Mother's Day with Hoops

After my mom finished doing the Walk for Cure this morning (yay, Mom!), we gathered at her house for a Mother's Day Brunch.

It was a potluck feast of large proportions.

After brunch, Paul went over to his parents house to spend some time with them, while my mom, sister and I headed out to the garage to make hula hoops. We had a new tool to use in order to cut the pipe. The PVC cutter had us stumped for quite a while.

"How does this thing open?!?!"

Once we finally figured out how to use the tool, we measured and cut the tubing with ease. We used hair dryers to heat the tubing and insert the connectors.

Finally, we added some electrical tape for aesthetics and identification purposes.

Voila! Adult-sized hula hoops!

Jessy wasn't in the hoopdancing class we took, but she is natural! I think the neighbors enjoyed watching 3 grown women hula hooping in the driveway on a Sunday afternoon.

Current WIPs

After all those F.O. posts, I thought it worth posting what is currently in the works.

I am still working on the Bit by Bit Blanket. It is coming along sporadically and slowly, as predicted. With the stitch pattern I am using, it basically requires 2 rows of knitting for every 1 row of length gained.

I am also knitting a version of the Textured Shawl Recipe. I am using the cormo wool from my Spring 2009 share of Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm (now Juniper Moon Fiber Farm) yarn. Because this yarn is all that I can/will get, I needed to make due with the two skeins that I have. I realized when I was nearing the bind-off row that I wasn't going to have enough to be able to knit the edge I wanted to. I sucked it up and ripped it back to almost halfway.

These photos are pre-frogging. The ripping has taken the wind out of my sail for a little bit, so the project is in hibernation for a little while.

I am also working on the Swirl Shawl. I am knitting this with the one skein of Noro Kureyon sock yarn I had in my stash. The yardage is much less than the pattern calls for so I anticipate making this into a scarf that is 2 swirls wide. Watching how the Noro colors behave in this pattern is quite a bit of fun.

In addition to the knitting, I have been making lots of jewelry. I'll tell you more about that later!

In furry news...

Tchazo enjoys taking sunbaths:

Jack can usually be found underfoot/in my way/right where I am:

Fanny takes an open bag as an opportunity to lounge:

And, sometimes its all just too much for her:

Trinity's Touch-Tronic

photo from Singer

Paul and I went to a garage sale on Saturday. I met a man who has been an industrial sewing machine dealer for decades. He happened to be selling this Singer Touch-Tronic 2001 sewing machine. I happened to have just enough cash on me (if you don't count the $3 I had to take from Paul). I happen to be in the market for a sewing machine as my cheapy new one from Target hasn't been working and I have been using my mom's machine in the meantime. So, I bought it!

I took it home, looked it up on the internet and found that it was made in 1978. That just happens to be the same year I was born! And, it is "the world's first computer-controlled machine", so says the Singer website. That's pretty cool.

The man at the sale took me into his basement and showed me his arsenal of industrial machines. I had no idea there were so many machines for sewing so many different kinds of materials and stitches. It was a neat little glimpse.

I am hoping this was a match that was meant to be. I've had quite the string of sewing machine duds and I would really love it if this one lasts me for a long, long time.

Also, the internet is an awesome thing. I was able to locate a scan of the original instructions during a search for an explanation about a mysteriously blinking red light. Turns out the red light is telling me that my bobbin is low on thread. Thanks for having my back, Touch-Tronic.

4 Scrubs

In addition to the mitered towel I recently made, I have also been knitting these little scrubbies.

They are out of the same yarn (2nd Time Cotton) and are meant to be used in place of washcloths or dish sponges.

I knit some of these a while ago and have been using them to wash dishes. They hold up quite well at dish duty. And, when they get too yucky, they can easily handle being run through the clothes washer and dryer.

Plus, I just think they are so cute! Much like making washcloths, these appeal to me because they are ripe for playing with texture and color and, especially with the striping, they are great for smaller quantities of yarn.