Swivel-free zone

We had a nice Thanksgiving Day here at the complex. (For your info, the complex is what comes before the home. After the home, it's all downhill.) Thanksgiving evening wasn't quite as nice.....due to my slight mishap. But I'll save that story till later.

I've finally found a use for my leftover sock yarn. Sweater ornaments (swornaments?)....and I have enough in my stash to make one for each resident of my town. Not that I'm planning to, but I'm just saying. I found the swornament pattern online here. I'm using #1 sock needles, but I might change to #0's for the ribbing, since I think those stitches should be slightly smaller.

Sock stripes made with self-striping yarn are fairly predictable; itty-bitty sweater stripes are not. That's what makes them so much fun to knit. Tech Guy has been making the itty-bitty hangers. He's quite proficient with needle-nosed plyers.....what with all that tech fiddling he does. I've given him a sizable order--enough hangers for everyone in town. "Hey, Tech Guy! Where are you going? Come back here this minute!"

So, Tech Guy and Big City Girl were here for the holiday weekend and, as usual, they insisted on going out with their old school buddies. The thing is, they don't always remember to lock the front door when they come home, so one of the parents must get up out of bed to check. This time I volunteered.....and as soon as my foot hit the top step I felt it slip and I took a wild slide half a stairway down to the door on my butt. Thank goodness it's a well-padded butt. Otherwise, I would have hurt myself more seriously than just a twisted knee and a chicken-breast-sized bruise on my hind quarters.

I made quite a clatter and everyone came running. I know they must have been worried about who would heat up the Thanksgiving leftovers. Thankfully, there was no need to call 911 because I would have been painfully embarrassed to have outsiders see me in my plaid jammies with the toothpaste stains. I keep hoping one of these days I'll get the hang of my new electric toothbrush.

I'm happy to report I've made a good recovery. I can walk fine and I'm able to climb stairs. I even heated up the leftovers. But it's going to be a while before I can swivel.

In a baking mood

The gangly group of good-for-nothings has been deposited at the old hotel and now await a chance to strut their stuff. The craft show isn't until the first weekend in December, so they'll have a couple of weeks to bide their time.

Meanwhile, I've been pondering a new project that's a little smaller in scale. I've decided to knit some mini-sweater ornaments.

I have plenty of materials in my stash--leftover sock yarn and small double-pointed knitting needles. It took me about 4 attempts to cast on and get it going, but now I'm on a roll. This itty-bitty sweater is being knitted from the top down in a raglan style. I've finished the neck ribbing and am headed downward. The really fun part will be making the itty-bitty wire hanger when I'm done. It's probably going to be a whole lot easier to manipulate the needle-nosed plyers than the 5 knitting needles. I think if I sit with Mr. Gadget for one more boring football game I should be able to finish it.

For a long time I've been giving thought to making a collection of handmade Christmas ornaments. A change of pace from all dolls all the time sounds appealing. I have lots of ideas. I enjoy doing craft fairs in the Fall, and ornaments would be easy to transport and reasonably priced for wider appeal.

In other news, the vinyl siding is finally being applied to the new building next door.

The pistachio ice cream and Pepto Bismol are being replaced with buttercream frosting. Suddenly I've got a hankerin' for cupcakes. This end unit is a mirror image of ours. The windows on the top left correspond to those in the Treehouse. The small window on the bottom is Mr. Gadget's office. The ones in the middle (l to r: kitchen, master bath, master bedroom) are what we refer to as the buffer zone. This insures that our retirement years will continue to be happy and relatively stress-free. Well, that and the pet gate....

Daunting details

I've been spending a lot of time in the Treehouse getting dolls finished up for their Sunday send-off. By now, I've lost most of my enthusiasm and am just interested in getting this show on the road. This is all part of my dollmaking process. I'm seeing flaws in every one of them and feeling positive that no one will buy a single one. This is also part of the process.

I always seem to leave the hat-decorating detail till last. In my early Santa-making days, I just bought some berries and greenery and glued them on. Now that the process has evolved to include more handmade details, it's a challenge to come up with something fresh and new.

For this one I used fabric with a leaf print. I fused two pieces together and cut out the leaves. Not very innovative, but it adds some variety.

Embroidery and beading always works in a pinch. It doesn't take me long to do it since I've had lots of practice. I never measure anything; I just use the ol' eyeballs. Sometimes I do just as well as Mr. Gadget with his tape measures and his levels.

