Conversation pieces

There may be no hope for me. My mini-sweater addiction is like a runaway train. I just can't seem to help myself. I have, however, met quite a few new friends as a result of knitting them out in public. People seem fascinated by the small piece of knitting and the 5 knitting needles I can now manipulate quite skillfully. Someone will walk by, stop, and zoom in for a closer look. Before you know it, we're talking about our kids and our hobbies and our arthritis.

So today we took a trip to the nearby Asian dollar store to browse. It's always fun to see what's new, and we usually find something to buy. This time we were on a mission to find some cheap bubble wrap. I will explain later. Tech Guy, who came along on our shopping trip, was quite amazed by some of the merchandise and conveniently had his camera/phone.

I guess if a person had an inclination to leave the house with a banana to eat later, this little gadget would be handy:

I'd probably be more inclined to pack it full of M & M's and just let people assume I had a healthy snack. Then there was this--a package of 5 very large ziplock bags....which we bought to go with the bubble wrap. It's always fun to read the package descriptions. The Chinese have a special way with words.

So now I must confess that Mr. Gadget and I are gearing up for another cruise. We'll be leaving next week for two weeks to Hawaii. We've done this cruise before, a few years ago, and we enjoyed it....even though we missed 2 out of 5 ports due to weather and had to fight off the Noro virus.....so we've decided to do it again. We're dragging our Connecticut friends along, in spite of their reluctance to leave the east coast winter-from-hell.

You're probably wondering about the bubble wrap and the ziplock bags. We're hoping our half-dozen bottles of wine will have a safe journey to our stateroom. Although.......I never really thought about knitting wine sweaters. I guess that woulda worked.

J is for jacket

The garish, I mean festive, jacket is almost finished. I still have to take out some basting threads and fix one area on the inside that didn't come out as well as expected. I'd like to blame the pattern designer, but it's more likely my garment-construction skills gone rusty. That's bound to happen when one throws over the garment-making world for the world of whimsy. And forget about the promise of it being a 3-hour project.

Of course, that could have been because of my rusty skills, but I think it may have been partly due to the fabric being slippery and difficult to manage. I might make this jacket again in a non-slippery fabric before I judge the pattern too harshly.

I do wish I had made it in the longer version. More of my troublesome hip area would have been hidden from view, and it might have even diverted attention from my thunder thighs. Well, maybe they aren't quite thunder-like yet, but the clouds are definitely starting to gather. I think the longer jacket would have looked fine with black pants. I have another piece of this same kind of fabric that I acquired on-the-cheap at the Joann's moving sale and I may use it for the longer version. It's black and brown, and downright sedate compared to this one.

My plan for the jacket pictured above is for it to be a costume for cruising or as something to wear to one of our condo cocktail parties. Halloween comes to mind. I'm pretty sure no one will bother to look inside to see just what a sloppy seamstress I can be when I'm in a hurry to just get something done. Then again, if I had a really good mask I guess it wouldn't bother me much...

Festive, or maybe just plain garish

Today I cut out the festive jacket, but not until after I'd done some serious cogitating. Those measurements they put on patterns are never my measurements. I usually hover around their bust and waist measurements, but the hips.....don't even ask. What to do....what to do....

Since the jacket is a swing style, I finally decided the hip measurement wasn't too critical and just went with the size suggested for the boobs and muffin top, I mean the bust and waist.

I like the longer of the two jackets, but since I'm kind of a shorty I thought it might look better in the shorter version. I will go with the longer sleeves however.

I think this print will be festive enough, don't you? I'll start the sewing sometime in the next couple of days, and I'll let you know if it's truly a 3-hour jacket as advertised.

Well, it's always something isn't it? Mr. Gadget, who is now serving on one of the Concondo association committees, has received emails concerning the snow on the roofs. Seems some of the roofs are leaking because of the heavy snow load. So we thought it best to send out a scout. It's not the first time we've sent someone scouting. Isn't this a new condo that should be worry-free? That's certainly what we bargained for when we decided to give up the constant-worry old house for the stress-free new retirement condo.

The scout, efficient as usual, reported back that we were in luck......no water had seeped in.

We have no worries with the old 1960's-era Calcondo. We do have the occasional ant visitors. And the termite tenting took care of those little beasts that threatened to level the place if allowed to run rampant. But certainly never any snow loads.

So today I stopped in at Joann's to use my 50% coupon that expires tomorrow. I figured I'd buy some new scissors. And don't you know, they were on sale, so I couldn't use the darn coupon. I hate when that happens and it happens often. So, I guess I'll just have to go back tomorrow...

Summer

I would have written sooner, but I've been busy. Summer snuck in when I wasn't looking and someone had to sit in the beach chair. Mr. Gadget and Tech Guy decided to take a stroll down the beach and left me alone--with my Thanksgiving knee--for some quiet time. I enjoyed every minute.

There's not much new in my crafty world other than more of the same. I continue to knit mini-sweaters, all the while looking for a support group to help me get a handle on my addiction.

I also continue to crochet flowers, though not with the same compulsion as with the mini-sweater knitting.

I felted a couple of purple flowers in the western washer, but without the same good results as I got with the eastern one. So I will pack up the unfelted flowers in my suitcase and take them back to the washer with which they have a better rapport.

I plan to start a sewing project soon--a simple jacket that can be sewn in one day, or so the pattern designer promises. I just have to find the pattern. It's here someplace. I found some fabric a few months ago when the Joann's store in my neighborhood was having a moving sale. It's a bold print and should make a festive jacket for a cruise. After all, cruise clothes--in my opinion--are merely costumes. Just about anything goes on a cruise.

I should have just enough time to finish it before sail-away.

Now that's more like it!

Mr. Gadget and I arrived on the west coast and just in the nick of time. Sounds like another big snowstorm has hit the northeast and are we ever sorry to miss it....

Our flight was a little different than usual. It was an hour late departing, and then we had to make a fuel stop in Las Vegas because of strong head winds. Mr. G. and I didn't really complain about it though, since neither of us had been to Las Vegas since our wedding there almost 30 years ago. I know things have probably changed quite a bit since then, but we couldn't tell. It was dark and we were both in middle seats (thanks to the last-minute change) and forbidden from getting up after the captain announced it would be a quick stop.

So now we're here in the Calcondo getting settled in. Mr. Gadget scurried around getting all of the tech gadgets up and running and made sure the car started and had fully-inflated tires. I set to work vacuuming up the ants--those that bit the dust after we cleared out of the place in August. That was a fairly taxing chore, after which I had to sit and relax with some crocheting.

By the way, my friend and knitting buddy other Marcia commented on my last post that the brain matter was actually a perfect rendition of a cockscomb--a garden flower of the genus Celosia. She said I might consider pinning it to a purse. I like that idea. So much better than just shoving it in a specimen jar.

So now I'm crocheting a few more flowers, but with fewer stitches, in hopes they'll look more like roses.

Oh, I almost forgot. Yesterday morning we had an earthquake. It was a 3.0 and centered not too far from here. No big deal though....just a little jolt. There is often an earthquake while we're here. We somehow bring them on. I don't mind a little shaking. It's a small price to pay to be in a blizzard-free zone.

Anatomy lab

Remember yesterday's post--wherein I showed you my latest crocheted flower before the felting process?

Here it is post-felting:My washing machine did a good job. The only problem is, sadly, this flower looks more like brain matter than anything botanical. In fact, Mr. Gadget has identified the frontal lobe. I'll try it again, with fewer stitches, to see if I can produce something that looks less like a lab specimen.

The snow has moved on and, as it happens, our original flight took off on schedule today. But we aren't feeling too depressed about it because yesterday the big snowstorm closed down the interstate that runs through town and we would have had big delays getting our rental car for the trip to the airport.

Here's a picture I took last night out our back door:

Here's one I took this morning:

This might make a nice dessert. Maybe I'll drizzle some raspberry sauce over it, cut it into slices, and invite the neighbors over for a going-away party.

That felting feeling

I've pushed the mini-sweater knitting aside for the moment to crochet some flowers for felting.

