Hello everyone!

I have not yet completely disappeared from the planet. As you can see, I have still been knitting, albeit slowly.

The new job has been very busy and fun, but I have still managed, after 6 long months, to finish the Laar sweater! It involved doing a lot of techniques that were either completely new to me or that I had only done maybe once before. And yet it still turned out wearable with no obvious flaws. It’s a success!!

Ravelry project page.

You may have noticed that I haven’t been around much these days. It seems the new job is keeping me pretty busy. I just have not had the time or the energy for the blog, and, truth be told, I go for weeks without even remembering that it exists. I’m a little sad about this, but realize that it’s just the way things are going to be.

I was at a birthday party for a couple of 6-year old today and was asked how the new job was going. When I complained that I just don’t feel like I have very much time to do anything any more, I got a couple of blank stares and some silence. Then someone said, “You’re talking to people with kids.” Right, no sympathy from that crowd. But it’s a huge change for me (both having a full-time job again and having to have that job be somewhere else than my home office) and I’m working on having some patience with it all and letting more things go than I would have in the past.

And one of those things is obviously the blog. I do hope to post here on occasion in the future — like when I finally finish that sweater.

But I wanted to let you know that I won’t be around much, at least for a while. Until I can figure out how to juggle more things at one time. I hope to still see you here on occasion, and I’ll be lurking around your blogs as well, commenting while I’m on the train home from work.

Until then, here are a few more views of Stanford’s campus, usually taken on my morning or afternoon walk through campus to my office. Passing on a little of our Northern California blue skies to you!

They have lots of really beautiful yarn here. I do not desire a yarn stash, but, even so, I have yarn for at least 3 or 4 specific projects waiting for me at home, so I wasn’t looking to buy. Just fondling the goods.

They also have yarn they dye themselves with natural dyes that is super yummy. I had seen this before at stitches.

This location is relatively new for them. When they moved here they added fabric to their offerings! And they have some super cute stuff, even if it’s a fairly small collection.

Now about my new project! I had a couple contact me about making a queen-sized quilt for them to use as part of the commitment ceremony they are planning for next July. Their story really touched me and when I met them they seemed like such sweet people that I agreed to do this project for them. And I only agreed because it’s a year off, and we are going to try to get started fairly soon. Otherwise I don’t think I would have had time to do this with the new job and all.

Lots of the details are yet to be worked out, but they do know that they are going to get fabric contributions from all of their friends and family to include in the quilt. They seem super organized, so I think it will be a fun experience. And I think it will be a good way to keep me sewing! I’ll keep you posted on the project as it progresses!

We also have an awesome mineral collection, but it’s in double-sided glass cases in the foyer and is super hard to get pictures of. Plus, I’m not sure I’m allowed to take photos of them and post them anyhow. Things are a little particular about the minerals collection, which technically I think is only on loan from someone.

And here’s the view from the mezzanine level where all the map cases are. I am almost never up there, but went up to snag a few photos. This one is looking out through the front of the building down the Lomita Mall, which runs along the west side of the Main Quad.

I recently went on a field trip with some colleagues to one of the library’s storage facilities on the other side of campus. They were doing a survey of the atlases the library had in its collection. I was looking at cool old books!

You know I have a thing for beautiful book covers. Check out this book on Egypt from 1885.

Is that not gorgeous? And the title page is nearly as much fun, with its beautiful type.

Egypt: Descriptive, Historical, Picturesque by G. Ebers (originally in German).

One thing they do very well at Stanford as far as the architecture on campus goes, is to pay attention to detail. These are all photos from the Main Quad area of campus. The flower/star design is repeated all over the place, and, in fact, is used as the University’s logo.

Here it is Enormous-sized in the center of the Main Quad. It’s really hard to even get a photo of this one.

You also see it all over the outside of the buildings in the stonework.

I caught this glimpse of one as part of the interior flooring in the Main Quad one day when they had the doors propped open.

And even the drain hole covers were invited to the party!

Wow! I had no idea it had been nearly a month since I last posted. It seems this new full-time job is keeping me so busy that I haven’t had time to post. And I really haven’t.

The good news is that I’m enjoying my new job, so feeling like I have no free time isn’t so bad. And the beauty of the campus has yet to diminish in my eyes. Case in point — the topic for this post. Water fountains. I kid you not.

The main quad that surrounds the Memorial Church on campus has a water fountain installed on each corner. I literally stopped dead in my tracks the first time I saw these. Gorgeous! And — they work! Yes, you can actually drink from these works of art, which were apparently gifts of the graduating classes of 1924, 1925, 1926, and 1927.

Feast your eyes, even if you can’t virtually quench your thirst.

Class of 1924

Class of 1925

Class of 1926

Class of 1927

Windows in the Main Quad (love the open one at the top left!)

The ceiling at Geology Corner in the Main Quad

Have a great weekend everyone!

And this building is Mitchell Earth Sciences, which contains the Branner Earth Sciences Library where my new office is!

I have now completed five days (not consecutive) at my new job, and been paid for not working on a holiday. It’s going pretty well so far. My only real problem at the moment is that the two new pairs of shoes I bought specifically for work because I thought they would be nicer looking and yet still be good for walking around campus have now both given me giant blisters. One was a pair of Born sandals and the other some cute Cole Haan’s with a small wedge and Nike Air insoles. Drat.

I DID manage on my day off on Wednesday to sneak in a tiny sewing project! I took two of those nine patch blocks that I have been hand piecing (though I haven’t done any lately) and sewed them together to make myself a coaster for my tea mug at work.

The hand quilting stitches don’t show as well on the back, of course, but I really like both color palettes. This entire (tiny) project was all sewn by hand!

And on Saturday I hemmed a pair of new pants. Not exciting, but technically a sewing project!

I’ve also been working on knitting that sweater. Progress is definitely being made. It’s a bottom up sweater and I have finished the oceans of stockinette on the bottom and my next row is the first row of the lace pattern. Wish me luck!