So, my day wasn’t all that exciting.
about 550meters worth of cotton
knit into a blanket. Finished now except for the blocking
a reasonable start on the puzzle
a bunch of nagging and errands.
Cotton Blanket
Category Archives: Knitting
and yes, there is knitting
since it is something I can pick up and put down whenever there is an interruption.
Last Friday, when I stopped at Avenue Yarnshttps://www.avenueyarns.com – I decided to buy another ball of some kind of cotton that would be easy and simple. Katia Yarns produces this lovely Fair Cotton Craft. One ball makes a number of simple items, scarves and small blankets being among them. (Free Pattern on their website, you just have to hunt inside the pattern for your particular language since they have produced a “one pattern for everyone and every language.”)
147 stitches
across and a simple increase/decrease that reverses with 10 stitches between each repeat. Each color appears only once with the majority of the yarn being a basic natural. Size 3.5mm needles and I was all set. Task list, yarn, headphones, audio book….
As far as I can go
on my shawl for the Wild Swan MKAL. In case I haven’t explained it – MKAL stands for Mystery Knit Along. The pattern for the knit-a-long is published in increments which means that none of us participating have a clue as to what the final product will look like. Ravelry has updated their software so that it now possible to post progress pictures on the forums but have them hidden under a “spoiler” label so that each person can make the choice of whether or not to peek.
Me? I don’t want to wait until after the full pattern is published to start – that takes all the fun out of participating. But peeking means that if, for some reason, I decide it isn’t worth my time, I can bail out earlier in the process. I really don’t need any more UFOs (Unfinished objects) lying around.
So here I am – 6 rows short of completing Chart G, the last.
see the needle?
After reading most of the discussions, I decided that I could end the shawl after o this particular row with a regular rather than a picot bind off. Not enough yarn. I am stuck and am very glad that I contacted the dyer several weeks ago for more yarn.
I don’t wait well…..
and today is?
It was partway through the day when I figured out that one half of the email list was dated correctly and the other half stated it was “19 Jan 2019.” Now obviously that was not true. What was probably worse was that I originally thought that the 13th was the incorrect date.
Something tells me that I was not feeling as well as I would like to have imagined.
It was obviously a slog to get to school. I made in through my two morning classes, the return through BART and was grateful for a pick-up by George. I was going to use the excuse of being completely brain dead as to why I wasn’t really studying for the rest of the day. But really, is knitting a complicated lace something I should be trying in a brain dead situation?
Through Chart E
the left “wing”
I won’t bother to tell you how many corrections I had to make on the return rows to finish the last portion of clue 3. Let us just say that there were a lot of yarn overs and beads involved.
Yep. Gave up. Went to bed with the intention of getting up early….
What used to be here
A long time ago – or when I lived in Heidelberg – which may or may not be all that long ago in geological terms I wrote about some of the brass plaques inserted in various sidewalk locations in memory of those who had lived at that location and were taken and killed as part of the Holocaust.
As it turns out, there are plaques with a similar purpose set in the sidewalks here in San Francisco. These don’t relate to the Holocaust (obviously). So far I haven’t found any that relate to much of the California shame of the WWII internments. But what I found on my walk from the Powell Street BART to UC Hastings via various streets in the Tenderloin – was the following:
B’nai Brith arrived in San Francisco in 1855. Started originally to help widows and orphans, nationwide it became a strong supporter of the Anti-Defamation League, Hillel Foundations and BB Youth Organizations.
And here is a link to the California Digital Press Archives from 1897. The archives are searchable and there are a number of contemporaneous articles on the 1906 Earthquake and the aftermath (1, 2 , 3- which discusses the libraries that were lost in the fire)
In researching more recent times – there were three remaining Lodges in SF which combined in 1997 to one. Of interest is that of those involved was still named the Golden Gate Lodge (see picture above).
In 1999, the official office closed and the organization became completely run by volunteers.
At some point, they even decided to admit women. (gasp! I remember the mother of a good friend saying – the men do B’nai Brith, the women do Haddasah. The local chapter likes to bowl, and bowling is just not a Jewish sport, I don’t belong! This was the early 1970s. )
In 2005, the remaining San Francisco lodge celebrated 150 years of activity in San Francisco.
It was at this point I ran out of time following various links down newspaper archives and various other bit-buckets. Something about a couple more classes this afternoon and maybe being prepared?
Wild Swan
now through 94 rows –
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- Right Wing
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- Center Section
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- left wing
Wild Swan
For something completely unrelated to all my usual bitch, moans, and whines – knitting!
The Gradient Group on Ravelry is having a knit along (KAL) and the pattern is called Wild Swans. After looking at several of the spoilers, it actually seemed like both a nice shawl pattern and an interesting knit.
Of course I have yarn. I have lots and lots of yarn. So no excuse to buy any more. I also have a significant number of knitting needles in almost every size (which means that I spent almost 30 minutes digging through draws, bags, bins, and boxes till I located exactly the needle that I wanted).
The yarn is from Fierce Fibers which I purchased last fall while in Portland on that American Steamboat cruise with George. The yarn type is Abyss which is a 50/50 merino & silk blend. It is not superwash (duh) in color Midnight Oil at about 645 yds.
Abyss Yarn – Midnight Oil
The pattern starts with an I-cord tab. The clues are released on 1, 3, 5, & 12 January with the deadline 15 Feb.
Clue 1 included Chart A
Chart A – 36 rows
Clue 2 includes Charts B, C, & D
Thru Chart B – 42 Rows
Which means that I am now off to tackle Chart 3 after which I will have 48 rows (and 144 stitches on my 3.5mm needle)
Tiling in the New Year
The break is over. Today we have workman on the foundation downstairs.
getting ready to pour again
Yes the foundation is complete, but they are adding the steps/skirting at the entrances. We looked at ramps, and they can still be added in the future but at this point would take up so much ground space as to eliminate all the green outside the kids front door.
with dump truck out on the main road
At the same time, the large pile of slippery clay is being removed and tile is being laid in the downstairs. I think I mentioned that we put in radiant heat? The subfloor is finished and the gentlemen who did the tiling upstairs in the 2014 renovations are doing the downstairs. Their tile work is amazing.
Back to the floor. We are being simple, attractive and extremely easy to clean. The tiles when laid give you the appearance of a wooded plank floor without the upkeep or scratching that is going to occur with two rather good size dogs living in the place. Not quite drain in the floor – hose it down, but easy to sweep, mop or vacuum.
looking like aged wooden planks
meanwhile, today has been busy – Dani to work at 0500 and bailed out at 1230 – Alex dropped off at 1300, run to the lighting store for a fixture for the front entry and cabinet hardware. Dani had asked a reasonable question this morning – how am I going to get the drawers open. Answer? We need to by handles. Only took two stops – those at the first were lovely but extremely overpriced so we went to the main hardware store used by our contractor, found something just as nice and 1/2 the price (before builder’s discount.)
otherwise, I am cranking away on my version of Illumine knit from two alternating balls of Katia Infinity
up to row 78
Palma
No, I didn’t bother to take the tour today. I figured it out. Instead I went for a short walk.
Well, not so short.
a lovely day for a walk
Instead of heading directly into town I went left to the old Navy port and where the Tui (Mein Schiff whatever) was docked. Turns out the old weapons are inside the current naval base, so no tour of those…). Then back to Port Pi (shopping center) and down Joan Miro all the way into town.
Would you believe that I found a yarn store? (duh you are probably thinking)
Katia yarn
You have to understand, I have drifted through Palma half a dozen times over the last six years and haven’t struck gold. This place was packed with yarn floor to ceiling. Also Anchor crochet cotton and a full range of embroidery floss. The lovely owner didn’t speak any English, my Spanish is close to non-existant. But I received help from a lovely English woman who has lived there for close to 50 years. She is originally from Camberley but moved to Palma when her mother remarried. She has extended family now in the area (sisters, stepsisters, daughter, granddaughter…) which is good since she has just started her second bout with chemo therapy, the last being a couple of years ago. She mentioned not having a lot of energy, obviously no hair and misses her eyelashes the most. Ruling out experimental therapy (and trips to Barcelona) she has decided that knitting would be better than crochet for now and is embarking on a sweater for the granddaughter.
We talked for a while, then each went our separate way. Me thinking that I have had it easy compared to her: chemo made me crabby and tired but not all that sick. I, hopefully have bought a few years before I have to make any more decisions. She is facing those decisions now: but more than two years with pancreatic cancer is quite amazing. Life is precious, but not at any cost.
From there I went on a hunt for hand lotion. No the ship doesn’t provide it. And a bit through the old city.
On the way back I walked through the start of a holiday market before braving what seems like the endless pier to get back to the ship…
MSC Seaside
all told I probably put in about 30k worth of steps (according to a fellow passenger who recorded over 15k walking just one way….
Projects update
It seems much more reasonable to update you on my fiber projects than to discuss the As horrible performance in Texas last night. It takes some kind of talent to lose a game 10:5. Obviously the pitchers weren’t doing well as the home runs added up. The only positive I can draw is that the Giants also lost (Schadenfreude).
It also avoids me having to talk about not sleeping much last night so that staggering out of bed around 0330 this morning was less that thrilling. There is a reason that the early morning flights are cheap. Even Southwest had 40 empty seats on the plane. It also avoids the entertainment of getting through TSA. I went through the PreCheck lane which didn’t help at all when they looked at my cooler bag containing five pre-filled syringes which need to stay cold.
Is it gel?
No, ice. Spent the night in my freezer. You are welcome to look inside or feel around, but I can’t afford to have the meds warm up. Five minutes of fishing around and I think the guy finally figured out that I was harmless. Meanwhile, Noah asked about security measures and was ignored in a different lane. Then they got all upset when he hadn’t taken off his shoes or taken out his laptop. Please note the complete absence of signage….
I hates needles.
Anyway – on the needles –
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- start of a baby hitchhat
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- third section on an adult hitchhat
More importantly – tomorrow I get back to Fractured Time – since I now have all the colors and didn’t want to take the Flower Spray off the floor stand
26 March 2017
After listening to the game through the bottom of the 9th, we went downstairs to grab a sandwich. A’s won; the Giants didn’t.
Down memory lane
last night I finally downloaded the 2007-2015 content from proseknitic.de in preparation for cancelling the site. Should I bother to tell you how many spam comments I had to kill. I found them, of course after I had done the import so I am hoping that most fell outside the import windows.
Then I took a look at comments from way back when and started following links from all the knitters.
Should I not have been surprised to find most of the blogs inactive for years or that I have lost track of a number of people? Part of it makes sense. The blog[s] drifted away from pretty solidly knitting content only to being more about travel with the occasional opinion rant more than fiber. In other cases, I think various people found that Ravelry was easier to use than posting on a blog where few people ever commented. Feedback is important unless your soul is basically that of a writer, in which case you just need to express yourself and the h* with anyone who can’t take a joke.
Thinking back – April 1998-March 2007 – email list. March 2007 (ten years – that is quite scary in some ways) to the present with more or less consistency running both the blog and an email list that varies in size depending on the subject, the year and the drop of those not interested. The last has been balanced by the gain of new friends.
My first mailing lists actually went out from my laptop but through a military server. Use of that server lasted till ~2000 when it finally quit tossing outside emails and implemented some security procedures. After that it was min.net for 10 years till the guys got bored and went out of business. Then there was YahooGroups which I think lasted almost until the UK. At some point the restriction on number of addresses was lifted and I went back to emailing straight. Now? Gmail doesn’t have a problem with a serious number of addressees and cross posting from the blog is pretty much cut and paste along with the occasional editing.
At the end of my session with the computer I verified that those pictures which were still on the old blog transferred to the new. Those which seem to have disappeared off that site won’t be found till I dig through my photo archives at home. I knew there was a reason that I backed up everything. I’ll finish PDFing the archives and pages just to have them before pulling the plug on the last three sites hosted in Germany.
Clock Fractal
I am making progress
15 March 2017
Hatter up!
