Make sure all your friends are keeping warm during the polar vortex. Baby, it’s cold outside!

collected for you by TipNut: patterns

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

More than just a book of patterns, Folk Socks opens with a useful series of concise articles on the history of stockings, beginning with ancient examples made with cloth or leather, the transition to naalbinding and then knitting, the growth of the stocking as fashion accessory, and the transition from hand to machine production. There are also brief sections on knitting tools and knitted stocking traditions in countries throughout Europe. This is one of the best short accounts I’ve seen. Nancy Bush knows her stuff and how to present info in an interesting way. She also provides a good tutorial of the “anatomy” of socks and the various techniques used to knit the individual parts, including “clock” designs.

The rest of the volume contains patterns designed to represent traditional socks/stockings from 18 different countries. These patterns are beautiful, but many are quite complex, requiring…

Gen. Robert Eichelberger

From:  “Our Jungle Road to Tokyo” by General Robert Eichleberger

Although negotiations with Yamashita for surrender were completed after 8th Army had relinquished control of Luzon, the story should be told here.  It must be remembered that Japanese forces at this period had little or no communication with the homeland.

On 7 August – the day of the fall of the first atomic bomb – an America pilot was forced to abandon his disabled plane and parachute behind the Japanese lines in northern Luzon.  He was picked up by an enemy patrol the next morning and taken after 5 days of forced marches to Gen. Yamashita’s headquarters, then SW of Kiangan.

There he was subjected to vigorous and prolonged interrogation.  He was threatened with physical violence when he steadfastly refused to answer questions.

Gen. Yamashita

On 16 Aug – the attitude of the Japanese interrogators abruptly…

(1) John Jackson Lewis, (2) Edith May (Lewis) Rider, (3) Marian Faith (Rider) Irwin, (4) Marian Dunlap (Irwin) Guion, (5) Judith Anne Guion.

The following are transcriptions of John Jackson Lewis’s diary and journal of his voyage to California in 1851. He was travelling  from New York to visit his older brother William in San Jose.

Diary

There was a heavy fog during the night and the vessel was stopped for a time, for fear of getting aground on some of the numerous islands or rocky shoals in the vicinity.  The weather to day is cloudy, cold and disagreeable.  We have been sailing near the coast to day.  Some of the mountains, inland, appear to be covered with heavy timber; the hills near the shore with grass or wild oats.  There is a very perceptible improvement in our fare to day.  Distance from San Francisco, noon, 195 mi., Distance sailed…

I’m remembering my mother especially today – Dorothy Friend born on April 7 in 1912 in Minneapolis Minnesota.  She lived a full life and passed away peacefully at home in Maui Hawaii in the year 2000.  May she rest in peace.

  1912, a baby photo in Minneapolis

  Omaha Nebraska, growing up

  1936, newly wed

  1943, Mother and me on the left

  1958, Middlebury College, a proud mother of a proud graduate

 family reunion, 1977?, Mother is the happy woman wearing the blue cardigan

more photos to follow as time and searching permit

A long time ago, in September 1959, I set out from Boston to attend a Middlebury friend’s wedding in Evanston, Illinois.   My friend Ginny and I had met early on at the start of our Freshman year at Middlebury.  During Freshman year we lived next door to each other and then in Sophmore year we shared a room in Le Chateau.

   Le Chateau in winter, Middlebury College, Vermont

                    Upon reaching Evanston, Ginny’s hometown, I looked up some friends who were still in the house on Sheridan Drive where I had lived during the previous academic year when I was attending Northwestern University.  Lo and behold, my friends were going to drive to  California  and they needed another passenger.  Having just returned from a 2 month trip to Europe I was looking for a job and the West Coast was one of the areas I wanted to explore…

A while ago Susan wrote a blog  about how in some ways she felt disoriented as an Irish person living in the Northwest corner of the U.S.  A particular disorientation occurred as a result of the words applied to the seasons.  Summer in Ireland has a certain meaning – summer in New England, and possibly Seattle where Susan lives,  is a different kettle of fish.

I grew up in New England.  Summer to me means July-August.  The summer season runs from the Fourth of July to Labour Day, the first Monday in September.  Warm-hot weather, swimming in the ocean.  Autumn or Fall months are September-October-November.  Winter is the skiing season – December-March.  Spring skiing would be in early April.  And for me the Spring months are April-May.  June is rather undefined.  Possibly I define my seasons according to the sports we played – field hockey in the fall/autumn, skiing and…

We are having a family reunion.  More family members arriving today. Following are a miscellany of family photos.  (I was looking for one particular photo showing us all 2 years ago – but these are some I found instead.)

  Whee – another son and 3 more grandchildren are in the air and on their way to Seattle  The 3 sons many years ago- Dublin 1972

 Spring 1037 – the 3 sons’ grandmother holding me and sitting on the steps in front of her are my brother Bob holding Blackie the cat, and my sisters Ruth and Nan are beside Bob and Blackie

1966 – Ian before we were married

  Ian, the father of the 3 boys – at a family reunion in New Hampshire

 Kyle’s family tree – Kyle is our eldest grandson, now age 15

  part of the flight path earlier today

  3 of…