Tell me ...

Is a matching set of these what my parents need as a gift to celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary?

Adding balance with a kntting project

I thought that I needed something to do whilst at the laundromat earlier today, so I liberated the previously-mentioned turquoise crochet thread from the stash with the intention of turning it into this.

Since it's just a bag, and a casually-constructed one at that, I fudged on the needle size (I didn't have a 13, okay?), choosing to use my Big Gun, the Plymouth bamboo 16" circ in size 15. It's like trying to knit with linked Sharpies; the points aren't very pointy (great for bulky chenille, dreadfully challenging for skinny cotton thread). But I've persevered, nearly finishing the foundation rectangle ("bottom of bag"). I've knitted on it for about two hours, including a ten-row frog and time spent adding detergent and, later, liquid fabric softener to the row of washers I used. I've adjusted to the needles (I usually go for Addi Turbos; I love the way yarn slides across metal) and learned to control the thread. Now I just need to decide if it's worth finishing....

Crochet project du jour

I forgot my friend MSM's birthday (sixteen days ago! I am a cad!) and she's just moved into a new place. I'll see her on Saturday. I needed a wee giftie, STAT! As I prefer handmade to mass-produced, I turned to my trusty eMac and surfed the net for some quick knitting or crocheting projects.

My original idea was to whip up a mesh shopping bag in a fun color (lurking in my stash are crochet threads in Pumpkin, Parakeet & Burgundy). During my browsing, however, I got distracted by the blog Knitting For Boozehags and then found the best alt-knitting pattern collection I've ever seen. There, among the many delightfully distracting ideas, I found today's Holy Grail: the Toilet Paper Roll Cozy Crocheted to Look Like a Piece of Sushi. I wish that I had a digital camera to show-off my finished item, but the authoress' versions are priceless. It was instant gratification and Virtuous Refraining from Spending, too: the whole thing took me about three hours from stash yarn, plus time off for a nice big home-made dinner salad.

Then I found this year's birthday gift to myself: I'll have to make it, but it's a doozy. It resonates in a strange overlapping way with many of my interests.

Testing;

one, two, one, two. Not three, because that's the cue to lift.