Beards

Why grow one when you can knit one!  

 (Originally from http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4816842&fbid=437826519462&id=97925624462) 

Bunch of nerds

I attended Oracle OpenWorld on Wednesday.  Talk about the gathering of a bunch of corporate nerds! At least I got to see some old friends.

From the left:
Tim (old coworker), Me, Sandy (my best friend), Mandar (one of my old bosses)

No (Apple) software!

From the left:
Me, unknown guy who hijacked my conversation with Steven, Tim, Steven (another old boss now friend), Sandy (my best friend), Mandar (who yelled at me once for not prioritizing my tasks right)

Humph

Today was a Humph day. Bad mood in the morning, bad mood in the evening.  Watch out husband!

Scaruffle

Here is the scarf-ruffle I made for Rushan (the newly wed).  After blocking, this lacy number came out pretty nice!  I mailed it to Rushan last weekend; yesterday she sent an email thanking me.  I hope she likes it!

The pattern is from Clara Parkes' "The Book of Wool."  I used a lace-weight yarn of unknown fiber and source that I got from someone's destash.

And now the sun is setting earlier, my walks with Moose usually end with this view of Oracle (see the moon?). I am thankful to live in this town!  (Picture taken from my phone, the HTC Incredible*)

And of course, here is the little Moose with a rawhide bone almost as long as he.

* HTC Incredible - A non-Apple phone that I can actually call people on without having connection problems!

Friend

I have a friend who I'll call Preety.  I've known Preety for a long time and I've always felt she's a special person.  Well, I found out today she's going through hard times with her marriage.  Her husband doesn't want to try to make things better, but she is still fighting to hang on.  And to add to the tangle, baby #2 is in the "oven".

She loves her son, and she loves her husband.  And she is saddened by the state of things.  She keeps saying "if only I can do the right thing, then everything will be all right."  But she doesn't see that she is only 1/2 the partnership and it is not her job to do everything.  When two people agree to meet somewhere, they both have to come forward towards the middle.  One person can make all the effort and go as far as he/she can, but if the other person doesn't budge, then the meeting won't ever happen.

I'm saddened by her sadness.  And at the same time, thinking about her situation makes me appreciate what I have.  Tim is a good husband and he *does* want to work the kinks out.  Our values and world-view pretty much align.  It's a good marriage by all measures and I do take things for granted sometimes.

I am sad for my friend; I hope she comes to peace with her husband and herself.

Ingenue

Finally, a month after the knitting was done, I blocked the thing and took pictures. In a knitter's mind, that's when a project is Done.

Here it is: Ingenue for Tim's mom

She picked the yarn (good old Cascade 220) and the color (#9442).  Last time Tim and I visited her, we went to Alpaca Direct, the only yarn shop in Brentwood.  The little store had a pretty good selection of yarns; I came out with not only Cascade 220, but also some Plymouth Baby Alpaca chunky.  Mmmmm!  So soft!

Here is the sweater on the blocking board.  The edges are *not* suppose to be curly! (Arg!)