365 Days Handmade

Making life a better place, one day at a time

Author Archives: FC5


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Day 152/365: Sock #2 of the Color #25 Pair, In Progress

6.1.2015

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.


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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.

5.31.2015


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Day 149/365: More Progress on My #25 Sock

Usually I refer to my projects according to the name of the color on the label, like my Red Hots Sock, the Bubblegum Afghan, or the Cherry Cola Afghan.  But this one was assigned an unimaginative color, according to the label:  25.  So the #25 sock it is.

The heel is turned, so now I just have to knit a few rounds in stockinette and then start the ribbing for the cuff.

5.29.2015


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Day 147/365: Two Letters Make a Difference

5.27.2015

At 9:20 AM, I went outside to talk to the podium officer.  “My 9:00 appointment isn’t here yet,” I said.  “Would you be able to track him down?”

“We’re looking for him,” the podium officer assured me.  “I’ve been paging the yard.  I called over at his job in the dining hall, and I just called Education.”

9:30 came, then 9:45, 10:00, 10:15.  Still no inmate-patient.

At 10:20 AM, my patient arrived.  He was brought into my office by a correctional officer, and he looked sullen.

“Mr. Z!” I exclaimed.  “You made it!  Where were you?  Didn’t you hear them paging the yard and calling your name?”

“I was on the yard,” he said.  “I heard them paging.  I heard them calling for Frances, and I didn’t pay them no mind.  That’s not my name.  My name is not Frances.  That’s a girl’s name.”

Later, after our appointment was over and he was gone, I went back to the podium officer.

“I found out why he was late,” I said.  “He told me he heard them calling for Frances, and that’s not his name.”

The officer showed me his list of the day’s appointments.  There was Mr. Z’s name, except the last two letters of his first name had been cut off. There wasn’t enough room on the page, so instead of “Francisco,” the printed name read “Francis.”

Whoops.

“I just call ’em how I see ’em,” the officer said.


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Day 146/365: Red Hots Sock #1, Done

5.26.2015

Today at work, I was telling my buddy the lieutenant about the Summer 2015 Run Streak.  “Yesterday was the first day,” I said.  “I ran one mile in 11 minutes and 11 seconds.  That was the first time I did any running since last November.”

“Eleven minutes to do a mile?” he said with apparent surprise.  “That’s all it takes?”  He seemed to be under the impression that finishing a mile in eleven minutes was a pretty quick feat– like practically no time at all.

“Thanks,” I told him.  “I’m glad you think so.  Because in a few months, I’m going to have to do 13 of those in a row.”


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Day 145/365: That Time of the Year Again

Last year, I committed to participating in the Runner’s World Summer 2014 Run Streak, in which I ran a mile a day for 41 days.  The Run Streak began on Memorial Day and ended on the Fourth of July.  By that time, I was inspired to sign up for a half marathon.  I chose the Big Sur Half Marathon at Monterey Bay scheduled in November.  A few weeks later, I learned that Ventura would also be hosting a half marathon in September, so I signed up for that, too.  Naturally, I had Sean commit to running both events with me.

I ran cross country in high school over twenty-five years ago, so I needed to brush up on my knowledge of race training.  I did my research and read a ton of articles and books on running a half marathon.  I put together a training plan and (mostly) stuck to it.  I don’t know exactly how many miles I covered during the training period, but I can tell you that it was plenty.

The last time I ran serious distance was on November 16, when Sean and I completed 13.1 miles in a little over two and a half hours at the Big Sur Half Marathon at Monterey Bay.  After that, I pretty much stopped running.  I put away my running shoes and took a very long break, up until today, Memorial Day 2015, which marks the first day of another summer run streak and the beginning of a new half marathon training plan.  We’re already signed up for this year’s events in both Ventura and Monterey Bay, so it’s time to get serious.

Anyone care to join me?

5.25.2015


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Day 143/365: Red Hots Sock in Progress

I got a little further with the Red Hots sock today.  The pattern I’m using is from Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy Johnson (of Wendy Knits).  It’s so simple and easy that even though I think about trying a different heel (like Cat Bordhi’s sweet tomato heel or the Sox Therapist’s fish lips kiss heel), I always come back to this basic pattern.

I finished knitting the gusset:

5.23.2015A

And turned the heel:

5.23.2015B

Now I just have to knit in the round for a few rows, throw in some ribbing for the cuff, and bind off.

5.23.2015C