold, I'm wondering whether I might prefer to use the cuff pattern from the mittens for the brim of the hat, then have a solid green top once the yellow runs out.
Come back in a month when I will have forgotten all about this, and will write about something else entirely!
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