June 2022 – Page 2 – Out & About

Lots of Workouts this Month

I forgot I signed up for this challenge, but that turned out not to matter. I accomplished 20 activities of at least 20 minutes before the 20th of the month.

One day before, but still!

Prepping for #YearofStitch Sampler No. 5

I’m excited about this one. I’m looking forward to experimenting with two kinds of strands.

Shannon’s suggested text said “Bodily autonomy for all” and while that was a fine sentiment, I wanted to use the quote that was in the running for sampler No. 3 but didn’t make the cut.

And you can see that I learned from last time that I should first transfer the design then reposition the material and transfer the lettering.

Coming to Where I Used to Work: A Large Hotel

Walking by what used to be The Emerson School at the corner of SW Park and Couch, I saw that that building will soon be no more. It’s slated to be torn down.

Interestingly, this project doesn’t appear on the NextPortland Map. But I was able to find out about it on the city’s website.

Type III Design Review for a new, approximately 69-foot tall, six story hotel with 178 guest units. A large lobby/reception area and combined lounge/restaurant/bar area are found at the central portion of the ground floor facing NW Park Ave. A 1,700 square foot retail space at the ground floor anchors the corner of NW Park Ave and Couch St. A 1,400 square foot multi-purpose room will be located at the corner of NW Park Ave and Davis St. One Modification is requested to the Required Building Lines standard, and one Adjustment is requested to the number of loading spaces provided.

It looks from the plans like both the Emerson School building and the building on NW Park and Davis will be torn down. It’s not a surprise. When I worked for the school, we kept our fingers crossed that the very elderly owner wouldn’t die, because we figured his heirs would want to knock down both buildings to make way for something more lucrative. And both buildings are the types that won’t deal well with a massive earthquake. When I worked there, I had my earthquake plan all figured out. It involved hiding under my very sturdy 60s metal desk and hoping that the much taller building on the other side of the block collapsed away from my building.

There are huge old-growth timbers on supporting the ceiling of the second story of my old building. I hope they find a new home.

Random Song: “Olsen Olsen” by Sigor Rós

Peggy La Point plays this now and again on Sunday Brunch. I like the repetition, and the repeating motif that sounds like it’s using a tin whistle.

Have a listen for yourself.

Pinwheels Outside Keen

Back in the early pandemic when Portland hosted nightly protests, Keen boarded up its windows and has never taken the boards down. I don’t love the look, but I think these pinwheels make a nice addition.

#YearofStitch Sampler No. 4: Do No Harm Take No Shit

We did sampler no. 4 on Aida fabric, a fabric I’d not stitched on since Regan was president. I don’t love it, because it reminds me of my cross stitching past, but it was very handy for gridding out all these filling stitches.

Unlike the last sampler, I’m quite pleased at the colors I chose.

Here we have Hungarian stitch and cushion stitch. Hungarian stitch, the first one, turned out to be my favorite. I used twelve strands, not liking how it looked with six strands, and it was a thumb killer, but look how great it looks! Unfortunately, cushion stitch came early on and I wasn’t sure what to do if the pattern didn’t perfectly repeat, so some letters are a little short.

Next are raised stem band stitch and fern stitch. Raised stem band stitch was quick, but I didn’t like how it was a bit wavy in places. Fern stitch was my second favorite, looks-wise.

The last two are tied gobelin stitch and French stitch. I liked the complexity of tied gobelin stitch and how firm it was, plus it had such good coverage. Shannon pointed out that French stitch should be called vulva stitch, and that made me laugh. With the number of strands I was using it wasn’t quite so obvious, but it for sure looked like it in her example stitches.

I outlined everything in backstitch and that took forever and used a lot of thread, but was worth it in the end, I think.

And here is the back, because it’s fun to look at the backs of things. Aside from raised stem band stitch (the red and pink one) being wavy, it also had those long runners on the back I didn’t like.

The next sampler will not be as intensive. This did take a bit of time. But was well worth it.

SKS: Jelly Belly Postcard 2/2

Sara says that the factory was not in production that day, but that there were many fun things to do notwithstanding.

There was even a section about Ronald Regan and his love of jelly beans. Apparently, Regan’s jelly bean–specific sweet tooth really changed the trajectory of the company.

Postcard from Cousin Ron

Cousin Ron sent me this really great vintage postcard from Florida. I find the composition kind of fascinating. It seems strange to talk about a residential street and then show the actual street. To me, a residential street would show the houses that are located on the residential street. It does look like a very nicely paved street, though.

Ron says that he and Jim drove down to Florida at the end of March, which was a nice break from the Ohio cold, but a long drive that made the trip a bit rushed.

He’s also hoping to come out for a visit this year. That would be fun!