Life's A Stitch

See ya later alligator

In a while crocodile. Off to Florida with you. My thank you gift is on it's way. I figure if Betsy can't use it, there are plenty of her New York grandchildren who would appreciate it. Mr. Bry at age 18 has already requested one.

The specs: Morehouse Merino Alligator Scarf Kit, doubling the number of scale repeats.

The recap: The scarf done according to pattern would not be a scarf at all in length. They supply an appropriate amount of yarn, but the pattern directions seem skimpy. When I bought it, it was only available as a kit. Now you can order the pattern alone. Knitters have complained that the kit yarn is too firm, bit the scales require that firmness for body. Besides, the colour is perfect.

Additions: Needle felted eyeballs, otherwise the scarf looks like a croc hide with eyeball sockets. I did slitty gator eyes on one side and pink eyeballs en reverse. Started with the pinks ones on the main side but decided they look like white olives with pink pimento. Is this as weird as it sounds looks? It was one of the most enjoyable projects I have ever knit.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day, that holiday that seldom lives up to Hallmark expectations, the one that has, in our family at least, occasionally invited coincidental catastrophe, was made a bit better by child induced treats:

How to describe this delectable delight: a french toasty, bread puddingy melange of sweet buttery nuttiness. A recipe from Uncle Greg, made by Sean and Elina for an early M-Day brunch. Here's the recipe he sent:

1 loaf Texas bread, thick sliced

8 eggs

3 cups milk

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons butter, cut into 5 pats

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Grease 13x9" pan. Cut bread into 1" wide strips. (using French bread, its easiest to slice it in half lengthwise first.) Put one layer into bottom of pan.

Beat eggs, milk, sugar, salt and vanilla in a large bowl. Pour over bread. Cut each pat of butter into several pieces, enough so that each bread slice has a piece on it. Sprinkle the top of the bread with cinnamon. Cover with foil and refrigerate for up to 36 hours.

When ready to cook, place plan in COLD oven. Turn temperature to 350ºF and bake for 45-50 minutes. When touched, it should spring back.

Allow to set for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with syrup or fruit compotes.

This is close to the one I made. I sprinkled pecans on before baking, and of course had apple compote warmed up for anyone wanting it. For some reason, I think I put in one\ Tablespoon of vanilla into mine. Enjoy.   

A son who works at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, the benefits of which include this mixture of fresh bendy Twizzlers enrobed in milk chocolate, the end to the day which started with a giant pretzel first dipped in caramel and then in chocolate. And I thought I didn't have a sweet tooth.

The knitting treat, enjoyed due to a son-in law, who patiently chauffeured Ellen and I first to one knit shop, then another, then back to the first to fetch the accidentally left behind pattern in midday traffic:

Sick days

I'm taking a couple of sick days - I'm speechless and my brain is fuzzy after getting called in for day surgery yesterday. Nothing serious, but it's left me with a souvenir strip of sore neck and shoulder stitches. Hasn't impeded the knitting, though. That's Clapotis #2 to the left. Not a bad picture considering the clap is the least photogenic project I've found.

No sympathy necessary - the timing was fortunate with coincidental visits from visiting knitting SIL, Ellen, and Elina and Sean.

One ringy dingy

Lost rings are nothing new in this house. I've thrown away my wedding rings a few times. It's usually after eating messy food and then they are recovered safely having been carefully wrapped up in a napkin. One time after eating steamers, we found them in the bottom of the garbage, nestled inside a clam shell.

I know of a person who made an insurance claim on her lost rings. Fifteen years later they were recovered in the bottom of a jar of Vaseline. And I think I've told this one before - honest to God, I know the person. Her grandmother's ring was found in the belly of a fish. The fisherman traced the owner through the engraving. She had lost it down the drain years before. And I know I've written about the diamond cocktail ring I found in the finger of a glove I was trying on at a store.

How about you, any good ring stories out there?

There IS knitting happening here and I'm going to show you a picture to prove it. Sort of. This is the mystery gift I'm working on, recognizable enough to you experienced knitters. Hint: it's a "MM" kit with a protuberous embellishment. Shhh, don't say anything, the intended recipient may be reading:

On sweat glands and mini-pads

I imagine you are thinking what on earth could this post possibly be about? Well, I was reading Sandy's post #114 embarrassing potty stories and remembered one of my own. It didn't involve a toilet, but was embarrassing just the same. So here we go:

Once upon a time I dreaded job interviews. I enjoy conducting interviews, but put me on the other side and I was a sweaty, palpitating mess. Reading all the tips around disguising your discomfort I sprayed antiperspirant on my palms and in the absence of  dress shields (do you remember when dress shields were something you could buy in a store's Foundations Department? That was a long time ago!). I placed Kotex mini-pads under my armpits.

The interview went well, I went home. Undressing, you probably guessed it, I could only find one mini-pad. My mind went into a tailspin imagining the interviewers finding the crumpled damp pad on the chair in which I sat.

The interview story has a good ending. The next day, getting into the car, I found the culprit on the floor. And yes, I did get the job, but it wasn't a happily ever after situation. I was fired five months and 28 days later because I was pregnant (I didn't know it at the time of the interview). But that's another story from way back when. They couldn't get away with that now. And if I had stayed there I wouldn't have had the satisfying career I've had.

