Just table after table so we can compare glaze results and asdmire and ask questions to the assembled masses.

I’ve been working on those handled vases, a refined version of them I’m very happy with.  Here’s this crop.

And I also kept working on my quatrefoil bowls, which please me immensely.

And I would have said that even before they started selling my pottery there (honestly, check my Quicken log.  Smith and Chang has it’s own category).

A closet full of vases…

A table full of bowls…

Some of Phil’s photography (www.roamingpixels.com)

One of Steph’s giclee prints (www.bookteacher.com)…

Just some of the art Rob had on display (www.crutonia.blogspot.com)…

Join us next year!

But before I disappeared, there was some great knitting, so let’s post a photo, shall we?

This year’s winter hat for Mia, done freehand.  The pompoms were a particular favorite of mine…

And it looked fantastic on…

VIRTUAL TOUR!  Let’s start by walking down the staircase from the main entry to our house…

Which brings us into the new apartment…

The bedroom is to the left of this entrance…

which has next to the exposed brick a large closet for clothes (and eventually a washer/dryer, hence the hook-up)…

…as well as a utility closet…

Which is next to the exterior door which takes you to the street, which is next to the next two utility closets, the first for the hose hook-up and the electrical panels, as well as the first sump-pump which is connected to the French drain which protects the perimeter of the building…

…and the larger utility closet for the boiler and the hot water heater…

But who wants to see those?  Let’s keep those doors closed…

We wouldn’t want to distract from the beautiful bathroom next to it (just opposite the door you came in from as you entered from the central stairs, for those playing the home game)…

…with the fantastic tile work in the shower…

..and coming out you’re faced with that door again up the central stairs, and two more closets down the hall space…

The first is another clothes closet…

…the second, an elaborate pantry we designed with U-shaped shelves to allow maximum visibility for the storage…

A nice pantry for a nice kitchenette, just opposite…

…with the marble counter and the glass tile back splash…

…and those adorable small appliances, the dishwasher…

…and the four burner gas stove…

…which transitions us into the living space next to the old cast iron stove we reclaimed and have now refinished (thanks, Steph, for giving us the head’s up about it at a garage sale years ago.  It’s been sitting waiting for its debut all this time, and was well worth the hernia-inducing process of toting it fifteen blocks, and then carrying it down to the basement!)

…which we thought originally would live in the fireplace, but when we redid the tiling, we just couldn’t bear to cover it up (plus we have an electrical outlet inside the fireplace in case we ever install a flat screen inside, as well as for some subtle accent lighting)…

The fireplace is all cleaned up now, and someday could be made functional again (look up inside it, so clean!)

But right to the side of the fireplace is the bar area, with the leaded glass doors we designed…

And the shelf designed to store the wine refrigerator and the wheeled bar table with stools for an intimate eating nook…

And note the long-needed full-sized window we had installed.  A real boon (along with the retractable screen doors in the front and back of the building, a real life-saver for cross breeze).

Outside through the back door…

…to see the barbecue area with the railing and gas hook-up on the deck…

But back inside, okay, for the living area…

with a huge storage area underneath the stairs behind that pocket door…

That’s the apartment, or the summer kitchen as we think of it.  And a lovely home for some of our Mission furniture…

We’ll have a bed put in soon, and then you’re all welcome to stay!

From Hansi Singh’s amazing new book of amigurumi knitting, meet Smucker the Jellyfish.  I lot of new techniques for me, all brilliantly explained by Hansi.  I’m in awe of her talent, and can’t wait to work my way through her patterns.

Not for infants, this one (sorry, Mia.  Maybe Ben will let you play with it when you’re older.  And, no, this isn’t a set-up.  Sheesh… so suspicious, you parents of remarkably cool children who should only be so lucky as to meet each other and fall in love when they’re of age…).  Well, I suppose I’ll just have to keep making them as my beach-loving infants mature.

And now, in some way trying to find meaning in the activity, I ask you to read the list, thus justifying those 90 minutes I will never see again…

Infarction

Evanescent

Piccolo

Starfish

Carbuncle

Spaetzle

Coruscant

Flapjack

Proboscis

Febrile

Dendrite

Bootlegger

Snogging

Gratuitous

Braggadocio

Avuncular

Diddling

Funicular

Haberdasher

Juncture

Lubricious

Meritricious

Namby-pamby

Quotidian

Retrodict

Salacious

Tchotchke

Venal

Zippy

Undulating

Wamble

Let’s look at the close-up of the webbed foot again, shall we?

Now, Oliver is a bit larger than my usual projects, so it may be awhile before I knit his mate, Sylvia Platypus (thank you, Jim!).  I’m sure I will in time, but for the next project, I’m looking towards a smaller, more intricate companion…  but not right now.  Knitting with US3 needles takes an awfully long time, and those increases and decreases were causing calluses!