Skew Sock & Broken Glass

The day started out strangely. I've become a real coffee person, especially mocha with frothed milk, etc., and I happen to have a coffee maker with a frothing wand. I never used it until recently, but it's great. I usually use a smallish straight-sided glass for the milk, which works well. This morning, I made my coffee, frothed the milk, and put the glass in the sink after I poured the milk out of it. Then I unthinkingly ran water in the glass. The bottom of the glass immediately popped off.



I had forgotten what my Grandmother told us years ago. She told us that when handwashing crystal, especially very thin, delicate glassware, never put the glass into the hot water bottom first. Always put the side in first, so that the glass has room to expand and not crack. I had just proven that it also is true for non-delicate glass. It probably just takes more applications of the hot/cold cycle to break it. So, be careful, and don't do what I did.

A couple weeks ago I talked about an unusual sock pattern I've been knitting, and Claire S.asked if it was Skew from Knitty, and yes it was. I have a photo of the first sock, and I'm actually pretty close to done with the second one.



I used a not-wonderful yarn since I didn't know how it was going to go, and I needed a striping sock yarn which I didn't have. It's Bernat's Satin Sport, which is acrylic. I'm not sure how it's going to hold up, but it's nice to knit and kind of pretty, and okay for a test. I've already bought a nice sock yarn to try another pair. That's the plan anyway.



Finally, I had a really nice lunch at the National Gallery that was kind of a crackery-type base with feta, grilled asparagus, artichoke heart, etc., on caesar salad. I thought I could do something similar, and settled on lahvosh as a good choice for the base. I found a recipe and made some. It turned out really good, but it seems like a lot of work for something that doesn't last long. I've been experimenting around, and I've found that a flour tortilla toasted in the toaster oven works just as well, maybe better, as it's not quite so brittle. Anyway, here's the result of my lahvosh baking.



And thank you all for the very kind hair comments!

A Real Surprise

 

I was very surprised today when this lovely basket was delivered from my eye doctor's office. I had gone to pick up my new glasses yesterday and had a really dismaying experience with the girl who was to fit them, etc. I won't go into details, but in about 5 minutes, she was able to completely destroy any good feelings I had about the business, my glasses, etc. I was stunned by the whole experience, and finally decided that rather than just feeling mad, hurt and never going back, I'd call the office manager and give her all the particulars. We both go there for refraction, glasses and contacts, and everyone there has always been so very nice that it was unbelievable that this was the kind of thing they wanted to happen.

I am so glad I called. Rhonda was so nice, and genuinely appalled to hear what had happened. She was willing to do whatever it took to make me happy, although I really couldn't think of anything. She apologized over and over, and I thought the matter was closed. When the basket came today, I was just amazed! How nice is that, and they will certainly be seeing us again when we need exams, glasses and for me, contacts as well.

So, what's in the basket? Contact lens solution, Optical hand soap, a darling contacts case, a contact, hand/body lotion, cookies and tea. Definitely a calming influence!

Glasses Decision

Thank you all for taking the time to help me decide which pair of glasses I should get. Although it would be great fun to have both of them, for different moods, it seemed quite extravagant to have 2 pairs just as a backup to my contact. And of course, I'd rather spend it on fabric, etc.

So, I went with Choice #1. It's not as avant garde or trendy as the second pair, but I think it will be wearable for a much longer time without looking dated, and that's probably one of the most important things right now.

I loved hearing what you all thought. It really did help me make up my mind. I liked them both so much that it was very difficult to choose, and either one would have been fine, really. Your comments are what finally helped me make the decision. Now I have to wait 2 weeks to get them. Not exactly the speed of light, but whatever.

Which Glasses? Opinions, please.

Well, I'm looking for new glasses. I've been going through various kinds of things ever since the need for bifocals arrived, and I'm pretty much settled on wearing one contact lens most of the time. I've always been extremely nearsighted, and I can wear a multi-focal lens in one eye, and nothing in the other so that I can see close work, like sewing or knitting where I have to really be able to focus on on stitch or thread. But, I have never had bifocal glasses and have just been using my last pair of glasses for emergency purposes. I decided the time had come, and so of course I'm looking at frames. We've narrowed it down to two frames. I got to bring them home and see which one is more comfortable, etc. They both seem equally comfortable, so naturally it's down to looks.

Sorry for the somewhat blurry photos. They looked pretty good until I cropped them. Anyway, there are front and side views of both frames. The more rounded frame is first, and the more squared frame is second, so let's call them 1 and 2. One is a little more rounded and has frame all around the lens while 2 is a little more squared, and is rimless on the bottom. Please ignore the writing on the lenses.

Leave a comment to let me know what you think. I am going back and forth, so I'm really interested in what the consensus is.

 

 

 

 

I also got the new Vogue Knitting today, and the KnitNStyle came last week.

 

I've been doing some knitting, but more sewing lately. A muslin of a sleeveless, princess-seamed top that I made using a well-fitting Marfy jacket pattern. I'm pretty pleased so far, but haven't finished the test garment from the muslin pattern. It's been interesting, though, and I may take a photo of my pattern pieces. They certainly are not standard looking in several ways.