Letters from Africa

Matt's brother Chris is leaving next week to go into the Peace Corps. He's going to Mali for two years. Makes me think back to when I left for the Peace Corps over 15 years ago now. Hard to believe. One of the best things I did was write home regularly, and thanks to my parents, I now have those letters again. So I'm going to relive some of my experiences by going through the letters. I left in June 1991 to go to the Central African Republic, much in the news these days along with Sudan, Chad, the Congo.

We stayed in Philadelphia for a few days (maybe even the same hotel that Chris will stay in) and then took a bus to JKF, where we climbed aboard a plane (not yet Air France I don't think), flew through Paris and onto Douala, Cameroun. We spent five weeks in a town called Batie for the first part of our training. From there, 20 of us left on another flight to Bangui, CAR.

Postcard from Batie, June 6th or June 13th:

"Mom and Dad,

It's Sunday about noon. Things are fine and we're getting going around here. I thought I would send you a short note w/ this postcard just to let you know we had a good time in Paris and got here to Batie safely. It reminds me so much of the mountains in Pakistan. We are in the mountains in Southwest Cameroun and it is so beautiful. Everything is fine and I love you. Tell everyone I say hello.

Love, Frank"

Cat Bite!

I've been nursing a cat bite that I got Saturday afternoon. Matt and I were installing a new swamp cooler (works really well by the way) and Marcel, the silly one, got in the way. He didn't really get in the way, but he was lying down next to the house where we were installing the thing and I was walking backwards and stepped on him. I've stepped on him (and the other kitties) before, and while they usually let out the most god-awful screeches, this time Marcel actually sank his fangs around my Achilles Tendon. I lifted my foot up but unfortunately put it right back down on him again. He didn't bite the second time, but he shrieked again and got out from under my foot. All the while, Matt and I held onto the swamp cooler. They're not as heavy as air conditioners, thank god.

It looks like a vampire tried sucking blood from my ankle. One puncture wound on each side, one very shallow, but the other very deep. I tried cleaning the wounds with hydrogen peroxide and put antibiotic ointment on them and went back to work installing the swamp cooler. By the end of the evening, though, I was pretty sore and took some advil and had two gin & tonics to make it feel better. I finally went to Denver Urgent Care yesterday (stayed home from work) and was hooked up to an IV with antibiotics. I was very happy with the service... I would recommend this place. I will have had three IV antibiotic treatments and am taking two other oral antibiotics for 7 and 10 days. The lesson is... if you get a cat bite (even if it's your own cat) go to a doctor right away. Don't wait.

I'm about 4/5 done with the sweater I'm working on. It's an adult sized men's sweater worked in the round... no sewing and no seams. It's great.

Buying the House!

We've been renting in Denver's Historic Baker Neighborhood for almost a year now, and we've decided to stay. We're going to buy the little house we're in on Archer Place. The decision was based mainly on trying to keep the kitties safe and happy.

Here are some pics of the house, taken from last summer.

Gone for a while, but not forgotten...

It's been a while since I've posted and so much has changed!! No we haven't left Denver, but the job that brought me out here is longer the job I have. I'm not having to commute up to Boulder anymore and I don't have to think about tenure anymore... I have a really great job at a law firm in downtown Denver.

So what about knitting... still going strong. I've done quite a few of the flat top hats and am doing a few more. My god son who lives in D.C. has a new sweater, since he's outgrown the last two. Check it out. Cute, huh?

I also decided to try to knit in alphabet beads to customize the hats. Did a couple of these... think they turned out allright. And it was fun!

Gift for Babies

Friends having babies is what really got me started with knitting. And it's keeping me going too. I just finished this baby blanket for a friend in Minneapolis



and am finishing up a couple little I-cord hats for a friend's two sisters-in-law back in Indiana, both due in September.

Knitting in the Rockies

Last weekend, Matt and I went camping with some friends up in the Rocky Mountain National Park. It was beautiful... and cooler than the 100 degree temps down in Denver. While up there, I started a baby blanket that needs to be finished within a week or so for a baby shower in Minneapolis! So I'm working on it at home and on the commute up to Boulder and back (on the bus... not while driving).



I finished up the Nepali hat project. I think it was the fourth attempt at getting the top flat. And although it's not completely flat like I'd like it, it's pretty close and I don't think I want to take it apart again and try a fifth time. It looks pretty good. Now I have a pile of hats. A couple of them will be going off in the mail pretty soon.

Nepali hat coming along...

I think I'm figuring out how to recreate the Nepali style flat-top hat. To review, it's like the flat top hats that I've knitted (see below), but instead of knitting garter stitch (on a circular needle, knit one row, purl one row),

I'm knitting every row ending up with stockinette stitch all around, but knitting twice the length so I can fold the body in half and join the cast-on end with the top before starting on the flat top. I then end up with a thicker, two layered, stockinette stitch body for the hat.

The idea is to finish up with the 6 triangles on top, like the hats below, although the hat I got in Nepal has a flat stockinette stitch top that I guess is just circular and sewed onto the body. I'd like to find out how to just knit a flat top going in circles... decreasing in a spiral but keeping it completely flat. Any ideas?