Weekend in photos

So, I did go antiquing on Saturday. Didn't find any suitable shelves (I found a rather nice corner unit, but it was too big for the space and was more than I planned to spend, and I really wanted a SHELF, not another piece of furniture)

But I did find a few things:



Yet another "house" piece of of pottery. This one is a pitcher, though it's a bit bigger than the typical tea-set cream pitcher. Maybe a milk pitcher for the table?

I admit I remain amazed at the variety of these I have run across. Most are made-in-Japan (not Occupied Japan, so either pre-1946 or post-1952).

I did also see (and was sorely tempted by) a little-red-schoolhouse cookie jar, but it was marked "$45 FIRM" and I didn't want to pay $45 for another one of those kind of things, and anyway, I'm running out of space for these. (The one I bought was like $15).

I also found two other things that fit in with collections I have.



A plate featuring Ohio (I forgot I already had one - though the one I have is different - and was briefly excited to think, "I now have plates from everywhere I have lived!") Also, the little flaw you can see? Guess where the price sticker was.....but at least it was cheap for this kind of thing ($3). I'll just have to find a place for it.

Also, another one of those vintage cookbooks I love - this one was published in 1959 (ten years before I was born; the year my parents were married). It has some interesting recipes in it including a super-simple coconut macaroon (I love coconut and had been buying macaroons because I was under the impression you had to mess with beating egg whites for them - the one in this book is just sweetened condensed milk and coconut). Also, I just love the pictures - from such a vanished world but one that reminds me of the decor that was still around to an extent when I was a kid, the whole mid-century look (or the Americana look, which was huge when I was a kid and still inspires a certain nostalgia in me). There are also some "international" dishes. My parents talk about being young-marrieds and doing dinner parties with friends and learning how to do different styles of cooking, and also they had friends (they were grad students) from India and Japan and Eastern Europe (Hungary, IIRC) and their friends taught them how to do some of the traditional cooking.

(Sometimes I wonder if people were better at having simple fun back then. Oh, there were a lot of bad things about that era - more overt discrimination if you were in a minority group, fewer opportunities for women (I would have HATED being a secretary, I think), but from what my parents have talked about their early married days, it seemed like they did a lot of fun things and there wasn't the crushing load of work-expectations like there is now.)

I also went to the JoAnn's and learned they now no longer accept coupons for books. So their MO of "let's issue a really good coupon but make it only off of regular-priced stuff and then put most of the stuff people actually want on a weak little sale so they can't use the coupon" is even more annoying. (Having a 60% off coupon and finding everything you need is between 10% and 30% off feels really kind of crappy). Oh well, they've mostly replaced their actual craft-books with coloring books anyway, so I guess I buy through Amazon or Powell's or somewhere in the future.

But anyway. They were closing out some of the MLP blindbags they had (I think for Christmas?) and I actually took time to peek in the window on the back of them (this is the Apple wave). And I got this one:



Lyra, in her "alternate phenotype" (I have the solid-color Lyra where they used the Rarity mold; this one uses the non-alicorn Twilight Sparkle mold.) Neither one looks THAT much like her, as her hair is different, but I think the Twilight Mold is a little more accurate. And anyway, I kind of like the color she is and the fact that she's one of the glitter-embeds. (I also got - but didn't photograph - Apple Split, a male Apple Family relative with a unique mold. I wish they did more one-off molds for the blindbags but I understand why they don't.)

I also did some knitting, because Friday afternoon was a furlough afternoon.



I finished the gift-mitts. They are of an ombre striping yarn and I couldn't get them to line up, but I think it's okay. The reception (I don't think we can call it a party) is tomorrow night, so I'm glad I got them done in time.

I also finished another little gift thing, out of a new-to-me yarn:



The yarn is a plasticky nylon yarn called "Scrubby," designed for making dishcloths. (I have some in green to make one for myself; I think I'm going to pass this one on to my mom, her kitchen has blues in it). It's not the most fun thing ever to knit with but I think the dishcloths will be useful and they are fast.

And I started something for me.



This is Cheerilee's head. She's going to come out closer in size to my other ponies than I expected (I thought she'd be bigger, like Dr. Whooves). I am using a hook one size smaller than recommended, partly because I prefer tight crocheting for these things (so there's less stuffing show through).

Also, I am wondering if they ever did a Ponified version of something like "1776," if she'd be strutting around making rhymes from her name and talking about herself as Cheeri-LEE! Heh.

I also prepared a few more hexagons (basting the fabrics over the papers) and also added a few more on: