Yesterday I shared a couple of photos of my new project in which I am piecing together 10″ x 10″ blocks of appliquéd motifs that my mom hand-stitched starting in 1987. 
Originally, she just wanted me to sew the blocks together side by side, but I wanted the motifs to stand out a little more. I went to the local independent fabric shop and selected a yellow cotton print that I thought would go well with the blocks. I did some measuring and cutting, and the quilt top started to take shape. 
Monthly Archives: June 2015
Day 159/365: New (28-Year-Old) Project!
Back in 1987, my mom started this project of blanket-stitched appliquéd motifs on 10″ x 10″ blocks.
I guess the figures are like those time-out kids that were sold at craft fairs and country stores, except these are supposed to be Asian.
Anyway, she only stuck with the project for about a year before abandoning it. Many, many, many years later (like, last year), she came across her pile of old materials and tackled the project with renewed enthusiasm. Especially after I told her that I would sew the blocks together for her.
Now that she’s here for her annual visit, I am being true to my word. Initially, she just wanted me to sew the blocks side by side, but they looked too boring that way. I told her I had another idea. So I have been cutting fabric and sewing and piecing, and I think the completed project will look really nice.
Day 158/365: Third Day of My Mama’s Visit
It was foggy all day today. My mom and I spent most of the day at home; she crocheted and I got started on a project that I’ll share with you in an upcoming post. I still had to run my mile for the 2015 summer run streak, though, so when late afternoon rolled around, I drove us down to the Embarcadero, where she sat on a bench on the promenade and I went for my run.
June gloom in Morro Bay.
When I got back, she asked, “Aren’t you cold? I’m freezing.”
But at least her feet were warm. She was wearing her new favorite pair of hand knitted socks.
Day 157/365: Second Day of My Mama’s Visit
When I was a little girl, my mom crocheted several cute dresses and tops for me. (Of course, I didn’t appreciate them at the time because I wanted to be wearing the same kind of store-bought mass-produced clothing that the other kindergarten girls wore.) I remember admiring those handmade childhood dresses as an adult and asking her once, “What patterns did you use?”
She shrugged and said, “None. I just made it up myself.”
Today she asked me if I had some extra yarn and a hook that she could borrow. Naturally, I had those things. When I asked her what she planned to make, she showed me a white crocheted vest that a friend had given to her as a gift.
“This,” she said. “I will just copy it.”
Relaxing in the sunroom and starting a crocheted project with no pattern.
Day 156/365: First Day of My Mama’s Visit
My mom arrived in Morro Bay safely. This afternoon I took her to the beach to look at the ocean and the Morro Rock. She was very pleased with her new pair of socks and wore them on our little jaunt. Unfortunately, this was the only photo I took, even though there were a lot of other nicer ways I could have staged a photograph. Oh well. Knowing my mom, she will wear those socks all weekend, so you may be seeing more of them in a different setting.
Day 155/365: #25 Socks, Completed
I finished the pair, just in time for my mom’s visit. She’ll be arriving tomorrow night, and then who knows what sorts of things we’ll get into.
Day 154/365: Another Good Reason for Chocolate
In the middle of my busy crazy day, one of the office assistants handed me a mental health referral from a sergeant on one of the other yards. It was marked Urgent, and under the reason for referring the inmate, he had written, “Does not follow directions. Will not respond to simple questions.”
Because it was “urgent,” I basically had to drop everything else and handle the referral today. I was familiar with this particular inmate. He used to be on my caseload, and he had a bad attitude about being in prison—it wasn’t his fault, he shouldn’t have to do the time, it wasn’t fair, everyone was against him, etc. I suspected that the referral was less about him having any real mental health issues and more a matter of the sergeant not wanting to deal with the inmate any further. So I called the sergeant’s office and asked that the inmate, Mr. R, be sent to my office on a special pass.
Mr. R showed up within half an hour and was escorted to my office by a correctional officer who stood at the doorway to ensure extra security. This C.O. was also familiar with Mr. R. I sensed that part of the reason he stuck around was to send the message that he wouldn’t hesitate to take action if Mr. R tried anything aggressive with me.
“Look,” I said. “The reason you’re here is that I received a referral from the sergeant saying you wouldn’t follow directions or respond to simple questions. I’m just evaluating you to make sure you’re not having any mental health problems.” We both knew that there was no reason for him to even really be there.
“Man,” Mr. R said. He slumped in the seat and stared at the floor sullenly. “I don’t have no mental health problems. I didn’t want to answer their stupid-ass questions.”
“How did it come to this?” I asked, waving the referral slip to draw his attention to it.
Mr. R looked up and rolled his eyes. “Man. It started from this morning. I kicked this milk crate that was on the ground. They told me to pick it up. I told them no, it was already on the ground, why should I pick it up? They told me to pick it up. I said, if you want me to pick it up, then you give me some gloves and I’ll pick it up. And then next thing I know, they got me in the sergeant’s office, and he be asking some stupid-ass questions.”
“Okay,” I said. I’d heard enough to know that A) this wasn’t an urgent referral, and B) I’d just lost an hour of my day, what with finishing the interview and then having to type up a detailed report of my rationale for clearing this inmate to return to the yard.
Luckily I had some chocolate stashed in my desk drawer, because yesterday’s cake was already gone.
Day 153/365: Unexpected Cake
Almost done with this pair!
When I arrived at my office this morning, I discovered that someone had placed, smack dab on the middle of my desk, a sealed plastic box containing one huge serving of chocolate-frosted double-decker fudge cake. Since yesterday was my regular day off, I wasn’t sure how long that cake had been sitting there. I went into the office next door to ask the office technicians if they knew anything about it.
“I got it for you this morning,” Ms. D told me. Her job included scheduling my appointments and entering my caseload data into the computer.
I was puzzled. “Did I do something that deserved chocolate cake?”
“It’s not for anything that you did,” Ms. D said. “It’s for what you’re going to have to do.”
“Oh no,” I said. “I drove by the prison on Saturday and I saw about seven transportation buses in the parking lot. Did I just get a bunch of new arrivals?”
Ms. D gave an apologetic smile. “You’ll see,” she said.
I went back to my office and turned on the computer. I waited for my emails to load and then I opened the one with the attachment for the Monday Movement Report. And then I couldn’t help shouting.
“Five new arrivals! A level of care change! That’s six initial intakes!”
Since the tracking system showed that they arrived over the weekend and were officially added to my caseload yesterday morning (by Ms. D, I suspected), I now had nine working days to see them. Today was already too late to add any of them, and the rest of this week was full– because I would be gone next week Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for my mom’s visit. So basically I had to fit six hour-long appointments into my schedule some time between now and next week Friday. And find the time to read their files and complete each patient’s treatment plan and suicide risk evaluation. I would definitely be staying late at work every day this week.
“Enjoy the cake!” Ms. D called back.
Day 152/365: Sock #2 of the Color #25 Pair, In Progress
Turning the heel.
Right now, my mom is on a plane headed to California. She’s coming out for my nephew’s high school graduation. She’ll stay with my older brother and his family for a few days, and then she’ll be coming down here to Morro Bay to visit for a few days. I’m knitting this pair of socks for her. As you can see, I just have to turn the heel and knit the cuff, and the second sock will be done. My mom has very small feet and can wear shoes from the children’s department, so whenever I knit a pair of socks for her, I’m usually done in no time and I get to feel like such a fast knitter. Anyway, I’ll have her model the socks for photos when she gets here– if I can just get her to sit still long enough.
Day 151/365: Sock #2 of the Color #25 Pair
During the week, my job at the prison involves a lot of talking and social interaction with inmate-patients, custody (including yard officers, tier officers, sergeants, lieutenants, and the captain), psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, teachers, and psych techs, to name a few. I’m also at work four days a week for 10-hour days, so when my three-day weekend comes, I’m happy not to do any socializing or talking. With Sean on the East Coast doing a motorcycle trip with his dad (they’re visiting with family in Susquehanna right now), I pretty much have been happily keeping to myself, mostly parked on the couch with Netflix and alternating between knitting a sock and crocheting more rows on the Cherry Cola afghan. The only time I left the house today was to go run my mile for the summer run streak. If you don’t count texting and emails, I did not speak to a single person today. And I am perfectly okay with that.
365 Days Handmade 