Trays

My father is notoriously hard to buy for.  He always says he doesn't need anything.  This makes Christmas challenging.  Even more so, his birthday is the 8th of December. ( My sister's is the 6th.  Mother's -  the 10th of January.  Nephew - the 5th of January.  Crazy family and their winter birthdays....)  I have a hard time coming up with ideas for things he'd actually like and use. I have to admit, though, the potato pellet gun was a hoot.  The victims rest of the family still haven't forgiven me for that one.

Father travels a lot.  So I made him these trays.

They hold your change, your keycard, your wallet, your phone, etc., on the hotel dresser so you don't lose anything.  And since they have snaps, they collapse to pack flat in your suitcase.

I bookmarked a tutorial on similar trays, planning to read it later when I had time, and then couldn't find it when I went to make them.  So I made it up as I went along.  I added some batting so that they were softer in the bottom so if he dumped his phone in there, it would be somewhat protected.  I also chose flannel to line them so they wouldn't scratch anything.

To position the batting so it wouldn't shift, I cut it to finished size of the bottom and drew lines in the centre of some fusible interfacing cut to the size of my finished tray plus 1/4" seam allowance.  I centred the batting in the squares I drew on the interfacing and fused it to the flannel.  Then I cut around the interfacing to get my inside pieces and cut same size pieces from my quilting cotton for the outsides.

Forgive the bad lighting.  I can only sew late at night right now...

He loves them.  He has one in Toronto right now.  He may also have gone to Leafs game last night. I'm terribly jealous.  :-)

I also have some incredible thank-yous to give out for something cool that happened at Soaps last Friday night but I'm hoping to get a copy of a picture first...  Stay tuned.

Birthday

Another year older.  But I prefer to think of it as another year better....  Although, the wonderful gifts I received remind me that I'm also another year even less mature than the last - and proud of it!

It's tradition to do family supper for birthdays but since I am already too busy during the week to even write this post (but I'm doing it anyway), we gathered Sunday night to celebrate.

Reason #847 that my Seester is awesome:

If you were a fan of Arrested Development, you already know that Annyong is Korean for "hello."  If you missed the "You had me at hello" reference, to you I say, "Seriously, you've never seen Jerry Maguire???" (Sidebar:  apparently, the clerk at the t-shirt place had never heard of either as the shirt my sister gave her came back reading "You had me at annoying." That shirt has now been relegated to pyjamas or for wearing on Dadaism Tuesdays.)

With a birthday celebrated two days in advance, there was, of course, debate whether or not presents would be given or kept until the actual day.

Mum:  Well, I already gave her one so...
Dad: Oooh, can I give her mine today?
Mum:  Yours?  It's from both of us...
Dad:  Yeah, but I bought it.
                At this point in the conversation, Mother gives Father an incredible death glare that translates as "shut up or she'll figure out what it is!"

Curiosity piqued!  Father picked out my gift? Whatever could it be?  I certainly didn't think it would be this:

HAPPY CAMPER!

If you read this weblog regularly, you've likely figured out I'm a *bit* of a hockey fan.  A sweater was needed, wanted and is oh so appreciated... I've always had a soft spot for goalies.  Also, while the smallest size they had, it's big on me and, wearing it, I feel about the same size as I was when Father took me to my first game oh so many years ago.  The feeling has a sweet nostalgia to it that reminds me why I treasure my family and am thankful for moments, both small and large.

Dad:  I almost got you a Leafs jersey...

Me:  That would've been pretty cool, too.

Dad: ...but I couldn't think of a player in Toronto that anyone's heard of.

I almost fell off my chair laughing.  Sad, but true.  I love Boston for the feel-good times and old-time's sake, and Toronto because they keep me humble. Perpetually.

Great birthday.  Hope you had a great un-birthday (or birthday, as the case may be!)

Behind

I am later posting this than I had intended.

Try as I might, I can not successfully photograph this sweater by myself, in any light, or with help, since almost everyone I wouldn't feel strange asking to photograph me wearing a sweater, to show off the sweater and specifically the sweater, is currently in Montana.  Or white-water-rafting in BC.

So after three weeks of attempts, I resign myself to posting this one.  Just this one.

The front is straight and without much detail.  It's the back that really made me happy (and also makes me feel a little like Thandie Newton in The Chronicles of Riddick...)  What you can't see in the photo is that it's actually quite a dark brown, bordering on black, that the single ply wool, though gorgeous, will probably pill like the dickens, and that I screwed up the pattern.  I misread the chart and did the small cable repeats on every eighth row instead of every fourth.  I realized my mistake as I started the first sleeve.  Sleeves and pockets have the correct cable repeat...  I should've known it was knitting up too fast but I decided that 9mm needles will have that effect.  Very cosy.  And very simple to do, provided that you are literate, or at least paying attention.  I'm satisfied with the result

Vogue Knitting, Early Fall.  Twilleys' Freedom.  Notes:  I used way more yardage than the pattern called for even though I knit to gauge on the specified needles.  Then, since I had cleaned the yard shop out of Twilleys when I originally purchased the yarn, I had to wait several weeks while my favourite knitting shop tracked some more down for me. (Thank you, Charlene!)  One more thing you can't see:  the slightest colour variance on one and a half sleeves, two pockets.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes.  It was a happy birthday Monday for me!  I inhaled an angelfood cake.  No fork.  True story.  :-)

I Believe...

...that Sundogs are an incredibly beautiful indicator of how very cold it is even if they are incredibly difficult to photograph well...

...that the person who invented the KitchenAid stand mixer deserves the same high praise in my book as James Dyson...

...that family is one of the truly important things in life if you are lucky enough to have one or a group of people that you consider family...

...that perfectly smooth frosting should be reserved for weddings and business functions...

...that a cake baked for someone you love is twice as sweet and has half the calories...

...that Feliz Cumpleanos is way more festive than saying Happy Birthday...

...and that she who baked it has the right of first refusal on licking the spatula.

Sometimes it sneaks up on you...

I think this is the first time since I've known how to count that the "days until my birthday" was not a running countdown in my head. I suppose some would argue that it's about time that I stopped acting like a seven-year-old waiting for Christmas but to them I say, "PpTHHtthhpp!!! [raspberry noise - how does one spell it??] I generally prefer low-key ways of celebrating and very large slices, or many merry wedges, of cake, to large hoopla, or heaven forfend, a hootenanny, but I look forward to it, nonetheless, though the number gets bigger with each passing August. But this year, it just sort of snuck up on me. It's not until Sunday but some people have already begun to acknowledge it. Even non-people are acknowledging it...

I received a text message this morning - thinking it was from a person, I checked it right away. Instead, it was from my cellular carrier. "Free msg from [cellular carrier]. Happy Birthday! On August 30th, enjoy unlimited local calling on us. Our records indicate that this is your birthday. Have a great day!"

I sat there for a second with a quizzical look on my face. I was very surprised but decided that this was a nice gesture on behalf of my service provider. (Although, for a while there, it was touch and go between "nice gesture" and "creepy and weird".) I did giggle at a couple of things. One - the fact that they felt it necessary to let me know they weren't charging me for the incoming message (since there have been virtual riots over incoming message charges) and that their records indicate my birth date but not the fact that my plan already covers unlimited local calling.

Regardless, thank you Cellular Carrier for the warm wish and the already free free-calling on my birthday. It's the electronic thought that counts and I appreciate it anyway.

In real-people acknowledgment, I'm looking forward to going out for supper with my parents and sister tonight. The annual ritual continues since I outgrew birthday parties. There will be a few less seats - my brother(in-law, though I drop the in-law all the time) has to work and my own sweetie is posted far and away - but rather than be upset that they can't share in fun, I choose to look at the bright side...

More cheesecake for me!!