Taters

A while ago I blogged about my garden and specifically about potatoes.

I harvested my potatoes yesterday.  Not a bad return for a crop that required little more than cutting up some potatoes and tossing them into a tub full of dirt.

I figured since the greenery had long since died away the potatoes (if there were any) were ready to harvest.  I dug in with my hands and felt around.  Sure enough, there were some round lumpy bits in there.  A few were chunks of bark from some compost but most were potatoes.

I got spuds as small as large peas and a few of quite a respectable size.  I heard freshly dug potatoes are delicious.  Since we were having pot roast for supper I scrubbed a few of the smaller specimens and cut them in half (if larger than bite size) and tossed them into the pot with the simmering gravy.  I can't say as they were the best I've ever had but who doesn't love taters?  Not me!

I'm hoping I missed a few and will go tater digging again in a few days to see.

This may be the beginning of a beautiful relationship . . . with my potatoes.

Quotable quotes; in the category  Pooh To You!  What About The Ladies?

"What I say is that, if a man really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow."  A. A. Milne

The Mad Doctor?

I'm still working on the first of the Golf Club Covers for a Chemist.  I have finished the part that goes over the club and am now working on the cuff that fits around the - - - stem?  handle?  whatever the thing is called that the head of the club it attached to.  The part the golfer holds onto as he swings the club and yells "FORE"!

I am about ready to start working in the white stripe and I'm putting it off because I hope to avoid a jog in the stripe. I found some sites that offer instructions to avoid the jog and I am using this one as my guide.  I guess I'm just afraid to jump in and get wet but if I dip my toe in I might find the water is fine so then I'll have to commit.  Isn't procrastination a wonderful thing?

In the meantime I researched my knitting books for charts for initials.  I did not find just exactly what I was looking for so I decided to chart my own.  I like the style of the letters and I think even the chart looks good.  I'll include the chart with my knitting directions when they're finished.

Quotable quotes; in the category Oh Lord, Why Do I Do This?

"The only time my prayers are never answered is on the golf course."  Billy Graham

There’s Chemistry!

My niece has no qualms about asking me to knit for her.  I love to do it.  I love to knit, I have a huge stash of yarn (most or all bought either on sale or on deep discount clearance) and I love to give handmade things to loved ones.  She has asked for hats, scarves and most recently a headband/ear warmer, which is well in progress.  She sent a photo of one she found on line and I researched and found a pattern with a similar stitch.  It has wood buttons.  I asked the Big Guy to cut me a few slices from a fat twig and plan to bore holes in them to make custom buttons. 

I have pestered her for ideas to make something for her boyfriend/partner/possible future spouse.  He does not want a scarf, does not wear ties or hats and does not play Frisbee so a flying disk is out.  Finally she said golf club covers might be a good idea.  I researched patterns and found shapes I liked.  Then I started to get ideas.  He is a PhD student at Northwestern University.  I found a link to their official Pantone shade of purple (Pantone is a color coding system printers & designers use to ensure the proper shades of color are achieved).  Since the Big Guy is a printer.  I asked if I could borrow his Pantone sample book.  We took it to the craft shop to match the yarns.  I struck gold when I found the store brand was nearly a perfect match for the “official” Northwestern Wildcats Purple.  I purchased a skein of purple and one of white.

Driver Cover In Progress

Then I got the brainstorm of the century – boyfriend is a chemical engineer (I relish teasing him about being an engineer while completely ignoring the chemistry aspect of his studies).  I can’t tell who enjoys the teasing more, him or me - - - yes I can - - - last time I was with niece & boyfriend they both remarked that I wasn’t teasing him nearly enough.  I confessed that I was having a few personal issues and was off my game – but by the end of the evening I was back in good form and he was reassured I liked him enough to tease him unmercifully.

I got the idea to knit the covers in purple, with white stripes on the cuff to denote the Driver, the 3 wood and the 5 wood – and the brainstorm to stitch the atomic symbols from the periodic table rather than the numeral on the head of the cover.  It will be a private joke and hopefully he plays golf with non-chemists who will wonder why his covers bear the initials H, B and Li instead of 1, 3 and 5.  I am beyond thrilled and very, very proud of myself for this flash of genius, if I say so myself!

Since my yarn and needles are not the same as those specified in the patterns I have found I decided instead to knit the covers from the top down (which allows the knitter to establish & measure gauge as they go rather than having to create a gauge swatch in advance.  I cast on the approximate number of stitches (thinking this might be the middle size) and began to knit.  I soon discovered my gauge was such that this test piece would easily accommodate the driver (the largest club) and went from there.  I decided to make notes of my stitch count as I went along and turn the experiment into a pattern for my Ravelry page.  This post contains my initial efforts.  I'll post updates as the covers progress and will publish the pattern in when it's done.

Happy knitting and may you have a Bogey . . . or an Eagle . . . or even a hole in one!  I think I just had my personal best!

Quotable quotes; in the category If My Golf Score And My Bowling Score Were Reversed I'd be Great At Both!

"It took me seventeen years to get three thousand  hits in baseball.  I did it in one afternoon on the golf course."  Hank Aaron