When I received my weekly email regarding estate sales in my area, I noticed immediately that one of them was Friday (today) in Duane's neighborhood (big surprise). However, poor Duane has been sick as a dog since just after Thanksgiving with a horrible cold and cough so, although she feels a little better each day, she's still not up to going out. Linda couldn't take time from work so I went to this sale solo. Just me and Mrs. Peel.
The house was an adorable little bungalow, similar to Duane's house. Neat as a pin and just about everything for sale including a Cadillac in the driveway. There was some gorgeous midcentury furniture including an absolutely beautiful wood parquet coffee table in the 'surfboard' style that was popular in the 1950's. If I had room for it, I would have considered it because it was so eye-catching. However, none of the rooms in our house (where we would put a coffee table) could accommodate one that length. Whoever bought it got a lovely table at a fair price. I did find a couple of little treasures, though. One is the white porcelain vase that caught my eye. It has a beautiful flower on the front and is in pristine condition. I thought it was unmarked until I got home and took a better look at the bottom (with a little help from a magnifying glass and good lighting) and discovered that it's signed and made in Hawaii. I'm going to do a little research on it. I also picked up the cute set of vintage cocktail picks in their original container and a ruler that was a promotional item put out by Coca-Cola.
I also came across an array of knitting supplies that had been put together to sell as a lot for $40. The biggest reason for the price was a complete set of nice circular needles (including their case) along with some extra circulars and various other items like vintage straight needles and crochet hooks. I asked the lady holding the sale if she would consider selling me just a few items from the lot. She didn't want to do that, though, because her mother (apparently it was her mom's house) wanted all of it sold as a lot. If I had thought about it at the time I would have asked again before leaving about selling me a few of the items. I was only interested in the plastic straight knitting needles and the crochet hook. She could have made more money by selling those 2-3 items to me for a few bucks and still kept the bulk of the lot for $40. The set of circular needles was worth that much alone. I just prefer to use straight needles and didn't think about striking a deal with her until I was driving away. It never hurts to ask.
On the yarn front, I just finished the second of three Amigurumi Santa ornaments that I'm making for my three nieces for Christmas. The first two turned out really cute but I don't think I'll ever make this pattern again. It's always a little tough on my hands to make Amigurumi items because they have to be tightly woven (in the round) since you stuff them and you don't want the stuffing to be visible on the item. However, I've never worked on a pattern that caused my hands and arms to feel so sore. Yikes. I felt like I had been hauling cement after making the first one. Luckily, I only have the third one to make and I have plenty of time before Christmas. Good thing because I'd hate to end up in traction due to a hook and a few balls of yarn. Here's the
pattern if anyone reading this is interested in making one. I did leave off the little wire rimmed eye glasses. I thought they were cute without them. All I have to do to the one pictured is run a silver or gold cord through the top of his hat and he's ready for hanging on the tree.
UPDATE: I researched the info on the little porcelain vase with the flower and I did score a nice find! The artist was Hawaiian. Her name is Dorothy Okumoto (now deceased) and it's signed and numbered. There's a nice array of photos of her porcelain pieces on a Pinterest page
here. Woot!
She may eventually paint it another color but she's decided to live with it awhile first. Linda also found a piece of Japanese porcelain that she liked. Lovely. It was definitely her day for bargains. Duane and I actually ended up only spending money on our lunch which is fine since we love the 'hunt' as much as a 'buy.' We had lunch at one of our favorite places -- The Front Porch. Great food and nice atmosphere in an old house that was converted to a restaurant. 
In the days leading up to Christmas I was busy working away on various 'yarn projects.' I finished the three Santa ornaments for my nieces and then I started on two kitty toys for my nephew Sam's cats. Then my sister Pam asked if I'd mind making a third toy for her to give to her boyfriend's cat, Smudge. So I ended up making three goldfish (with catnip centers, yum). They're crocheted and they actually worked up pretty quickly although I felt like I was getting down to the wire time-wise. The black string coming from the mouth of the goldfish is there so that you can dangle it in front of your cat to pique his/her interest. Hope it works. Here's the pattern I used.