Now, as you have probably figured, I ride BART regularly. But as it turns out, I am really only familiar with a couple of routes. I go into SF or to SFO or to the Coliseum/OAK and from any of them to home. What I don’t do is travel from downtown SF to OAK. So there I am, after an interminable bus ride on the #38 from the SFVA back to the BART. Getting on at Powell, I grab the first train going in the right direction figuring I can change at either Embarcadero or West Oakland. It isn’t till I am sitting there staring at the route map on the inside wall that I finally twig to what would have been obvious to anyone else. I got on the Dublin/Pleasanton line. I can change trains, but there really wouldn’t be much point to it, the branching off from the Freemont line happens AFTER the Coliseum. Duh!
So I listened to an audiobook and continued to knit till my stop.
The reason for doing this detour? Picking up an extra ticket for both the As vs Giants Game 1 April and opening night 3 April. Did I mention that paying the extra BART fare and walking around the entire freaking stadium was cheaper than buying the tickets on line? No service charge when purchasing in person and I get my season ticket holder discount…..
just a stray end or two but –
the blue hat is done
the small glittery beret with circles is also finished
and I’ve a good start
on what I am now calling the safari hat.
All of this is to take my mind off now having antibiotics to take on a daily basis (something about not too many white cells left) which might be balanced out by at least a bit of progress on tumor reduction. Back again for chemo next Wed.
Making progress
Bluish Hat
shades of dark
one hat completed, the other almost there…
Not 500 hats but…..
of hats – I had this sudden thought today – I have too many hats in progress.
hats x 4
I have this blue watch cap which will have a fold up brim. It is long, striped and I worked on it at a sales pitch the other day. I need to swap over to double points and just finish it up.
There is a version of the circle beret which now needs to go to double points – it is knit out of yarn with glitter.
There is the second hat for Bill which I started when I though the first one was lost. And then there is the start of a dark red beret because someone I know said she thought it was a fabulous color.
and then there is the cross-stitch which I think I failed to show a completed picture
Fractal 363 – finished 6 Feb
which leaves me to the last note of the day. It was raining off and on. There was plenty of mud in the parks. Dani cleaned this one up – before letting her into the house –
Gwen likes mud
The hat saga
talking about the Exeter Hat for Bill took me back to when I started this whole, perhaps has not silly, knitting hats for fellow cruisers. The year was 2013 and I had been back cruising on Royal Caribbean for a couple of years. The ship was the Radiance and I was going to be leaving the ship at the end of the cruise after doing a number of back to back to back cruises and headed home to Germany. Early in this last cruise, I was talking to the hotel director who mentioned going on vacation (New York) at the end of the cruise and how he wasn’t going to be prepared for the cold. I looked at him – would you like a hat so at least your head would be warm?
he was pleased. In return, he mailed (it must have been hats) to Maus who was going to school in NYC. Then someone else asked for a hat –
which I knit the next day because it was easy.
and didn’t think any thing more about it.
Fall of 2014 rolled around and it was cold on the North Atlantic
easy stripes
then there was the Splendour in fall of 2015 where there were several people headed back to places seriously colder than Venice or Dubai
since England can get cold
I didn’t capture Egbert or Tony in their hats –
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- Egbert’s Hat
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- Tony’s hat
But I still think this one is the cutest.
Baby hitchhiker hat with baby
The five year hat
Since it was raining, I had the perfect excuse to stay home. My prednisone is done, there were some scones that wanted to be baked and that cross-stitch to be finished. So, I got to be the one watching everyone else come and go all day; to meetings, to work, to run errands, to check on the Eldest (no I didn’t go see which virus she has..) to BART etc, etc. Instead – yes, I read, spent time in the hot tub and otherwise didn’t push it.
Remember me talking about running away from home in Fall of 2011? When I took the Grandeur of the Seas that November I met a number of incredibly interesting people, Bill & Jo being among them. I first met them on a sea day about day out on the pool deck drinking coffee with a few others. We chatted a bit, traded emails and have just stayed in contact for what I realize is now more than five years. Bill was the one who was in Colorado and needed a hat. After knitting the hat, I sent it off, but to his postal forwarding, not current address. It finally caught up with him this weekend. He will now have a warm head for the next snow storm.
