Quiet Sunday

It is a quiet weekend in Sunnyside. No teacher training this weekend, although I do have to finish our midterm exam. Yes, we have a written exam that has to be emailed back by noon tomorrow. Yoga is serious business. Otherwise we are just catching up on a variety of things that have been put off for weeks. Here are some pictures of this and that.

Here is the hat I made from Shawn's yarn. I love it. Pure pleasure.



Dan is notoriously difficult to give presents to - his interests are such that it is very difficult for someone without his kind of expertise to find a gift that is appropriate (I'm thinking historic preservation here). Plus, he usually refuses to say what he wants so his family members are left guessing, usually wrongly, and he is usually left with a somewhat random collection of things (I'm thinking of that really nice turkey baster his mother gave him a couple of years ago - hey, she's still trying!). Personally, I have stopped following this kind of polite, for-myself-nothing approach to gifts. I think it makes everyone happier to just state upfront what you want (assuming there is something). Everyone is happier.

By some miracle, Dan decided to take on this approach himself for his birthday in October. He asked for, and lo! received! a custom built raw oyster tray. He is a great fan of raw oysters and he didn't have a proper tray that could hold ice and enough oysters. Since we take a pottery class each week, he requested that I make him a tray that met certain specifications - a rim high enough to hold the ice, a footprint large enough to allow a dozen or more oysters to be served, and maybe a place for lemons.

Here's the thing - he got exactly what he wanted and he is happy. Change we can believe in!



Finally, the etsyFAST team that I belong to via Wee Ball Yarns is having a challenge in December where we use another member's goods as part of our item. Shawn and I immediately agreed to trade a skein of yarn. She has some luscious red handspun headed my way. I asked her if she wanted something she knew she would love or something that might be more of a challenge...and she said, "challenge me!" I interpreted that to mean a limited palette and colours that would not be what she would pick naturally. Here's a sneak preview...