Finishing the "Me"me and What I Did On My "Day Off"

I want to finish this "Me"me and have only a few more questions, so here I go. 

What do you like to do with friends?

It's probably terrible to admit, but I don't really have a lot of in-person friends. When I was younger and worked in offices with lots of people around, I had a lot of friends. But I'm much older now, and self-employed, so my physical circle of friends is quite limited. I do have a lot of cyber friends, and they are quite dear to me, but I can't invite them over for coffee or meet them for lunch. I prefer to spend my time on my own, but do go to see films with Chickie on occasion (obviously NOT since COVID, but hopefully once again sometime in the future). I'm no longer the life of the party, but my life is pretty good. 

What's your dream job?

I never really envisioned myself working in my own retail business, but I've been doing that since the mid-1980's. I would love to work in the art field, though - museum curator, even in a museum gift shop (although that wouldn't be as fun as actually working with the artwork). But, looking back over my life, I really can't complain too much. 

At what job would you be terrible?

Although I do very well behind the scenes in hospitals and have worked in hospitals in the past, I could never be directly in patient care in the health care industry. I don't do well with sharp and pointed instruments, pain, and sickness. I fully admit that I'd make a poor apprentice in Elrond's House of Healing. 

I want to see Abu Simbel in person. I want to wander 
through the Valley of the Kings, and marvel at the 
pillars at Karnak Temple. I want to walk up the 
steps to Hatshepsut's Temple and marvel at the 
Great Pyramids. I hope to someday stand in Egype 
 and close my eyes against the grit of sand spurred
up by a stray breeze. 

What's something you say you'll do, but never will?

I suspect traveling the way I always wanted to - long stays in a variety of countries and cities around the world. I'd still love to do it, but with the world as it is today and my age, it's highly unlikely. I still want to go to Egypt, that's at the top of my bucket list, and I'd love to ride a horse into Petra (shades of Indiana Jones), it brings a smile to my face just to think about it. There are other places I would love to visit for good memories or for a visit of extreme heartbreak (Auschwitz comes to mind for that one since my family was killed there), but my Hubby is very much a stay-at-home guy, so it's likely that any travel I do will be minimal, and mostly domestic. 

I've been in love with Egypt since I was a small child. It 
was my love of Egypt that pulled me into Anthropology/
Archaeology as a college major and a profession in the 
first place. To see the monuments in person would be 
the culmination of a life-long dream. 

How would you describe your style?

Boring - long-sleeved t-shirts in warmer weather, turtlenecks with pullover sweaters in colder times. Leggings or long skirts, also climate dependent. Sorrel snow boots in winter, pull-on flats in summer, and hats - lots of hats. Yeah - boring. I adore fashion, but I'm no fashion-plate. 

The Temple of Hatshepsut is stunning, placed against 
the Egyptian cliffs. The architecture is superb, something 
even Frank Lloyd Wright would love. 

What are your hobbies?

OMG, almost too many to list. Beading, of course. Fiber arts - weaving, knitting and spinning. Metal working - soldering, etching, enameling, making jewelry and assemblages. Then there are my boxes - that's where I allow my multi-media side to really play. I love combining things into new things, so I remake boxes and give them new lives and purpose. Eventually I'll set up an Etsy store for my creations, after I've retired and can actually work on projects for more than three hours a week. I write too, but I suspect mine will be a novel that never actually sees print. 

This is the knit side of the sweater. I made 
one error in the ribbing, and I bound off 
the shoulders incorrectly (but I won't lose 
stitches, so that's OK). It's far from perfect, 
but I'm having a lot of fun. 

So ... that's the end of the "Me"me. I have a couple of pictures to share of what I did on my "day off" this week. As you may know (unless you've been under a rock for the past month), I have a knitting machine that I've been trying to get comfortable with. On Wednesday I cleared the few things out from in front of Sewing Cabinet #3 and pulled out one wing of the table that I have in that area, setting my machine up on top of it. I started knitting a specific project and got a LOT done in my three hours of time. 

This is the pearl side of the sweater. When 
working with a knitting machine, it's this 
side that is facing you. I do know how to 
hand knit, but I wouldn't have gotten farther 
than a few rows in three hours. Here I 
managed the entire back of the sweater - 
almost 100 rows of actual sweater, not 
counting the bottom "waste yarn" or top 
shaping yarns that only hold things 
together. 

I've been working on a beginning project - a size 2 sweater for my nephew's baby who was born in May. It looked like a reasonable project to tackle and I'm learning a lot by doing it. I did the back of the sweater on Wednesday, and I'll tackle the front of the sweater next week. It's not perfect, but I wouldn't expect perfection in a first effort. I'm gaining confidence with the equipment, though, and knitting this much in only three hours is amazing to me. I'm having a BUNCH of fun! 

So, as always, I plan on being back tomorrow. Please be kind, stay safe and wear your mask. I'll be back tomorrow.