Bill R & hat
Tomorrow
I have to be over at the VA in the morning to start my next round of fun. Since Bauer has changed the shuttle schedule, I don’t have quite the flexibility of before. Instead of 0915, the last one heads to the VA just after eight. Since I finished up the last remaining testing on Monday and had blood drawn then I can jump in with a bang (or something) as soon as I get there. That is probably ok considering I am facing several infusions plus liters of hydration. And non-excitement, boredom and a rapid decent into crabbiness.
Oh, doesn’t that sound like just so much fun?
Not. But since I’m not interested in joining the ranks of palliation, I’m going with the best presented alternative. Surgery, as in tumor de-bulking, still isn’t an option. Not that I am in love with surgeon’s or their trade mind you, I was just looking alternatives. I like the option of radiation even less. So here I am contemplating nausea, hair loss and at least a few days every three weeks of total disagreeable nastiness. Not the effects from the chemo directly, mind you, but my likely effect on the rest of the family. Prednisone is so not my friend. Unfortunately, it isn’t just in the line up as a blunter of side effects but as an active contributor to the program I can’t just skip it. Some people it makes depressed, others it turns into homicidal maniacs. Be glad I don’t do fire arms…..
I managed to run a few errands today, pretty much ignored the garage, knit for a while and made a bit more progress on the cross-stitch in-progress.
I’m thinking a good nights sleep tonight wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.
St Kitts x ?
I think this might have been my fourth, more likely the fifth time I have docked in St Kitts. Since I decided the price to ride the train was outrageous, I elected to do nothing. The train dates from those days when almost the entirety of the island’s 680 acres was planted in sugar cane. Up to 68 plantations, of course with the slave trade having provided all those whose manual labor would serve to make the owners, now good English one and all, quite wealthy.
In my case doing nothing entailed another lovely day spent on ship with very few other’s about. I spent time in the lounge. Snagged the rare and hidden mint tea bag for my afternoon refreshment and spent a bit of time knitting on Bonnie’s Shawl. I wasn’t happy with a couple areas the first time – so took the time today to restart.
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- Chart 1
-
- Chart 2
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- Chart 3
and checking the schedule for tomorrow –
the benefit of magnetic clips
While I was at it, I packed up my towels and tote bags
the new tote bag design
into the duffle I brought for just in case along with extra shoes and dirty clothes. Ought to take me all of 10 minutes to pack on that last evening.
I did mention chocolate covered strawberries didn’t I?
even if they aren’t exactly ripe
Just three hours
is all there is in time difference from California to Florida. So why do I feel like I have been through the wringer and don’t have a clue about the time? I really can’t blame Saturday with it’s two flights since I didn’t leave home at dawn and neither of the flights topped four hours. In fact, it was literally walk from one gate to the next in Houston with only twenty minutes to board the second flight. My luggage showed up and the hotel van was less than 20 minutes.
Having a lovely lunch with Lynne gave me enough enough energy to get on the ship, and after that I sort of wiped out. Till bed time. Then the lack of sleep has made today a bit of a challenge. It was a day of “feed the Crown & Anchor” folks with a reception and a luncheon. I had forgotten about both when I went to breakfast.
Took the rest of the day to do absolutely nothing useful – except that I finished two hats –
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- top of the STR circles beret
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- looking at the underside
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- crazy zauberball circles beret
and started a different version of Fractal 363 as a travel project
started 16 Jan 2017 – to be 80×200
No news
I’m sitting here thinking about heading to bed. I have heard nothing out of the VA today which actually doesn’t bother me a bit. Bad news travels rather rapidly. Stable conditions and good new take a bit longer especially when one is dealing with results from a radiology department study. So I am assuming that everything is ok unless I hear otherwise.
No, I don’t consider this being an ostrich. Or chicken.
So instead, I had a chance to talk to the EBMUD (East Bay Municiple District) men working in front of our drive. They have been dealing with emergencies secondary to all the rain. Since the next four days are supposed to be clear, they are trying to proceed as fast as they can. What is important is that they should be finished in front of our garage by the end of today. After that, it won’t be making my life hard since I will be able to get in and out of the drive way again.
