Is there help?

I wonder if there's a support group for mini-sweater-knitting addicts? And if there is, I wonder if it's permissible to knit during the meetings?

After Christmas I'm always ready for a break from dollmaking and the craft-fair push. That's when I especially love to knit because it's so relaxing. And somehow, these little mini-sweaters have caught my fancy. They are quick to make, and they're very portable for taking along to places where knitting is permitted. Like the senior center knitting group. They understand me there, and they know about knitting addictions. In fact, they are great enablers.

So now it's time for show-and-tell.

Mr. Gadget got me one of these for Christmas. It's a Kindle and it's my newest favorite toy. It even has a spiffy red case with a book light.

You can't see the light in the picture, but it pops out from the right top corner and gives off enough light to read in bed without keeping your lazy-bones partner awake. I had resisted the ebook idea for a long time, since I've always been a big fan of libraries. In fact, I've prided myself on having library cards on both coasts. But then I realized there are lots of free books available for Kindles and I liked that idea. I'm still gonna keep my library cards though. Just in case the Kindle gives me an attitude.

And Big City Girl, who knows how much I love handmade gifts, gave me a wonderful set of greeting cards that she collaged and had printed.

There are 20 cards in the box--5 for each season--and they are 4" x 6" with a glossy finish. I plan to use them as birthday cards mostly, since I'm not fond of going to the card shop and spending big bucks for a card with someone else's sentiments. These are blank inside, so I can include my own witty and/or wacky wishes. I especially like the snowmen--each with a different hat.

BCG has an unusual talent for cutting letters out of paper without actually drawing them on the paper first. A friend of a friend happened to see her doing this one day and thought it bordered on the amazing. In fact, he was so taken with this seemingly unique talent that he requested a special sampling of random letters--which she provided for him a few days later by U.S. Mail. I guess wackiness doesn't fall far from the tree....

The blizzard almost ate my blog

There were so many times during the last two days when I thought the condo complex was really just a house of cards that would blow away any minute.

We've just had a blizzard--my first official blizzard since moving to the northeast in 1983. There have been a couple of pretend blizzards, but they were nothing compared to the real thing. How does one recognize a blizzard, you might ask? One doesn't have to concern oneself with that. That's what the Weather Channel is for. They'll tell you if there's a blizzard going on. You'd think they'd come up with a catchy name for one too--like they do for all the other weather extravaganzas--but this time they fell down on the job. Mr. Gadget and I were sorely disappointed. We like nothing more than to have a good laugh over the Weather Channel's choices of names for weather happenings. It's not unlike being entertained by a good crop of football-player first names.
Here is Mr. Gadget shoveling some "surprise" snow from in front of our garage door. I had just told him I wanted to walk out onto the driveway to look around the neighborhood--during a break in the blizzardness.

"Our driveway looks pretty clear," I said, after noticing most of the snow had blown across the street. He looked out the garage windows and agreed, and then opened the overhead door.
I must say, he was a good sport about it though. While I took a few photos he shoveled....and cautioned me to watch where I stepped because he feared I might re-injure my Thanksgiving knee....and then who would heat up the Christmas leftovers?

So now I'm feeling a little tired. A good blizzard will do that to you. I think I need to sit a while near the fireplace with my feet up and enjoy a cup of coffee, and knit more mini sweater ornaments. Maybe Mr. Gadget will throw a nice crocheted afghan over me and I'll just sleep till New Years.

Tagging along

I was feeling rather smug at 11:00 a.m. this morning--the official time of the completion of my Christmas shopping. Soon, I began to ponder what kinds of fun things I could do to fill my time between now and Christmas--other than the always-exciting food shopping and gift wrapping. Before long I was up in the Treehouse looking around for crafty supplies to make gift tags.
Luckily, I had everything I needed: card stock, old rubber stamps, gel pens, scissors, a hole punch, and red crochet thread.
Santa's beard could probably use a little more coloring, but then...of course....he wouldn't look primitive. I kinda like things a little rough around the edges.

I think these are my favorites. With a red bowtie colored in, he was transformed into a Christmas kitty. I'm fond of his neon green eyes. He was just a sleepy-looking thing till I colored those in. Now he's looking a bit wired....like he just ingested some premium catnip.

I'm hoping I've made enough tags for the gifts I've purchased for Mr. Gadget, Tech Guy and Big City Girl. If not, I may have to take something back. No. Just kidding. But I'm going to leave all my tag-making supplies on my work space--the dining room table--just in case I have to make more. Then, it's very likely I'll be making what I make best. Dinner reservations.

Where's the fire?

I finally got our guard dog properly outfitted for his holiday job as the front-door greeter. Though I must confess, I didn't knit the whole hat. Just the white band and pom-pom. I was having so much fun with the swornament-knitting that I just couldn't put it down long enough to knit a whole Santa hat. I think greeter dog would much rather go for a ride on a firetruck than sit here day after day by our front door. Maybe he could hitch a ride on the hook and ladder when the firemen go shopping for their chili fixins'.