This hat belongs to Santa with the bunny slippers. The leaves are sewn out of fabric and gathered at the bottom to give them some dimension. They are green-checkered holly leaves. Anything goes in my world of whimsy. I'm not happy with this beard yarn that I purchased for a very good price at Knitter's Heaven. It sheds. Santa needs a lint brush. The best kind of yarn to use for this is an acrylic blend of some kind. That eliminates the unsightly shedding and it has some bounce to it. In Santa's world, bounce is synonymous with jolly.

So Mr. Gadget and I just received our invitation to the 2nd Annual Trim-a-Tree Party here at the condos. All of the residents are asked to bring an ornament to hang on the tree. You may remember last year my contribution was a snowman, "Snornie," that I crafted out of paperclay.

No one commented on my handiwork....which I took to mean it was so nicely done that it looked store-bought. So this year I'm planning to handcraft another store-bought snornament--a female partner for Snornie. Who knows? Next year there might be snowbabies....

Wrinkles

I'm very fond of this green VW bus that now sits in a bookcase here in the condo. Tech Guy, who is preparing to move, sent it back to the Parental Basement Storage Facility and I managed to rescue it before it became yet another artifact for a future archeological dig.

This little bus brings back memories of an old boyfriend who used to drive one. Actually, his was a little different. It was a badly-oxidized red and had a front and back seat and an open area in the back like a pick-up truck.

Boyfriend had a big slobbery dog which I wasn't fond of. I'm more of a cat gal, although I can cozy-up to a dog now and then. But never a big slobbery one. This caused quite a dilemma. I was very fond of the guy but I wasn't thrilled with the dog...who would often ride in the car and give it an unpleasant odor. Not to mention, there was always lots of dog hair. Back then--hard as it is to believe--women would actually dress up for a date, so you can imagine what I looked like when we got to wherever it was we were going.

I always hoped that this man would find another home for BSD, and I guess I should be careful what I wish for. It wasn't too long before he got his draft notice and then BSD had to go. And soon both boyfriend and BSD were gone--BSD to a nice home with a big yard and lots of children, and boyfriend to basic training at Ft. Something-er-other in Kansas.

I was thinking of making some little clay people to put in this bus, just for whimsy's sake. And maybe a cat.


So the other day the construction foreman here at the complex flagged Mr. Gadget down as he walked to the mailbox. He said he was sorry about the wrinkles on the side of our unit. We hadn't noticed, but it seems the windows on the new building next door have been reflecting the Fall sun and have wrinkled and bubbled our vinyl siding. So now I'm a born-again sunscreen user. I had no idea. He assured us they'll replace the siding......and I'm just wondering if I can negotiate a deal for my neck and jowls?

Bunny break

Poor Santa. He's all tuckered out and it's not even December.

A fine day for flannel

It was lovely here today and Mr. Gadget suggested we take a ride. "Can you think of someplace we can go?" he asked.

"Not right at the moment," I said, "but give me a few minutes."

I scurried upstairs to the Treehouse and got on my computer. I'd heard there was a fabric store up the road somewhere, and this might be my chance to check it out. I've been looking for flannel. Nice flannel. Not the mediocre flannel that's abundant in my neighborhood.

I found the store's website and noted its hours and location. Mr. Gadget is always willing to drive me to a fabric store. I'm a lucky gal. Mostly he likes to drive his sports car. And I'm occasionally willing to endure his clutch-dropping-gear-shifting-whiplash-inducing driving style if there is fabric involved. Or sushi. So we set off down the road.

In no time at all, I was browsing the flannel aisle....and what fine flannel it was.

I found just what I was looking for. A nice red plaid flannel for Santa to wear with his bunny slippers. He got his order in early this year, and I'd just hate to disappoint Santa...

Creepy encounter

Yesterday I went over to other Marcia's house to deliver the pair o' pilgrims.....and I have to admit, when she opened the door she looked a little different than the last time I saw her.

She was having a very bad hair day, and I think a little darning might be in order. Thank goodness other Marcia has a sense of humor....

So now I'm finished with dolls for Fall and will be concentrating on the Winter ones--Santas mostly. I've decided not to do that other craft show I mentioned before. I'm not feeling confident about a good return-on-investment....and then there's all that schlepping. Instead, I'll just stick with the old hotel show which worked out nicely for me last year. This might also allow me some time to knit a hat or two for the senior center holiday boutique on Dec. 4.

And speaking of the senior center, today was the first knitting get-together in a brand new building that's been under construction for several months. It's a wonderful place, all shiny and new, but unfortunately the acoustics leave something to be desired. The ceiling is high and everything echoes. Chatting with the ladies sitting across the table was difficult. We may have to knit some wall-to-wall carpeting.