Dumaguete Knitting School

Dumaguete Knitting School
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

Donna and I have enjoyed knitting together. She has spent the last year knitting and crocheting all kinds of clever pieces, and we're just putting finishing touches to the volume of information she has gained for herself. It's fun. She's not only knitting on double pointeds and circulars now, but today, she's doing her first Fair Isle knitting. There will be no stopping her now!

In the meantime, I finished the second take on my prototype baby sweater, knitted in the round and requiring no sewing, and I think I'm closer this second time than I was the first. Donna and I both critiqued this edition, and we agree that I need to make the neck opening larger (Donna suggested a packet along the raglan sleeve - oh, I like that idea) and I need to knit an inch or less, instead of 1-1/2 inches, after I join the sleeves to the body before I start my decreases. The distance between the underarm and the shoulder is just too great when I knit a full 1-1/2 inches before I begin the raglan decreases.

I'm using Jackie Fee's take on Elizabeth Zimmerman's percentage method for making sweaters, with the idea that once I get a solid prototype, I can knock these little beauties out quickly and help build a stash of layette items for our Lydia Circle project for young mothers. Once I get this basic pattern set, I can then add cables, color work, lacy effects, or whatever else might occur to me.

I could knit forever. I'm beginning my second year of my second retirement now, and it suits me to a T! Yippee! I'm heading to my even more-senior years with my knitting bag and my sewing machine in tow!

Two good books - Authors Bohjalian and Rodriguez

I just finished two books, both of which I would recommend to others.

Before You Know Kindness, by Chris Bohjalian, doesn't disappoint.

Bohjalian, a writer from New England, has a wonderful way of telling a story. The story in Before You Know Kindness is about a New England family which includes a matriarch (the grandmother), her two adult children (brother and sister), their spouses, and their children. Bohjalian writes in such a way you feel like you know each of the characters and he makes you care about their lives. The story is very believable. I have read two other Bohjalian stories - Midwives and Water Witches, and they were both very good reading.

If I were to pick a topic that is the foundation for this book, I would describe it as a story about what happens when some members of a family become focused on a single thing (animal rights, in this case) while others remain in the main stream of society. It makes a good plot.

I marvel that a man can write about families so well. He includes all the details that I, a woman, appreciate in families; and he manages never to let his words become loose or sappy. I am always immediately caught up in his story, and he doesn't let me go until I finish the book.

I also read Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguiz, and in page after page, I felt I could see inside the lives of the Afghani women I meet in the story.

This book is a true account of Rodriguiz's experiences in Afghanistan while she was there on volunteer missions.

Rodriguiz is a cosmetologist by profession, and she takes her art and her skills to the women in Kabul to help give them a profession that's acceptable in their society (most of the time) and a way of life that's fulfilling to them. This books is a very good read. My edition of the book has a reader's guide that would be very helpful to provoke discussion in reading groups.

Dumaguete at night and supper at the Miracle Mile Cafe

Dumaguete at night
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

We had the most wonderful evening last night. As usual, it was a busy day for the family, with pre-school, home school, college, drum lessons, outside tutoring, work, and the usual tasks that fill the life of a family with growing children and a variety of pet members. But no matter what, Donna and Todd take the time to add something special to Grandma's day. Last night, it was an evening out and a visit to the boulevard in Dumaguete, a place I had requested that we visit at least once while I'm here. I love sitting on the walkway just in front of the sea wall and watching the people, the water, the boats, and all the activities that happen there.

To find where people congregate in a town is always something Lauren and I try to do. In any town that has a waterway, be it a sea or a river, there's usually a spot where people sit and let life go by for a while. In towns without waterways there's often a plaza or park where people congregate. In Dumaguete, it's the former - the boulevard by the sea. There was even a sax player there last night, but he didn't stick around long enough for me to get his picture. His music was questionable, but the sound of the sax added to the joy of the evening.