Tower in the full moon
A friend with a scheduling conflict gave us his tickets to the Cal Men’s Basketball Game tonight. We parked and walked across campus.
They won. But still, I think I prefer the women’s game. There was just too much hype, replay camera work and glitzy type of competitions. Plus, I am sorry, but “media breaks” which stop play because the TV folks need to stick in a commercial or three really disrupt momentum. Plus there were twice as many cheerleaders. Seriously, how much hair flipping do I really need to see?
Haven’t done a whole lot more on the cross stitch.
12 Jan 17
But did manage to get the band finished on the beret and most of the crown.
-
- from the side
-
- from the top
Communications mismatch
When I moved out at the advanced age of 17 to go to University communications were simple. You wrote and put your missive in the mail or, alternatively, you arranged a standing short phone call. This was in the days of Ma Bell and significant charges for toll and long distance calls. If you happened to be calling to a location where they were on a party line – all the more reason to keep your communications short.
Besides, part of becoming independent and figuring out who you were and what you wanted to become was distancing yourself from your previous location/personal ties.
Not so today as evidenced by how closely most of us have become electronically tied to people and places at a distance. Or how having a phone with you is taken for granted in most of the Old & New World.
This is not a random discussion – rather it is background to what happens when the party of the first part (DH aka George) finds he doesn’t have his phone when already having boarded BART. The party of the second part (yours truly) is headed to the VA for testing and needs to be able to meet up at the end of the day as the first person above has the car keys in his pocket.
And then chaos ensues. I easily make the Bauer shuttle to the VA. I check in early because I am there. My favorite nurse is on duty and connects a power injector to my port. I traipse down to Nuc Med about 2 1/2 hours prior to my appointment. They have comfortable chairs; I sit and knit. Their in-service ends early so the tech comes to get me. What is my blood sugar? I don’t have a clue. Didn’t they test you? No, why? Well didn’t you give them the slip? What slip?
Turns out that the RN is on duty M,T,Th in Nuc Med. The other days they don’t have a nurse. No nurse, no onsite finger sticks or med pushes or port flushes or…. You get the idea. I go back upstairs. The Infusion Center nurses borrow the glucometer from the Ward and test me. No, I most assuredly do not have an elevated blood sugar. (trust me 76 is not elevated but explains why I was cranky). I go back down. Get injected. Hang out. Get scanned. Am excused.
Along the way I have an interesting discussion about the diet. It is set up to insure that no one winds up being turned down. There are diabetics, pre-diabetics and those who don’t know they have a problem. Meanwhile – I could have had breakfast (or normal food for the last several days) since my blood sugar is totally normal by 90 minutes after eating. The no coffee? Too many people just add sugar and cream without thinking about it…..
Anyway – there I was, done by 1400 and no way to reach George. Except my email – which I did to tell him that I was done early. I spent the next hour talking to an extremely interesting fellow patient who has been a customer for over 10 years now. For the rest of his time – he does advocacy and housing organizing for the county in which he lives (being one of those who is about 6 hours out).
Since I have a lot of time – I take the shuttle to the Embarcadero and wander around. There is coffee, there are pastries. I am in a better mood. Txt from George – he can be done early. Ok – I tell him I am at the Embarcadero and head on foot to our meeting place @ Powell BART station. He takes my information as a directive to come to me (he is at Powell). Meanwhile, I have hiked to Powell. At this point, I lose it and email him that I will meet him at North Berkeley (aka the car).*
Obviously, I am in a horrible mood by this point. None of it could be my fault, now could it? I simply tried to provide him status updates. I did NOT tell him to change his schedule. Meanwhile, he is worried because I am out early and assumes that I need to get home. He is trying to save me time and travel. And if we had not had the modern electronic conveniences, we would have simply met in the designated place at the proper time.
Sticking a needle in Aida cloth is really good for getting rid of irritation.
11 Jan 17 – 70/150 squares completed
He still loves me, which is really cool.
Since cross stitch isn’t that portable, I started another hat.
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- the yarn
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- joining the two sides of the band
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- the ear band
* He has email in coffee shops and some of the meeting rooms which is how we managed to foul this whole thing up.