The Oddest Things Come in Handy

What comes after a big Easter dinner (mini-crabcakes with cilantro pesto, lamb stew with sherry vinegar and garlic served over mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus), and before the pound cake and Irish tea are served?

This, of course:



Like any good hostess, I had to take a few moments to measure my guests’s feet.  One’s birthday present is quite late and another’s birthday is coming up this summer, so out came my tape measure.  Realizing that you get a better foot length measurement when the person being measured is standing up, I remembered my handy dandy shoe sizing gadget, purchased at some flea market a few years ago.

I wasn’t measuring for shoe size, but there’s a reason shoe stores use these things.  They create a hard, even surface for the foot so you get accurate numbers.  I marked the size of each foot...



...then used a tape measure to find out how long that was in inches.



Everyone’s sock measurements are now a part of his or her permanent record, taken down on this little card courtesy of The Loopy Ewe. 

Since it’s on a fancy card like this and not some random scrap of paper, there’s at least some chance I won’t lose my notes before I get around to making socks.

Best of all, I now feel entirely justified for having bought my shoe size contraption.  At the time, it was one of those things which prompted the Master Engineer to say, “What are you going to do with that and where will you put it?”  I don’t always have an answer for that question immediately but most times, the answer does arrive eventually.  I now know exactly what to do with it.  Where to put it?  Still working on that...

Comments

[Rhonda the Stitchingnut]

That is so cool!

[Dr. B.]

Genius! That is so glorious. Whether I've got that contraption or not, it's a great idea to measure everyone at once. Good one!

[My Merino Mantra]

That does it. I want a foot measurer, too!

[Birdie]

Thank goddess I don't have one of those - my boys would be measuring Frankie the pot-bellied pig's hooves, the dog's paws, the birds' claws, the lizards' grippers, not to mention the assorted dirty toosties of all the neighbor kids. Come to think of it, I'd probably be doing those things too, ha ha ha!

What a cool party idea, though, I bet everyone you measured was impressed and not just a little excited.

[Connie]

I think that every house should have one-especially with how fast kid's feet grow!

[Chris]

Can I just tell you how jealous I am of your foot measuring device?!!

[Renee]

That is so cool! I know I'd probably see it and go, "Oh, I'd never need something like that." But now I'm green with envy that I don't have one :-)