Monday, May 22, 2017

Knitting Update

I volunteered for the Knitters' Guild at Shepherd's Harvest over Mothers' Day weekend. I kind of fell of the wagon but not too much ... I purchased $1 mini-skeins of sock yarn in colors that I am short of for the blankie because I never seem to have enough light colors or browns/beiges/yellows:


I also stoped at Sun Valley Fibers to pick up colors I can use for a color work hat and mitts.  I love their yarn and I don't want the leftovers to be wasted.   I also got on the mailing list and am on the waitlist for the January Thaw retreat in Madison.  Hard to believe so many people would want to go to Madison in January but there you go - Midwesterners and knitters are unique types of people:


I picked up Lamb's Pride seconds at a really good price ... this was justified by the fact I have had requests (so far) for four pair of felted slippers.  I find this is the best yarn at the best price for the slippers and who cares about seconds for felted stuff?  (Thanks again, Mary Lou, for teaching me how to make these slippers.  I have no idea how many I have made now but it's a lot).


I've also started the Goldfish Memory shawl using two luxury yarns (Shalimar and Anzula) and a skein of Jitterbug that I will never use for socks because it pools terribly (not just around the ankles).   Since I already have two Color Affections I was looking for another productive use of sock yarns.  I'm on section 5 of 12.


I basically knit a pair of socks whilst in Guatemala and started another pair as soon as I got home, which means I'm on pair #6 for the year ...  I have to branch out.  It's only May.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

LWB People and Places

We started out the trip in Guatemala City where we stayed at a dive near the airport.


We stopped at a publisher before leaving the capitol where we purchased some books for the school library.


And we saw a dedication/protest in the main square downtown for the girls who died in a fire recently.


We spent the most time in Quetzaltenango which is known locally as Xela (pronounced Chela).  It's a nice town with a main square that has the regulation church - with flying buttresses, even.


And angels, of course.


I noticed a lot of the old style confessionals in Guatemalan churches.  I had to explain how they work to a couple of folks from Protestant sects.


We visited a cemetery too, which is always interesting.


Learned some of the local folklore, like the story of this woman who died of a broken heart.


There was a vibrant market in town too.


Because of security issues we didn't get to wander around much, but we did get to see.


And do a little shopping.


The colors in Guatemala are spectacular.


The public libraries are not so spectacular.


No open stacks and to be perfectly honest, the whole collection could be thrown out.


The building has been used for a number of things over the centuries, including a jail at one point.


They do use the space for cultural activities though, and there are some good PSAs posted.


A second public library was just as bad, and the books don't circulate.  Mostly they are community spaces.


We went to Salcaja, which has the oldest church in Central America.


These are the LWB fearless leaders.


There is a small museum in the town with some pre-Columbian artifacts and a wheel that caught my eye.


We visited the home of a former student (he graduated).  The student's dad is a weaver.


In some parts of the country the women weave and in others the men do.


He had a good setup.


Looms are fascinating machines, I think.


These ladies helped us out with our tour of the town - the one on the right is the weaver's wife.


And we caught a beautiful sunset.


We also went to a hot spring: Fuentes Georginas


We hiked up into the rainforest a bit.





We called the plant in the lower-left giant kale :)


In Zunil we saw a church and a video arcade ...


... it's a charming little town ...


... and we got the low-down on the Santa Ana women's cooperative.


After our work was done in Xela we went to Panajachel to see Lake Atitlan.


This little girl earns her living selling textiles by the lake (I did not buy anything from her but asked permission to photograph her and paid her for the privilege).


And we spent the last night in Antigua, which is the only place a lot of visitors to Guatemala see.


They have an interesting fountain in the main square.


Panajachel and Antigua are both very touristy.  I liked Pana better, although the architecture in Antigua is more interesting.


I really liked the Choco Museo, which is really a huge chocolate shop.


The capitol was moved from Antigua to Guatemala City after an earthquake in the 18th century.


Some bits have been rebuilt and others not.  There is on dormant and one active volcano nearby.



And, randomly, here's a selfie with the librarian from the school.


The man who founded the school has the most remarkable pay it forward story I have ever heard.  I have not included his photo because of the aforementioned security issues.  I'll just say he has done great things for the people in his community and I feel really lucky to have had an opportunity to go and help out there.  They taught us so much.