UFO or WooFO?

I was driving through the city of Roswell, New Mexico when I took this blurry photo:


What is that?


There it goes!

As that unidentified object zipped away, I knew the truth was out there.

That night, I revisited the site of the sighting to capture photographic proof of a UFO:


Or was it a hoax? Unraveling this extraterrestrial conspiracy revealed these startling truths:

• Fact: The UFO was made by me, and renamed to "WooFO".
• Fact: The WooFO has a 16" circumference, with glow-in-the-dark yarn used for the white dome and yellow lights.
• Fact: The WooFO was hung from fishing wire over a rural scene created with a diorama kit.
• Fact: The photo was taken in my backyard.

Shocking but true!

Feeling conspiratorial, I attached LED lights and helium balloons to a second baby-sized WooFO. My girlfriend captured the following video as my relatives and enthusiastic mom observed the Woo.F.O.'s ascent. I played the theremin soundtrack.

Since the WooFO's release last month on February 13th, there were two possibly related UFO sightings: one in a neighbouring city and the other in nearby Washington state.

But the final truth is that I may never receive a proof-positive email about a found WooFO because not everyone has email access... IN SPACE!

Raygun: Primary 3000

When this mysterious briefcase appeared on my doorstep, I faced two choices: call the authorities or open the case.

Compelled by a strange sense of destiny, I chose to open it:


Raygun!

It was a Primary 3000 model, chock-full of technical features:


Plushy but deadly!

Here is an opposite view of the ray gun, its energy levels reduced after firing test shots at some helpless steel beams:


I used primary-coloured yarn to freeform-crochet this raygun, except for a tactile grip made from grey half-double crochet stitches. Its aiming fin is similar to the nose I made, minus the nostrils.

Since I was the one who built this raygun, I must have sent that mysterious briefcase to myself from the future; a future where I defend lunar ice colonies from fiery space invaders:


ZAP!

Granny Square for Grandma

Last summer, I sent my grandma in Toronto one of my earliest crochet creations. Here she is, posing with my first apple:


According to my mom, my grandma examined the apple for a long time before saying, in Cantonese: "When you can crochet in circles, you can make anything."

It was only then that I learned of my grandma's ability to crochet, a skill she learned in her forties. Here are some of her crocheted flowers:


She also practiced the thousand-year-old art of Chinese Knotting. Here is her knot work:


And here is her ceramic work:


These beautiful creations―all made after she retired from her silk-flower shop―remind me that new skills can be learned at any age. And although she didn't teach me to crochet, my grandma raised her children to follow their artistic interests. In turn, my mom's encouragement led to my artistic pursuits, including crochet.

My grandma passed away last month at the age of 93.

As a last gift, I made her my first granny square:


This coaster-sized basket-weave pattern is from the book, Beyond-the-Square Crochet Motifs. I added a second square as a backing, which allowed me to include a farewell & thank-you note inside its pillow shape.

I'll always remember my grandma's sunny spirit, and cherish the creative connection that we shared.

Vices

My cousin, Raymond, is a job recruiter who recently wrote an article titled "How To Land and Protect a Job in a Down Market". From his article:

"Apply for jobs in 'recession-proof' sectors like vice. People tend to gamble, drink and smoke more when they’re stressed."

With that helpful advice, here are my handmade vices:


The beer bottle is decorated with an oval pattern from Edie Eckman's book, Beyond-the-Square Crochet Motifs. The dice were stitched together from six square pieces each, stuffed, then embroidered with white dots. The cigarette pack has a firm cardboard box inside, and its outside is decorated with red yarn stitched around a plastic bone ring. Each cigarette contains a wooden dowel for support.

I rarely—if ever—indulge in these vices, but my alter ego, Woomi, has been known to overindulge:


He'll never land a job in that condition!