This was the first time I've been to the boulevard at night; and on this night, the waves were crashing against the sea wall in a way I've never seen them before. I even got spashed a bit. We had a good time. Nathan and I experimented with taking photos there, with and without flash. A tripod would have been helpful, but the back of a bench was a good substitute.

We visited the National Bookstore, an enterprise that wasn't here in Dumaguete last year, and enjoyed looking at all the books. We may go back again before I leave. Looking at books is a fun thing to do. The National Bookstore seems very up to date, and I found many of the same books I have been reading.


At the Miracle Mile Cafe
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

Our big pleasure was eating at the cafe where Manda works. It was supposed to be a surprise for Manda, but Mom spilled the beans. Nathan decided it should then be a surprise for Erica (someone, after all, needed to be surprised), but someone let it slip again and Erica found out before we arrived. We had a great time, anyway! Manda not only served us, but she was able to have supper with us, too, adding to the special fun of the evening.

(Look at those splotches on my shirt! Hmmm! Am I sweating? Is this from the spashing I got from the waves? Or am I just plain sloppy!)

Morning again? Oh, NO!!!

Morning again? Oh, NO!!!
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

At least some of us think "Oh, NO!" is the most normal response at the start of the morning. Others of us take advantage of the freshness of the new day, before everything gets so busy and hectic, and we venture out into the streets to see what's going on.

Usually, Donna and I walk down and around the lanes and head toward the water around 6:00 a.m. We walk along the road at the shoreline, and then come home another way. But early morning is no deterrent to the big buses that carry people all over the island, and the risk of becoming just a greasy spot in the road takes a little bit of joy out of these otherwise wonderful walks. The buses zoom along the road and stop for nothing. As I get used to these buses again, I remind myself that this is not California, where any pedestrian has some sort of primary right-of-way on the road.

So instead of making our loop today, Donna suggested we stop when we reach the water and then come back the way we came. That was a perfect opportunity for me to suggest that we sit and take some photos. (I posted only a couple with this blog. The rest are on Flickr.)


Searching for sea urchins
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

Even at this early part of the day, people are out. Just as in the states, we will see a few runners, and there are always a few searching for sea urchins at the shoreline here. They collect these and then later in the day, they will extract and drink the juices, taking advantage of the nutritional qualities the urchin provides. Although Wikipedia mentions the aphrodisiac properties attributed to sea urchins, these little critters are also thought to be a good source of iodine, helping to prevent goiters.

I remember goiters being fairly commonplace in the States when I was growing up, but as iodinized salt became more and more common - in fact, it's standard now, these disfiguring growths became less common. Probably most of our younger people in the states have never seen a goiter.

As you can see in the picture above, the skies were heavily overcast this morning, and we expected a duluge of rain. But it didn't happen today - at least not yet. The sun is out bright (and very hot!). It will be a good afternoon to sit and knit, chat with everyone, and just enjoy being here.

Dumaguete 08 - First Impressions

It doesn't seem like a year since I've been in the Philippines, but it has.

When I arrive in Manila, I'm greeted by the familiar sights and sounds of this tropical locale - the balmy breezes that are so typical at this distance from the equator this time of year, the chatter of many people in one place, the busy goings to and fro as people go through the typical immigration processes after this long flight.

Everything is so familiar, it's almost like coming home. I know that I will see Donna in a few minutes, once I pass all the required checkpoints and collect my luggage, and I won't even need to enter the heightened alertness stage that I usually experience when I arrive in a foreign airport. This is a piece of cake. I am safe.

And sure enough, after I stack my luggage onto a cart and go through the line to exit the arrival station, Donna and I almost collide in the main concourse. Perfect timing!

I've been in the Manila airport only once - when Lauren and I came to the Philippines the first time a number of years ago. For the next two trips, we traveled to Cebu and then took the ferry across the waters to reach Dumaguete.

Even if I remembered how the Manila airport worked those years ago, the airport I fly into this time is relatively new. It's a spacious, open-air affair, and it seems easy to get around. Donna and I enjoy sitting outside while we wait the several hours for our flight from Manila to Dumaguete.

