Recycling for H-ween

Trying to explain the use of golf club covers to my mom was an entertaining exercise: she thought it was a glove...for your hand, or that you used it to cover the handle before gripping, a la potholders...heh!

My sister asked for some for her 1, 3, 4, and 5 clubs (whatever they do) and since Xmas is coming... On the bright side, it took me only a day to whip this up (i.e., subway time + after dinner) using some of the purple wool yarn I bought in Shanghai 2 years ago, with some of the lavender Valuruguai eBay yarn for contract (the stripes indicate the # of the club inside).

I am trying to decide if I should (a) also sew on the number outside sing the Valuruguai and (b) add a pom-pom, a la the pattern I found on Wirghts.

Four words: bridesmaid dress from 1990. Now all I need are a tiara and a magic wand and I am all set for Halloween! (The good news about this monstrosity: I am now the same size I was 18 years ago!) At least (a) my cousin [the bride] is still happily married, and (b) I no longer have the perm I had in 1990. Yikes!

Yay! Stuff finally came back from the kiln last night! Lots of stuff as you can see, and my teacher's hip/apron area is shown for scalle. (Actually, it wasn't intentional, but that's how it worked out.)

The haul: a jar (for my engineer), a gigantic mug (for me), 2 large tumblers (maybe an Xmas gift for his dad?), 2 coasters (one large enough for a wine bottle), a bowl/mug (which my mom has already snagged: it fit one of her plastic lids - heh), and a slightly warped but superthin bowl.

And now, off to book club to discuss The Tipping Point, which my friend Margaret was kind enough to give me years ago! Ha!

McMom

So Wednesday of next week is my sweetheart's mom's birthday. This post is titled McMom because their surname begins with "Mc" and when I called her Mrs. Mc-------, she asked me to call her by her first name. Being raised old school by my parents, THAT was never going to happen. (Or as my friend Kieran's mom said, "Did you tell her you still call me Mrs. W-------- after 20 years?") So we compromised with Mrs. Mac, or Mom Mac, etc. (And yes, I have called his dad "Mac Daddy" -- hee!)

In any case, I just got back a bowl from the kiln which I really like which will become her birthday present :-)

My engineer's reaction: "That's really pretty. She'll love it. Until she breaks it. There's a reason we have an extremely well-stocked first aid kit in the laundry room"

My mom's reaction: "You're giving her a bowl? Is it an ugly one? You should give her a nice one you know." (Um, yeah, mom -- I know.) When informed that (a) my engineer thought it was pretty, she was mollified, and (b) that his mom will probably break it at some point, "Well you know, us old people aren't as coordinated and have less hand strength."

My classmates' reaction in the pottery studio, regarding the probable fate of the bowl: "Well it's good that people break things. Then we can give them more stuff. Otherwise they'd never need any additional/new pieces."

My reaction: "Well hey, it's made to be used. As long as it has a happy and useful life before its eventual demise, then I'm satisfied."

Hey, it's all in how you look at the world....glass half empty / glass half full / opportunity to sell water / hey, I can make another mug! ...etc.

The Stockinette

So last weekend I went to The Stockinette, the new LYS near my engineer in Jersey City. which I have posted about previously. The selection was small, but the staff and cafe were very pleasant, and I succumbed to this pattern book by Sublime (whose official site, appropriately enough, like The Stockinette, is lame, but where other sites are much more informative).

The pattern book uses Sublime cashmere merino silk dk which is imported by Knitting Fever. The Little Sailor Coat and the Little Swing Coat are both adorable and the reasons why I bought the book. However, I forgot that reading British knitting directions can be FREAKING ANNOYING, a la Debbie Bliss.

I have already knitted (and frogged and reknitted) a sleeve for the Little Sailor Coat, but find myself yearning for something with better stitch definition than the Valuruguai Mimosa Superwash (doubled -- as it is fingering weight: what the hell was I thinking?!) which I have in lavender from a previous eBay moment of insanity. (The photo here is in macro mode, and the sleeve itself is, of course, a whole 6 or so inches long.)

So okay, the stitch definition isn't bad, really, upon review, but I guess I have developed an odd fondness for knitting in cotton, which I know many people hate working with -- go figure.

For example, I have recently finished this kimono for my threading lady, who is due to have a girl next month. It uses Bernat Cottontots, which I inherited from a coworker who decided she didn't like any of a giant sack of yarn that she bought (i.e., windfall for me & my stash!).

And then I preserved what's left of my sanity by finishing the seaming for this baby sweater during the last so-called debate between that cranky, incoherent old fart, and the suave young guy. (My engineer did it by reading a scifi book, and we both imbibed in some tasty merlot he brought over. Between the seaming, drinking, and laundry folding I plowed through, I managed not to scream -- too often -- at the TV, but I digress.)

For some reason, I had the odd urge to knit eyelet a while ago, using Plymouth Encore Colorspun, which is actually lovely. So I finished this up for our sorely missed tech services person who returned from maternity this week. We are having a baby post-shower for her tomorrow, since she preferred no baby gifts prior to her little girl's arrival, even though they are Trinidadean and not Asian. ;-)

The Mogul's scarf that I made for my nephew (who now also has a baby girl! yikes!) a few years ago is also proving possibly inspirational, as my engineer has expressed a desire for a hat (I explained that he was not getting a sweater until I got a rock) and to me, a hat needs a companion scarf. :-)

Jeez, I had better get cracking on my Xmas knitting!

Spiced Pot Roast

My first pot roast. I used a WW recipe last week with beef bottom round (trimmed, of course) and it turned out great!

Even better, I had 2+ hours of freedom while it cooked in my engineer's gigantic dutch oven, in his snazzy oven. (All of his appliances are stainless, expensive, and heavily used, as he is a fabbo cook -- yum!)

Now might be a good time to explain the charms on my WW key ring:

• the key ring itself indicates that I reached my original 10% weight loss target)


• the star indicates I reached my goal weight (I think -- I forget)


• the clapping ha nds with the 16 on them are to show that I attended 16 weeks of sessions


• and the key indicates that I am now a WW Lifetime Member -- woohoo!

The Harf

It is finally done.

The pompom alone was a challenge.

(It is shown on my laptop for scale.)



But I finally created my very own muppet / sea anemone.

Now I just have to ship it to the poor man before playoffs!

(He is hoping "it will bring the Bungles some luck."
While I don't know about THAT, it may blind some opposing players if he wears it to the stadium!)

Hmmmm...come to think of it, it'd be a great Halloween accessory too. ;-)