And regarding interviews, when I'm the interviewer I take the advice I learned in a course - assume the interviewee is terrified and try to make them feel as comfortable as if they were sitting in their own living room. Someone in that course told me their best interview experience ever - walking along the Vancouver seawall with her potential boss.

I bet there are a lot of interview stories out there. Care to share?

On the knitting front, the Ravelry web has ensnared me. I have never really liked knitted toys, but the R site introduced me to designer, Alan Dart, and now I own two of his books. My family of grown ups has each added their favourites to my queue.

I've been saving this one

I've noticed this trend amongst knitting bloggers, that when they are at a loss for words or lack knitting progress, they substitute a good picture. Not one who usually lacks for words, I've been saving this one for a while:

It's one strange fast moving cloud, taken from our deck last April.

I do have a knitting project on the go, but it's a surprise for someone who might be reading.

Hang on little tomato, take two

Despite his reluctance to do so, Mr. Bryant turned 18 today.


His friend's mom made the cake.

She's a nurse, hence its anatomical correctness.

Nobody adequately prepared me for parenthood.

Happy Birthday, little tomato.

Oh the horror

In my early childhood years, late night TV horror films were produced in black and white. They allowed your brain to fill in the colour of blood. The two that influenced the nightmares of my life, watched prior to the age of six with a cousin, late at night when everyone else was sensibly asleep:

1. The Great Behemoth - a nessie type monster, living in the East River knocks over ferry boats. I grew up outside of NYC and this was a REAL possibility for me.

2. The Crawling Eye - a spiderlike creature, living in a cloud on the side of a mountain, devouring people travelling up said mountain in cable cars. It fostered in me a full fledged case of pediatric cable car phobia. Now, as an adult, I can't look at random clouds clinging to the side of Grouse Mountain without thinking of the Crawling Eye. My kids even call them Crawling Eye clouds.

In my college years it was Looking for Mr.Goodbar that fueled my fears; horror in flickering full colour. Especially after another student, in a nearby dorm, was the victim of a stabbing death one night.

It's many years later and I don't appreciate horror films or any type of psycho-thriller. Give me a musical or quirky comedy any day. A recent favourite? Odd as it sounds it was Death at a Funeral. I was still LOL the next day. Pure political incorrectness.

I can't in any way link this to knitting, but I can show you some stash enhancement bought at ebay store Simply Yarn. Two skeins of Blue Heron Rayon Metallic, priced lower than at most stores, with reasonable shipping. If you decide to get some, tell Jacquie that Li sent you.

Ah ha - here's the missing link: It will provide me with plenty of movie watching knitting.

Two complaints and a comfort

I'm not going to disguise this as anything other than plain old complaining.

Complaint #1: Why is it, that I can't wear an article of brand new clothing without staining it? Picture it: last night, new pair of khaki's, artichokes for dinner, margarine spillage. Followed by applications of: Folex instant spot remover, Spot Shot instant stain remover, soap and water, ammonia cleaner and dishwasher detergent. Spot still there.

Complaint #2: What possessed me to buy such a bad CD? Usually careful of my music purchases, I was so in love with Pink Martini's Hang On Little Tomato, that I impulsively purchased their other two CD's AND booked tickets to their live performance at the upcoming Vancouver Jazz festival. You might like it, but if by chance your music tastes are similar to mine, and according to my husband, not many other's are, steer clear of their most recent release: Hey Eugene.

I am comforted by the fact that the weekend's shopping wasn't all bad. I think this is the yummiest yarn I've ever purchased and I've bought a lot. So soft, cotton candy and white clouds on a blue sky, a pink Hanami to be.

A reminder - good CD:

Bad CD:

Really bad. You'd think I'd have gotten the hint by the picture of a drunken woman squatting on the  bathroom floor. That's just what the CD sounds like.

Gifts from the heart

We hang out with knitters, but besides the projects we see on blogs and Ravelry, how many do you actually see in the wild, up close and personal? Of all the thousands of Baby Surprise Jackets, have you ever seen one on a real baby, one of which you haven't knitted?

I've been thinking about this. In the past five years, not counting ones in captivity at knit shops or craft fairs, I can count identifiable works in the wild on one hand. There was a Vintage Velvet scarf in Seattle, an Anne Norling Strawberry Hat in Denmark, and a Fakeisle hat in Bellingham. Where are the others hiding?

Or the opposite, have you had anyone stop you, out of the blue, and ask if that's a Charlotte's Web you are wearing? I don't know why these things intrigue me. I guess I have a fear of hitting my local Sally Ann and finding dozens of Baby Surprises after spending days knitting one myself. Or maybe only knitters appreciate knitting.

Seeing as though there's plenty of knitting content here, I'll give some not so equal time to the woodworker in my house. He turned this spalted birch vase as a special gift for Blogless Marsha's blogless spouse.

Personally, I don't get wood turning. We have many beautiful pieces in our house, but they each require hours and hours and hours (you get the point) of standing on hard concrete in a dirty dusty environment, and at the very last minute it's conceivable that you can hit a rough patch and blow it all to smithereens.

Once I heard a loud whump from his garage workshop, followed by an expletive, naturally. Out he came, shaking his head, lamenting the fact that yet another one had gotten away. Poof! Sawdust. A couple of weeks later he looked up. There was a good part of the body of a bowl impaled in the garage's roughly insulated ceiling.

Way too risky for me. I guess it's the woodturner's version of a knitted gift from the heart.