So many impressions wash through my mind these first few days. Maybe my senses are more aware because I know this is the last time I'll take this trip. Donna and Todd will be moving back to the States in the summer, and I'll no longer have a need to travel to these beautiful islands. I think I will miss my periodic visits here.

The Philippines remind me so much of Florida this time of year. It's just on the verge of being hot, but there are wonderful breezes, and the breezes feel so soft against my skin. One of the first things I notice is that the pages of my book have lost their crispness. Paper is a natural receptor for humidity. Everything carries the aroma of dampness, too, and my skin begins to feel the stickyness that I've always associated with sea air. So many memories of our many years in Florida.

Rising early in the morning to the sound of many roosters, chirping birds, barking dogs, and motor scooters (they're called motors here), I notice the aroma of wood burning and food cooking as people prepare the first meal of the day. Although Donna and Todd live with most of the modern conveniences they would have in the states, including hot water for their showers, it's not so in the nearby neighborhoods. Any number of people have outdoor (and sometimes indoor) cooking fires, some bathe at public water spouts or in the creek and perhaps wash their clothes there, and all in all, they live with many fewer modern conveniences than we, in the States, would imagine possible. Having grown up in West Virginia in the 1940s, all these things remind me of home in another way - home at a distant time and place in my life.

I know it's good to be here, as I fully knew it would be, because my family is here; but I am amazed that I find myself consciously saying those words - it is, indeed, good to be here. Even if Donna and Todd and their children weren't here, there would be elements of this place that would take me back years and years to when I was a small child, and that is good, too.

That we did whatever we did to make it possible that we've visited here while Donna and Todd were here has been a huge blessing. The last two trips (including this one), I've traveled alone, and I know I'll never regret it. It's lovely, it's interesting, it's a way of life that has been forgotten in most parts of the United States. And the biggest blessing, of course, is that I've had precious time with my family as they have grown up and older.

Yes, it's good to be here - very, very good.

Can I add another color to my Martha quilt tops?

Martha Circle quilt top
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

That's my new quest, to see what the addition of a color does to a supposed-to-be patriotic theme. This is Phase V of experimenting with quilting variables - shape, color, arrangements, etc.

Necessity and curiosity are the parents of invention, I think.

The necessity I encountered is this: It's really difficult finding good quilting fabrics that are red, white, or blue and which aren't filled with ultra romantic or feminine motifs like flowers. And the other side to this coin is that I have over-stashed my cabinets with fabrics that I thought were just wild bargains and which I just didn't want to do without.

Thus, the question came to me: What would happen if I added a bit of color that wasn't red, white, or blue. If I could do that, I could use up some of my stash.

I'm still not sure of the answer, but I don't think the addition of a color necessarily takes away the overall patriotic color theme. I suppose someone else could make a different judgment, but since my fabric budget is limited (more limited than I would like it to be, of course), I am encouraged to stretch my imagination a bit to think that these color combinations are patriotic.

The curiosity that comes into play in the quilt pictured above, and others like it which I've posted to Flickr, is this: What would happen if I combined an organized, traditional block with more plain ones? Well, I'm not too disappointed in the results, but I don't think I'll use these particular traditional blocks (in the corners of the quilt pictured above) again. They really take more time to create than I want to invest in what's supposed to be a short job (but which I have made longer just because I want to experiment); and, although I got better at making these blocks as I went along, I think I'd have to give their construction a little more thought to make them work just right. I tend to sew them up a little bigger than 9-1/2, and I haven't figured out why.

I hope someone takes some comfort in these quilts (lap robes, really), though, when others finish them by adding the batting and the back. The whole idea is to bring comfort to our wounded who are taken to a U.S. military hospital in Germany. It's to tell someone that we're thinking about them, that we care that they're injured, that we spent time thinking about them and praying for them, and that we wish they were home with their families and those who love them.

That I have a bit of fun and learn a ton of things in the process is secondary. I always pray that love will overcome my poor workmanship and that emotion is what is received when the quilt is given to its recipient.

Just for my own notes, measured by my self-set goal, this takes me up to the middle of May. I have blocks cut out for two more for May, and I'll work on those, as time permits, during the periods we're home this spring.

Have bag, will travel

Travel bag
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

I am so pleased with the basic bag pattern provided to me by a little $10 bag I bought on the McKinley Explorer on our Holland American land tour to Alaska last year (Anchorage to Prudhoe and back). There seems to be just endless possibilities to what I can do with it. I've made at least a dozen shopping bags and one big knitting backpack, all starting with this basic pattern, and now this one for my travels this spring.

Sometimes I can't believe what a kick I get out of making such simple little things. Some days, I find myself still sewing when Lauren gets home from work, and then continuing after supper. It was the case with this bag. Figuring it out as I went (the extra pockets, the top zipper closure, the additional strap down the middle so I can button it on the back), it took me two solid days to get it all together, and I found myself not wanting to put it down until I figured out, by trial and error, what all the steps should be.

Even the button and buttonhole on this bag were a challenge for me. Vowing not to make a trip to Joann's for buttons, I dug in my stash and picked a couple. I finally ended up with a big black thing with a shank on the back, and then I must have spent an hour or so figuring out just the right type and size of buttonhole for it.

The biggest challenge, though (and I'm not sure I overcame it), was the sleeve at the top with the zipper. I cut a piece of Make-A-Zipper that I thought would be about the right size (I'm no good at precise things, but I'm learning to be better with the quilting I'm learning to do), and then sewed an overlapping placket to the sides of it. The placket is an 8-inch wide piece of fabric, folded to make 4" and interfaced with some woven fabric. I played around with how to get that packet inside that opening, ripping, sewing, ripping ... it's finally there and it feels secure, but I'm sure there must be a better way than what I ended up with. I'll have to go shopping just to see how commercially made bags, similar to this, are made.

The whole thing provides mind-games for this aging brain of mine, and, according to AARP and other popular hype, that's a good thing! And overall, I'm really pleased with the usability and feel of the end product.

Traveling alone with two big wheelie suitcases means that I can't also take my faithful and durable carry-on wheelie case that has been my travel companion for many years. So having a bag that fits neatly and snugly over my shoulder, holding essentials such as food for the journey (that means food to eat, a book to read, a notepad for random thoughts, a little solitaire game to play, and whatever else seems to be something I can't bear to be without while traveling) seemed to be the answer. My wonderful red backback, then, is free to hold my quart bag of liquids, my cosmetics, my medicines, and my travel pillow. And one or both of these bags will have just enough room for me to stuff my sweatshirt and overshirt if I get too warm.

If you see a little old lady in an airport somewhere in the next few months, carrying a bright red backpack on her back and this nice green thing on her shoulder, hobbling along with a cane, that's me. Be sure to stop and say "Hi!"

I think I'm all set. I'm off to the Philippines in two days. Hip, hip, hooray. I'm so excited. I will miss Lauren, but how lovely to spend this precious time with my offspring and her offspring!

Here I come, guys!!! Get ready for Grandma!!!

Sunset at Oceanside and church in Carlsbad

The weather was good to us last week on our three-part mini vacation. It rained all week, but we had a wonderful clear morning to walk last Monday before we drove back home, a great sunny day to visit Quail Botanical Gardens with Susan on Thursday, and when we drove back Saturday night, for our final night there, we arrived just in time for clear weather and a beautiful sunset.

We weren't the only ones enjoying it. There were still surfers in the water and the occasional person or couple standing on the sidewalks, all enjoying the wonder of watching the sun slip below the horizon. Lovely, lovely, lovely. That alone was almost worth the drive from home.

Our big goal for this segment of our mini vacation was to attend Redeemer Lutheran Church in Carlsbad on Sunday. Redeemer is the home church of John and Lois, traveling companions on our Israel trip, and we thought it would be fun to visit their church with the hopes we would run into them.

