A Plethora of Potholders

I finished the three sets of oven mitts and potholders I started in February.  These mitts sport fabric from three baby quilts, a duvet cover, a least two table runners, a tea pot cozy and a shoe bag.  Ah, good memories.  My fabric basket is a bit emptier.

My sister recently commented that the set she got at Christmas wasn't quite insulated enough.  I repaired her set by putting a layer of Insul-Bright on the palm side of the mitt.  I've never used it before.  I'm not sure how much more heat resistance it offers, although my sister was thrilled with the difference.  I used it for two of the sets, against the palm side of the potholder/mitt.  The third set I had completed before I bought the Insul-Bright, and I was not about to rip them apart to add it.  I guess those will go to someone who's a bit more impervious to a hot oven.  I've never had problems with any mitts I've made before.

The Insul-Bright crinkles, which I find odd.  Noisy oven mitts?  I also discovered the mitts are stiffer and the potholders have a tendency to curl.  Not thrilled with that.

The potholder pattern I found is kind of neat.  They have little flaps in the back where you can put you thumb and fingers (see the rightmost potholder).  Very simple to get on and off with one hand and they stay where you want them when you're grabbing hot pots and pans.  I like them much better than regular potholders, which always feel like they're about to slip away.

This sates my craving for crazy-quilting.  Time to go back to something more structured.

Behold, the Double-Wide

I'm not fat, I'm fluffy

I've had a number of guinea pigs over the years.  In the past, most of my big girls weren't fat - they were just very fluffy.  Vicky had been the biggest pig I owned, but even at her most massive she was only 2.75 lbs.

I've had people tell me they think Bertie is the largest of my current trio of pigs.  You may think that from  the photos or videos.  But oh, you'd be so wrong.  Bertie is a respectable-sized pig at 2.5 lbs.  And Pinni?  Well, there's no fluff on this pig.  She's lucky that black is slimming, because this fatso tops out at a whopping 3 lbs 1oz. I've never had a guinea pig that weighed so much!




The photo I snapped this morning may help illustrate how hefty she really is:  just look at that butt hanging off the hammock!  Don't you just want to squeeze it?

Happiness is...

... a bag full of hay that you've claimed all to yourself.

I found Willow fast asleep yesterday morning, wrapped up in her sleeping bag of a brown paper sack stuffed with hay.  Breakfast and bedding all rolled into one.  She was no doubt dreaming of carrots and tomatoes.

What a rough life.

Celebrating Clean Fleece

A clean cage can be a pretty exciting event.  The girls get to explore the kitchen and living room when I clean their cages, but they all stand in the doorway as soon as they hear me putting in the new shavings.  Woo-hoo!

This weekend when I cleaned the cages, I also swapped in new fleece on the upper levels.  Pinni thought this was pretty cool and kept running up and down to check it out.  I had to laugh at how she'd kick out her back feet.  She usually doesn't get this worked up.  Who knew such a fatso could move that fast?  I'm surprised the third level didn't flex more than it did.

Bertie is usually the one to get charged up over a clean cage.  This pig loves to do donuts any chance she gets.  It took her a bit longer to get warmed up.  Maybe she was just waiting for Pinni to get out of the way.