My first nice knit piece…

In my time unemployed, i decided I wanted to learn a couple of useful skills. Add to that a desire for a product that’s not commercially available (a floor length wool scarf) and I ended up learning to knit. I picked up a “for Dummies” kit that included a couple sizes of needles, and got started with some scrap yarn that was floating around the house. The first thing I did was use up that skein, and one more, to make a simple garter stitch scarf. This I donated to Tibbetts Church for their clothing for the homeless program.

The next item was a scarf for Wendy, made from a really nice pink and purple multi-colored yarn that I knitted using almost entirely stockinet stitch. After learning a little more about knitting and various stitches, this piece is being re-done in a different stitch (knit 1 purl 1 the whole length.) After initially finishing her scarf and now, I knitted another scarf. This one was to be mine, made from a nice 50/50 blend of Wool and Llama. Using 4 skeins of 1302 yards each, the scarf is a little over 10 feet long. It’s black, Charcoal, and Gray, mostly stockinet with short sections in garter to help hold it a little less curled, and drapes to the floor on each side. Perfect. Here’s a couple pictures:

An Evening on the Water with Friends

Last night Wendy and I were fortunate enough to be able to take a tour of Lake Washington on The Way Home, a 42 foot cabin cruiser that belongs to Laurie Way. Wendy met Laurie at RE Bar Camp earlier this year, and after the Bar Camp Laurie took us for a short cruise around Lake Union. I offered to help decorate her ship for the holidays, and that’s how we ended up there last night.

We brought along the Hochalter family, and Misha St. Lorant, and were also joined by a couple that had just purchased a home here in Seattle through Laurie, as well as Laurie’s friend & First Mate Cary.

It was a fun cruise, the weather ended up perfect. Not too cold, and clear. Not windy. We headed through the Mountlake Cut along with a couple of other decorated boats, and then headed south to Leschi under the SR-520 bridge. There we met up with a larger group of Christmas Ships as well as the main Argosy Cruises Christmas Ship that has the carolers on board. Last night’s group was The Dickens Carolers.

I took some pictures, but with the boat moving and everything, my old camera just couldn’t really keep up… they are all a “little” blurry… If you’d like to see them, follow the link below…

http://pensandpixels.com/stephenhj/images/ChristmasShips1/index.htm

A sad day for Lakewood PD.

My heartfelt condolences go out to the friends and family of the 4 police officers shot and killed this morning in a Parkland coffee shop. hopefully the person responsible will be found shortly. If you have any information pertaining to the event, please contact CrimeStoppers, or the Lakewood Police Department.

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Mantic59 is having a contest!

Mantic59, aka The Shave Tutor, has reached 5000 subscribers to his YouTube channel, and in celebration is running a contest.

And here was my written entry for his blog…

Classic wetshaving... I started using a brush and soap just after I was married 12 years ago. At that time, I was using a multi-bladed cartridge razor, and my new wife bought me a Shavemac 19mm silvertip travel brush and nice soap bowl. I later switched to electric, then back to cartridge several years ago when Schick sent me a free Quattro. Also at that time I found a really nice shaving cream when I visited a new barbershop in town.

Then, last year, I went to GreenFest Seattle with Wendy (the wife) and met RetroRazor, who sold me a starter kit with a Weishi DE razor and a few blades. After a little trial, and finding Mantic59's Shave Tutor videos, I was off and running. My face was never smoother, and my skin never softer, than after I started shaving the old fashioned way. This  led to finding the earlier version of the twist-to-open DE razor, a 1948-50 Super Speed from Gillette. And that led to the Badger and Blade forum, which led to starting a collection of classic razors...

Since then I have begun shaving with straight razors, and now have 8-10 straight blades, some of which date back at least before 1880, if not older. I've learned to restore blades that have a little rust on them, and to hone them to shaving sharp. I've also replaced the bristles of a few old shaving brushes with new, high quality brush tips.

I have found a few new friends along the way, and also introduced a few old friends to a better, more comfortable way of shaving. I hope to continue to learn how to keep some of these classic implements of grooming in circulation, as it's a fun hobby. And finally, I want to thank Mantic59 for providing such a great resource for people to learn the basics of how to go about getting a clean, comfortable shave.

Signs of Autumn in Seattle

It’s definitely getting closer to winter. The trees are or have changed colors. The temperatures are falling. There are fog horns in the morning on Elliot Bay. And the sidewalks are becoming stained with the imprints of maple leaves that have fallen and then been soaked by the rain.

The Human Figure…

I recently posted an image that contained a compendium of measurement date from the Architectural Graphic Standards from 1946. Well, here’s another interesting plate from the same book, showing the Dimensions of the Human Figure. It kind of gives you an idea of some of the things that an Architect might think about when designing a space for working in. From how high to make a shelf to how low to make a table, this set of drawings goes into a great deal of detail, and is pretty interesting to check out.