Does anyone remember...?

This was my obsession project on Friday night, when I couldn't get out to go and hear Black 47 at the Ocean Mist. Anyone who can guess who/what this critter is wins the Steel Trap Memory Award. (Not that the award amounts to much, just my admiration for fellow Steel Trappers.)

During, I swear, the last 3 minutes at work on Thursday, one of my co-workers mentioned Shmoos, and this brought back a flood of memories. WHERE, for instance, did the sock Shmoo my Dad once had end up? It may be in some of the stuff we brought back from cleaning out the old family homestead a few years ago, but frankly it was far easier to design and knit a prototype than to go a-hunting. So, I made it up as I went along, got the bulk of it done on Friday, knitted and attached the legs on Saturday, felted it lightly on a glass washboard, and left it to dry. Today my book of Shmoo cartoons arrived and I chose a face to copy. It's not an exact replica, but I had a lot of fun creating the face with a felting needle. The only area in which this Shmoo is deficient is the butt. Quite simply, it just isn't big enough! But I am content. My Shmoo is cute and smiles down on me from atop the piano. And I did not have to go pawing through the basement.

I used stash yarn, some natural Shetland I had lying around, double-stranded, and size 4 needles.

Saturday saw me making a trek to Pasa and The Yarn Shop, both in Uxbridge. The Yarn Shop looks terrific, but I tend to have more fun at Pasa. You never know just what you're going to find. Anyhoo, my great-niece, Kitty, not quite 3 years old, kept grabbing skeins of more expensive inventory at The Yarn Shop and carting it over to the Bargain Bin, as if to say, "This is nice! Let's make it cheaper so more folks can enjoy it!" So my sister was pretty busy retrieving these skeins and replacing them on the shelves. This child may grow up to be a knitter yet. She certainly has the die-hard's love of a bargain.

I finally finished the back of the latest Aran extravaganza and have started one sleeve. That will be good car knitting on the way to Camden tomorrow. Will miss everyone at the spin-in, but really need a weekend away. With my choirmaster out of town for the weekend, it's a good time to carpe diem!