So now let's talk about felting. I crocheted a flower long ago--while we were still in the old house--and I tried to felt it in my washing machine. You might be familiar with the Murphy Laws of Felting. It works something like this: When you put your nice wool sweater in the wash by mistake it will felt into a wonderful tiny doll sweater. But when you put a crocheted flower or a knitted bag, or some other fiber project you want to felt in the machine, not even a hint of felting happens. That's what happened to my flower. So I banished it to the curio thingie and labeled it a dismal failure.

Then, the other day, I decided to give it one more try. I took it out of the curio thingie and put it in my new front-load washer without an agitator (usually a requirement for felting). I threw it in with some towels and t-shirts.
And what do you know! It felted ever-so-nicely. I sewed a pin to the back and passed it on to Santa to put in Big City Girl's Christmas stocking. Maybe it will make a nice accessory for her dustmop sweater, or all the handknit dustmop scarves I've gifted her in recent years. If BCG reads this, which I don't think she will, she should rest assured that I'm just kidding. Now that she's a grown-up business woman living on her own in the big city, I'm sure she hangs up her clothes. But maybe just to be on the safe side, I should knit her a mop.

Merriment

This morning as I was enjoying my coffee in the great room--a room where dirty dishes and clean laundry can't be left untended because there's no place to HIDE them --I noticed the sun coming in through the kitchen window and illuminating my ceramic gingerbread house.

I grabbed my camera on-the-quick because I thought it was really quite striking. Then I decided to scout around for other scenes that might be photo-worthy.

Here are some little block candle holders I made one year with clay robin standing watch. Do you think he needs a Santa hat?

This is the clay Santa I made last year. Remember how I added a bit of whimsy on his backside?

Kinda hard to see, but he's got cheeks. It really wasn't my intent. Sometimes clay has a mind of its own. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Santa and dog-who-cannot-see are keeping each other company next to the fireplace. Poor Santa. He looks like he's had too many pre-Christmas treats. I know just how he feels. I'll bet he was noshing on the chocolate chip cookies. Sure glad I didn't do any nibbling....

My holiday motto: "No flat surface shall go undecorated."

My little photo excursion brought back memories of Christmases past. I remember how dear-ol'-dad, who was an especially handy person, cut big Christmas figures out of plywood. My sister and I helped him paint them, and then he attached them to our garage door and lit them up with a spotlight. That was back before icicle lights and blow-up lawn Santas and antlers for your car. I kinda miss those days. Those were the days when what kept you awake all night on Christmas Eve was the excitement of Santa's visit instead of that darned arthritis in your hip....

Doggone it!

If a person hasn't started their Christmas shopping and has yet to purchase a single box of Christmas cards, I think it makes sense to start a new project--something like knitting Santa hats for all the dogs in the house.

The big wooden Dalmation that sits by the front door keeping watch on the street has a lighted wreath around his neck and soon he, too, will have a Santa hat.

Maybe then I'll start on the cats. Or not. I don't suppose the elves will be showing up anytime soon to do my holiday chores.

"Sooo-EEE!"

I'm not much of a country gal, as you know, but I'm pretty sure that's how a farmer calls his pigs--at least here in the US. I hear tell it's "Hooo--EEE" in the UK.

I made this little piggy for a friend who was in need of a gift for a pig-collecting friend. He's not quite finished. I'm contemplating eyebrows. I know real pigs don't have eyebrows, although I've never gotten close enough to one to take a look. But in my whimsical world all things are possible.

And would you look at all this buttercream!
It's giving me a sugar high. I'll need a nap soon. And what about this scene outside our window this morning....

The curb-installing crew was at work. And I'll just mention that all of those vehicles, with the exception of the dark red Honda, have back-up beeps.

So today Mr. Gadget made his annual trek up from the basement with the box containing our artificial Christmas tree. When we ponder our options: 1) going out into the woods and paying a lot of money to cut down our own tree; 2) bringing the box up from the basement; and 3) skipping the tree altogether and just decorating the mantle, the box always wins.

My job is to assemble the tree and fluff up the branches. I'm the family fluffer. They don't call me Fluffy for nothing. Mr. Gadget's job is putting the lights on--with a minimum of expletives--while listening to Bing Crosby singing Christmas carols. Sometimes there's eggnog. It's almost more excitement than we can stand....especially on a day when we've already been abundantly entertained by the curb installers.

Nice ice

Mr. Gadget and I took a ride up to the old hotel yesterday afternoon to check out my doll sales. As we approached the entrance I noticed that the brick walkway was lined with ice candles.This brought back fond memories of the year I made ice candles. I put them out on the back deck--at the old house--in the snow where we could admire them through the family room windows. Mine were smaller than the ones in the picture--which appear to have been made in buckets of some kind. I used plastic gallon milk jugs.