So we took off Sunday morning in lots and lots of rain and headed toward Carlsbad. The address for Redeemer is 6600 Black Rail, and we thought we must be lost when our Nuvi took us to a complex of apartments and condos. Sure enough, the address seemed to be 6600. Figuring that Redeemer must be close by or we were terribly lost, we drove back to the main road, and a couple blocks away, there it was - another 6600 address on the same street. We still don't quite understand how that could be, but maybe some day we'll figure it out.


We were delighted to see John and Lois come in, and even more delighted that they recognized us. We sat behind them during the service and chatted (yes, at appropriate times). They are such a neat couple.

Redeemer's building is relatively new, and I was struck by the design which created two shadow crosses behind the hanging cross. Very nice.

Today, we're back to our normal routine. When we went to Oceanside last week, during the first segment, we wondered if we'd made a mistake. Although we took mini camping trips last year while I was working 24/7 (at RV parks that had broadband service), this trip was beginning to seem like a silly idea (of mine). We were happy to learn that it was a good thing!

Whatta mess I create!!!

This seems to be my style of working - have it all around me somewhere and grab it as I need it.

I clean up my messes from time to time, depending on whether I think I'm about to start a new project or continue a current one, but this is the way my sewing room (also known as the back porch or porch room) usually looks. There's no getting around it, and I have to admit that I tend to live in clutter.

Multiply the view in the picture by the thought that I also have at least one place where I knit or do hand work, and I have another place, where I am right now, where I spend time blogging, writing e-mails, or looking up things on the Internet, and I have a music place (the same place we play foos ball many mornings, formerly known as our living room and library), and ... just fill in the blanks. I am all over the house. My surroundings are chaotic, and I tend to thrive in my chaos. Unfortunately, it makes the house unfriendly for others, especially for my significant other, Lauren.

Occasionally I vow to clean up my "stuff," and I on even rarer occasions I succeed - for at least a day or two. But it's not long before it begins to appear again - a little on a table, where it spills to the floor and soon begins to creep into other rooms - and I'm back where I started.

Lauren knows me well. It's not that I have to have a pass to enter his space, the bedroom we've reserved for his hang out, but I think there's a silent timer running each time I visit.

Without even realizing what I'm doing, those times when I feel especially chummy, close, loving, cuddly, warm, and fuzzy, I'll plop myself on his Lazy Boy sofa so I can be in the same room with him. (He's often on his computer or he's watching a show he TIVO'd.) That part is ok, but then I'll bring in my knitting, and then maybe a book I'm reading, and once, I thought he would faint when I carried my laptop into his room. It's not long before I start seeing worry lines around his eyes and the air begins to feel a little stressed. Shame on me. Without realizing it, I've started moving in. Not nice of me!

The one room that I try really hard to keep sacred is our bedroom. Although I can sleep with stacks of magazines, samples of cloth, papers I've printed from the Internet, and whatever else I collect around me, I know that too much junk in a bedroom prevents a good night's sleep. Even so, I do have a little cabinet in our room that holds my many needlework magazines. I don't always put them away, but I sincerely try to at least keep only a small (and neat) stack on top of the cabinet, if any at all.

I think it's time again that I go through a "stuff" cleansing, though, throughout the whole house. I need to collect the bits and pieces of myself and put them away, out of sight. Going through that exercise even helps me because it gives me a fresh start. This first week of February seems to be a good time to do that.

Yeh, I think it's time I got it all together again - at least temporarily.

But then, I want to make four more quilt tops for the Martha Circle project before I do ... hmmmm ... I just finished my 4 for March this morning. The pieced blocks are all from scraps. I have four more to do from scrappy patches, and then I think I'll go for another traditional block - except this time I'll cut the pieces the right size!!!

I bet if I work fast, I can do both things - all four of the tops and pick up the pieces of myself! Yeh, I can do that!