Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Painting for Kids
E and I had some fun with a book called "Painting for Kids". It included 5 tubes of acrylic paint and some mixing trays, some brushed and nice textured paper with line drawings. We had fun diluting the paint with water to make the paintings look like watercolor. Neither of us have any formal art training but it was fun and relaxing. Makes me want to take a painting class!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Knitted neck cuff
I used the leftover yarn from making a Lyra Hat to make a matching neck cuff. There is a large brass hook on the front to keep it closed. It worked great to keep my neck warm at Yosemite over Christmas.
Yosemite pics 2
Lunch break on our short hike to lower Yosemite falls. A crow was perched on a branch over our heads, making a sing-song chortling sound. That is what the kids are looking up at in a couple of these photos.
Yosemite pics
Trolling thru my camera's pics from a few days ago. J&E loved picking the icicles off the entrance to the tunnel. Little L was trying to rock climb in the fissure with his dad.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Red cap mushrooms
We weren't sure if these mushrooms were poisonous or not. We didn't eat them just in case. (this is funny because J&E have "all wild mushrooms are deathly poisonous" ingrained in their brains)
Apprentice Sam tree climbing
We hiked through some beautiful mossy forest today with farmer Cynthia from Love Apple Farm and some of her apprentices. Sam was like a monkey in the oak trees!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Best chemistry book ever!
Aunt Penny gave J this book for Christmas and it is awesome! "The Elements: a visual exploration of every known atom in the universe" by Theodore Gray is the perfect book to field a curious 9-year old son's questions about the elements of the periodic table - what does lithium LOOK like? How does plutonium differ from uranium? What ARE sodium and chlorine anyway? We are having a leisurely lunch at a nearby restaraunt, flipping through and chuckling at Theodore's tongue- in- cheek humor sprinkled throughout which makes this book not only dazzlingly beautiful (thanks Nick Mann, photographer) to look at but a joy to read. An excerpt from Plutonium had J spattering water as I read out loud while he was drinking: (talking about a Plutonium bomb not working correctly) "...This is called a fizzle, and while it might spread radiation over a wide area, it won't melt the target city as intended." Each element's page shows its position in the periodic table, weight, density, atomic radius ( nice little diagram), crystal structure (another diagram), and three thermometer-like diagrams: electron filling order, atomic emission spectrum, and state of matter (melting, boiling temps). If you fan the pages our slightly the state of matter charts overlap and you can see patterns of melting points across the whole periodic table. Finally, there is a fold-out detachable poster in the back that shows the periodic table using photographs of each element. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in visualizing the periodic table. It makes a great coffee table book and my son and I love it!
Friday, December 25, 2009
Last night in California...
Penny and Tyler and their two kids are leaving tomorrow. Thank you for visiting this Christmas!
Christmas dinner at Denny's
San Jose Christmas dinner. Penny likes the place mat - "The world looks better through a great cup of coffee".
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
On our way to Yosemite!
Penny and Tyler are following us in my civic hybrid. We already took an unexpected detour through Pleasanton and Livermore. Dumb GPS!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
The Harders at Natural Bridges
Penny & Tyler and their two sons, L&I at Natural Bridges, Santa Cruz, California.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
"Knitting without tears" book review
While learning to knit this fall, I looked at a lot of how-to books and blogs. I found the most helpful book to help me make my first sweater to be "Knitting Without Tears" by Elizabeth Zimmerman. This book doesn't have many pictures or diagrams (it's loosely sprinkled with both...in b&w) however it holds you by the hand and tells you a "formula" for making a sweater in any size. There are other sweater types, as well as other accessories like hats and mittens, but the gem of this book is how to make seamless sweaters (in both directions: bottom up or top down). I feel knowledgeable enough to make a sweater for anybody in any size, from memory (I might write down the key measurements to jog my memory). It feels liberating to know a sweater "recipe" rather than following a pattern. Note: I also altered one additional aspect of the seamless sweater pattern... The under arm. The book has you put the stitches on strings at the underarm, but instead, I knit the sleeves onto the body at the underarm (binding off the armpit) making it a true seamless sweater.
My first sweater!
I am nearly finished knitting my first sweater! It's a "seamless yoke sweater" using the instructions from "Knitting without Tears" by Elizabeth Zimmerman. This sweater is for Tuong and is 42" in diameter at the bottom. I used 6 balls of Lion Brand Yarn (wool-ease thick and quick) and size 15 circular knitting needles (29" for the body and 16" for the sleeves until they were joined to the body at the underarms). It took me about 2 months to knit, mostly while listening to E's choir practice in the mornings, and while carpooling. I altered the pattern a bit by leaving a gap in the center into which I sewed a zipper. Tuong really likes my first real knitting effort, which is encouraging. He asked me what I have lined up next, and I honestly don't know!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
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