Every year for my father’s birthday, some friends throw him a little birthday dinner. It’s nothing too outrageous, just a gathering of about eight to ten friends to wish him well and have a meal and some cake. This year, things took a little turn.

My father and uncle were chatting, and my uncle apparently decided to come as well, even though it’s quite a drive. My father mentioned to another uncle that this was happening, and one thing led to another, and somehow it turned into a combination flash mob and family reunion. When I showed up at the restaurant, in addition to friends, there were cousins and second cousins and uncles and aunts involved, most of whom are pictured to the right.

It was a delightful surprise. I wasn’t expecting all that, and Dad wasn’t either. It was great to see family who we hadn’t seen in years. What a wonderful way to turn 75 39 years old.

My father is a very generous, funny, kind man, and it is utterly unsurprising that he has so many people who care so much about him. It was nice that he got to be reminded of that for his birthday.

Yammering about dyeing and barnyard animals. Bonus pic of my dad!

Emily: “Why do you have to hold onto a bicycle’s handlebars?”
Me: “So you can control it. That’s how you steer the bicycle. Do you think you’d like a bicycle for your birthday?”
Emily: “Yes. Also, a can of snakes.”
Me: “What would you do with a can of snakes?”
Emily: “I would open it and they would fly out!”

She gets that from her Grandpa. No doubt about it.

This kid’s on a roll today.

The snowman has finally melted away. There was enough last night for me to pick up a pinch of snow, make the world’s tiniest snowball and throw it at the house. It was a nice last hurrah.

And speaking of world’s tiniest things, my dad’s birthday was Tuesday. No, that’s not a “short” joke! A while back we were talking about this Charlie Brown sweater, and I said I couldn’t understand why the giftee had never acknowledged receipt. I figured any baby would love to have one! Dad quickly said, “Or any adult! I mean… I know I’d wear one. It’d be fun. You know. If someone… were to… make me one. You know.”

Hee hee! Okay! I think he forgot about it, but I filed it away. I didn’t have time to make a complete full-sized sweater by his birthday, and I didn’t have his measurements even if I had had time. Instead, I made this, put a tape measure inside it and presented it in a little bag. And that was his gift. I’ll be taking measurements later for the real deal.

I’ve finished up another project, this one for a baby. It’s too big, but I like to knit big for babies because they grow so fast. The parents get all this tiny stuff at baby showers, and then six months later the kid has outgrown it all. However, I have to mail it to its receipient, so I can’t show it just yet. But it’s really cute. It’s hard to hold off posting it.

The hubby has to work today. Emily says that I can go to the store and get bagels by myself and bring them back. I’m pretty sure Child Protective Services would have a different opinion on that. We’ll see if she wants them badly enough to stop lounging around in her pajamas and come with me. I may insist, because now that she’s mentioned it, a bagel sounds great!

Everybody wish my father a happy birthday. This marks the 32nd year in a row of him turning 39!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!

Apparently my courage in battling the monstera has inspired illiane to present me with some “yummy” “goodness” from Malaysia. illiane said that she thought the rambutan was “rude-looking,” which just shows you what a gutter mind she has. I’ll tell you this – no matter how sweet and delicious they are purported to be, I will not be opening the can of alien balls without full hazmat gear. Take “alien balls” how you will. I think we all know how illiane will be taking it.

I’ll report back when I sample these. Until then, they’ll be safely stored in a lead-lined bunker in the back yard.


Whipped up another little something, which I cannot show you in its finished form because it is a gift. These are the bits of it, though. I just need to put a finishing touch on it, then it’s off to its destination.

There are actually a fair number of non-Jayne items in the queue right now, which is always fun. I ran a reproduction of a felted purse past the client who asked for it, and she was very pleased, although it needs to be a hair wider. I need to knock another one or two of those out for her – she’s gifting her sisters with them for Christmas. There are a couple of Jayne hats that need to be ready by Flanvention II, but aside from that, most stuff is for Christmas. At this point, it’s too late to order a finished hat and have it guaranteed by the holidays. Kits are no problem, but if you’re not already in line for a knitted item, it may be January.


For Halloween, Emily said all season that she did NOT want a pumpkin. Next year, she’d want a pumpkin but definitely not this year. No sir, no pumpkin for her. Until 3pm on Halloween day. Great.

So we went to two grocery stores with no luck, then I thought I’d try a pumpkin stand I knew, and they had a few left. A few small, lumpy pumpkins. Emily quickly pointed to what we shall not call the worst, but instead “the one with the most character.” If there was a Halloween equivalent to the Charlie Brown Christmas tree, this was it. It was two dollars, but the guy took pity on us and only charged us a buck. We were very grateful.

We took it back home, and because I am one of Those Moms who sucks the fun out of everything, I had Emily draw me a picture of how she wanted the pumpkin to look so that she could work those fine motor skills. Actually, it was still fun, since it was part of the process of carving. “Triangle eyes, circle nose, squiggle mouth.” I’d never done squiggle before, but I gave it a shot. It may not be art, but it is, as my father would say, “good enough for newspaper work.”

Behold! The tiniest pumpkin! If ever the Great Pumpkin were going to visit a house instead of a pumpkin patch, he would surely choose ours, as our pumpkin was the most sincere in the neighborhood. The opening was barely big enough to fit a little tea candle inside.

I leave you with this belated image of Halloween. May your candy last exactly as long as you want it to.

The swatch was too pretty. I had to stop it early so I could start on the sweater. Gauge is spot-on anyway, based on this snippet.

I think plain main + multicolored accent is going to be my new favorite trick.

Also: Roland Young is freakin’ hilarious so far in Topper. He usually played a very staid British type, or sometimes the man who you’d think would be the staid British type (such as the flirty and drunken Uncle Willie in one of my favorite movies, the Philadelphia Story) so I haven’t seem him do physical stuff before.

You can tell this is a Hal Roach film by the director’s sometime use of speeded-up footage. Hey, it was comedy gold in silent days! But you know, Hal Roach lived to be a hundred and kept active in the biz until the end. His imdb producer credits top 1000. I have fond memories of my dad unspooling Hal’s Laurel and Hardy movies on a movie projector in the living room. I’m not going to begrudge the man a few wacky camera tricks.

Frogging the swatch – I need every yard for this sweater!