I cut off the tops of the jugs far enough down so the sides were perfectly straight. (This part will be important later.) Then I put an empty tin can inside the jug and filled it with rocks--or something else that would provide weight. Next I filled the jug with water up to the level of the can. Then I put it in the freezer, or outside if it was below freezing. Once frozen, I set it in the sink for a few minutes till the ice melted just enough to allow the can to slide out, and then I slid the large piece of ice out of the milk jug (this is why the straight sides are important.)

Very quickly I carried it outside and put it in a place for optimum viewing pleasure. I placed a small candle inside--votives are a good size--and lit 'er up. These will last a long time in wintery weather and they're very festive! And if you really want to go all out, put a little food coloring in the water.

Oh, yes. About the dolls. Six of 15 were sold, including Santa with the bunny slippers. So this has got me wondering...as I'm wont to do about so many things....would a slightly smaller pair of bunny slippers make a nice ornament? And would I then have to call them slornaments?

More swornaments

I've never been able to knit a sweater in a day until now. These swornaments are kind of addictive. This is the latest batch. I took them to my knitting group at the senior center the other day and the ladies were quite impressed. Truthfully, I think they were most impressed with the hangers (see previous post). "Where did you get them?" someone asked. "Target," I said, "in their mini department." No, I didn't say that. I gave all the credit to Tech Guy. Luckily, he gave me a tutorial on hanger-making because I know he won't always be available to make as many as I'm gonna need. I'm guessing, though, that after knitting a couple dozen or so I'll be more than ready to swear off swornaments.

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.

Happy Halloween!

Our condo complex has a good plan for dealing with trick-or-treaters. 100% of the trick-or-treaters are grandchildren of residents, so between the hours of 3 and 5 p.m. these little monsters.....I mean, sweet costumed grandchildren....can come around asking for treats. And residents can turn on their outside lights during these hours if they are in a giving frame of mind.

Mr. Gadget and I didn't turn on our lights. We ate all of our Halloween candy a week ago...

Socktober sunrise

This is what I saw when I looked outside this morning at 7 a.m. The sun was coming up over the hills to the east and beginning to illuminate the hills to the west. Quite a sight. It almost made me forget the queasiness.

I've made progress on the socks.

I haven't finished the toe on sock #1. Toe-finishing is not my favorite part of knitting. I'll just save it till I'm done with sock #2 and do them both at once.....with a glass of wine....or better yet, a piece of chocolate...or four. They are kinda festive-looking. The ladies in the senior center knitting group--where I've been working on them--admire my youthful spirit.

I've been working on a pilgrim pair I've promised to other Marcia. I'm experimenting on the man's shoes. My pilgrim men usually wear boots, but one day I realized that male pilgrims would be better dressed in pilgrim shoes. So I googled a picture and did a sketch. They aren't finished yet, but when they are you'll be the first to judge. He'll have a hint of leg showing. I like that in a man.

So I unloaded an old dresser by way of Craig's List this morning. Mr. Gadget calls me the Queen of CL, since I always amaze him with the old pieces of junk I'm able to discard. What he doesn't realize is that junk is a relative term. It really is true that one person's trash is another's treasure.
Big City Girl got this gem long ago from her best friend. She had plans to collage it, and soon lost interest. It was a similar thing with a chair she purchased at the local flea market.

Both were abandoned in the parental basement storage facility. So today, some sucker, I mean some nice man, came by to pick up the dresser. He must have been intrigued by my description of the piece wherein I stated: "might make a nice canvas for some whimsical artwork."

And now for the chair. I should probably check with BCG before I discard it, but technically I think the statute of limitations has expired. How to advertise it, I wonder? Maybe: "with just a little bit of embellishment, this would make a perfect throne for the woman in your life." It could go in a heartbeat.

No traipsing through the pumpkin patch

Aside from the front-porch pumpkin, there are no real pumpkins here at the Concondo this year. I just hate handling rotting pumpkins, and that's usually what I end up doing along about the first of December....being the first-class procrastinator that I am.

I toyed with putting Mr. Pumpkin Man on eBay a couple of weeks ago, but I just couldn't get any good pictures of him. So I looked over my multifarious collection of characters and decided to put her up there instead. Buyers aren't clamoring, but that's ok. I have a couple more selling ops coming up. I've decided to sign up for another craft fair on Nov. 20--where I hope there won't be an overabundance of clamoring because whatever's left will be delivered the next day to the old hotel for the Christmas show. I always say that next year I won't let the stress of the holidays get to me, but I have a bad memory. Just about the time I'm wrapping up the craft-show whirwind, someone will ask me when they can expect to receive their copy of my cartoon Christmas page--something I stupidly did many years ago on a whim and now it's taken on a life of its own. And you know how I hate to disappoint.

So now I've got a few Santas in the works.

And I'm wondering how Santa would look in flannel jammies, a stocking cap and bunny slippers. Would one of those make buyers clamor, I wonder? I guess I don't have to decide on that right away. Bunny slippers are a little more challenging to make than plain black Santa boots. Then again, I should have some extra time since I won't be having to deal with rotten pumpkins.