My confidence was renewed after having such good luck with this one--the one that resisted felting until it took a spin in my new washing machine.

The flower at the top (before felting) is from this book:

It was easy to crochet with a Size J hook and 100% wool worsted weight yarn. The 100% wool part is the most important requirement for felting. Any yarn with an acrylic content just won't felt. And sometimes even 100% wool won't felt if it doesn't have a good rapport with the washing machine.

I'm thinking these crocheted flowers might be a good project for a long airplane ride. I have one of those coming up. I mentioned in a previous post that we'd be heading out to the Calcondo on Saturday, but that plan has changed. There's a snowstorm looming so we'll go on Sunday instead. There's no sign of snow yet, but the Weather Channel is hardly ever wrong. And the reason the WC is hardly ever wrong is because those folks rarely commit. Maybe they're tired of being sued for wrong forecasts.

So Mr. Gadget was a little put off by my sharing the story about my stealthy pre-travel garbage drop-off drive-by's. So just pretend you didn't read that, ok? I hate to embarrass him, and I try very hard not to. But if he's going to put me in charge of working down the fridge then I have to do what I have to do. I did visit the grocery store yesterday--what with the snowstorm looming and our delayed departure and all--and there was a very handy garbage can out front--where I may, or may not, have deposited a very teeny, tiny bag.

Also yesterday, Tech Guy and I (did I mention TG is going out to the Calcondo with us for a while?) took his tortoise down to our old neighborhood where a very kindly former neighbor had agreed to tortoise-sit while we're gone.

TG briefly considered taking the tortoise along, but we didn't know whether our airline would allow him to board. Their guidelines are fairly clear for pet travel. Only dogs and cats are eligible to accompany their owners. This is the same tortoise that rode shotgun with TG on his car trip around the country a couple of summers ago, so he's a savvy traveler. As you can imagine, he's pretty torn up about having to stay home in the cold. Just look at that face. It's the same face I have when Mr. Gadget asks me if I want to go outside for a brisk, bone-chilling walk in the snow.

Bloggy Versary

I must have slept right through my 5th Blogiversary. I'm not sure how that happened, but I have been taking lots of naps in my chair lately. The holidays took a lot out of me, and then there was the blizzard. And Mr. Gadget's football-watching. That right there is enough to put a gal to sleep. Oh, and the UConn women's basketball team ending it's 90-game winning streak. I just fell into a complete stupor after that.

But I'm back now, and Mr. Gadget and I will be spending the week getting ready for another winter getaway to the Calcondo. We'll be leaving Saturday.

I have many assignments to complete before we leave. One is to make mail-forwarding arrangements with the post office. That's easy. Freddie, the ever-efficient postal clerk, is usually more than willing to finish filling out the form for me when I leave blanks because of my faulty memory. I should probably take him some home-baked cookies.

Another of my assignments is to work the refrigerator down. Since we often have several days between a trash pick-up and our departure, I've devised a plan that works well for disposing of those last bits of leftovers. I drop little grocery bags, tied up nice and neatly, in trash receptacles around town. Sometimes I'll cruise through a gas station and drop one by the windshield washer stuff. The fast-food places are good too. I've even been known to deposit one at the airport rental-car drop off. So far I've remained undetected in my stealthy little scheme.....and I'm sure none of you would ever blow my cover...

It's hard to believe I've managed to find things to blog about for all these years. Many bloggers I know have given up long before this. Some say they've run out of things to say. That won't happen to me any time soon. That's because when the subject matter gets a little lean, I'll just invent stuff. Like for instance, here's a little story.

Today Mr. Gadget sold his expensive sports car. He's planning to give the proceeds to charity. Well, that last part is an invention. The part about the sale is not. After he sold it, I drove him to the bank to deposit the check. Then, after we got home, I slowed down to a 10-mph crawl and told him to get out. I told him I'd see him later and that I was going shopping to celebrate. As I sped off down the road I could see him in my rear view mirrow shaking his fists and stomping his feet. I coulda come home with quite a haul I'll tell ya, but I held myself back. I only went to Joann's with my 40% coupon. He's a lucky guy...