Friday, April 21, 2006

New Toy

I didn’t get to cook the fish dinner last night or the night before, but don’t worry, I have a good reason for not following through (and don't worry again, I'm not abandoning my journey of learning to cook). Look what I got in the mail:

Sorry, there’s no pic with the Scunci Steamer in the box, because I ripped it open as soon as I could get my hands on it. I was just so excited to block the scarves I had sitting in my “Finished Items But Not Yet Blocked” drawer that I went to town.

I’ve only heard about using this great steamer for blocking but wasn’t exactly sure the correct method, and you know me, being all anal-retentive and all, I like specific directions. But I threw that anal-retentiveness to the wayside, and after reading the directions the Scunci Steamer manufacturers included, I got busy. As I was steaming the first white scarf, I pinned it to the towel, as I went along. And, it was pretty easy. Nothing to it, just steam and pin (or pin and steam, as I had to do with the purple scarf because it was really curly on the sides). Since we don’t have an extra bed for me to pin them to, I just used a towel on the floor, which seems to be working well. It was hard to maneuver around the room, but I’ve worked in tighter spaces. So, now the scarves just sit and dry. Last night, I unpinned the white scarf to see the results, and though it was 80% better in terms of being flat, there was still some curling action. I decided to block it from the other side of the scarf, to see if it would help the curling. I’ll have to finish the purple scarf when I get back on Sunday. Since I’m going to Brooklyn this weekend to help Noah pack, I’m keeping the scarves pinned to the floor all weekend, and then I know they’ll be ready when I get back (except for the other end of the purple scarf of course). Okay, going in to too much boring detail…I’ll stop now.

For some reason, I can't post the other pics in this posting so you can see above that there is one picture of the scarves after the first blocking, and there's also a picture of the white scarf after I unpinned it 24 hours later

I’ve got to say I felt a little guilty spending the 40 dollars for this item, considering that I’m trying to be frugal in order to make a dent in those student loans, and shift gears as we start a new chapter in Charlottesville. However, I once read a piece of advice that helps me decide whether or not to purchase something. If you will use that item the number of times for every dollar it costs, then it’s worth it. Applying this rationale to the steamer, it costs a total of 40 dollars, so if I use it 40 times in my lifetime, then it’s worth it. And people, I used it once on Wednesday, but on two different scarves, and once again on the white scarf last night. Heck, that’s pretty good, and I still have scarves waiting to be blocked, so I’m getting more comfortable with my investment.

Also, I’ve found that the steamer is great for steaming clothes when you don’t need an iron (or if you’re like me, just too lazy to get the ironing board out). As I was packing for New York last night, I decided I wanted to wear this white skirt on Saturday night as we celebrate Noah’s last week in Brooklyn and his move to Charlottesville. However, the skirt had been in my summer bin, all smooshed up (I love the word “smooshed”). So, I put the steamer to the skirt and VOILA, no more wrinkles. Damn, I love this thing. Who would’ve thought I could get so excited about a steamer? Okay, maybe there are people out there that could imagine that.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great new toy! And it's cute, too! You will get plenty of use out of it, probably invent some craft based on steaming. Lovely!

11:52 AM  
Blogger Maire said...

Kiran has that same one, but I had no idea I could use it for my knitting! He may never see that steamer again...

9:21 PM  

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