Huh. Spring Fever?

Somehow I wasn't able to see the over-the-top SPRINGyness of this bag until it was finished.

Using my frenchy bag pattern by Ms. Amy Butler (a perfect XMas present from the roomie) and the brown/lacework fabric from her Damask Rose collection (a perfect BDay gift from the girls), I whipped this up in a few hours. A FEW HOURS. That may not be impressive for all your hyper-advanced sewers out there but COME ON, that's a PR for me. Oh, that means Personal Record. Ya know, as though this were some sort of sport and not arts&crafts. There's nothing like the threat of a new semester to get me sewing frequently and quickly.

In other news, Mom, Sister + I went through three tubs of arts&crafts materials collected and stored throughout our childhood. I wish I had my camera there.

Picture it: drinking wine, sitting on my sister's living room floor and weeding through piles of pipe cleaners, puffy paints, beads, sculpey clay, abandoned projects of yore, dinosaurs made out of little pom poms, sand art, homemade headbands, tubes and tubes of glitter, styrofoam balls and cones and about 1 million mini gluesticks. Quite a sight. Not only did the woman (Mom) secretly hide tofu in our dinners and lead us to believe that raisins were "nature's candy" and that orange juice + seltzer was orange soda, but she made us into the most creative littles kids ever! It's coming around full circle though because now, in my twenties, in grad school for public policy, I have completely reclaimed all of this campy, crafty goodness. It started with sewing, then some crocheting and now I'm ready to start making macaroni necklaces and clay pinch pots.

Stay tuned for pictures of the crafty goodness that I decided was worth it to save. You might think otherwise... maybe we'll take a vote.

flopster hat

Ta da!

Not at all my pattern, but a variation on patterns found here & here. Being only the second hat I've crocheted, I expected it to be a complete headache (get it? hats... headaches... both relating to the head...) but it was a quick & mostly smooth-sailing project.

I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Worsted Weight in Denim. I actually made the hat twice, the first with a size J hook. It came out just a tad smaller than I wanted so I tried it again with a size K hook and things worked out nicely. I think I'll make a matching scarf using some sort of lacy, fancy pants type stitch instead of my standard, boring, trusty double crochet. This hat used a popcorn stitch at times which, for some reason, I found enormously gratifying to crochet.

prayer shawl, more like prayer blanket

Ah good riddance. I finished this prayer "shawl" (if I had let you see the dimensions, I think you would have agreed that "shawl" isn't so much appropriate as "oddly shaped mini-blanket" is) last Friday, but was so sick of it that I didn't feel like taking its photo until today.

At my alma mater, there is a group of sweet ladies who run a "Soup and Shawls" program. Basically, every so often they get together and have soup and pick up some yarn and make prayer shawls. After the shawls are completed (at everyone's individual pace), they are blessed and sent off to someone who needs a good warm shawl & some peaceful thoughts. Neat-o.

I find that I usually get really into them at first, because it's just a whole lot of easy crocheting and sensory-pleasing yarn (just the Lion Brand Homespun, but it feels glorious to work with... so soft!) Then about 2/3 of the way through, I get super bored and move on to something else while the sack of yarn and double crocheted stitches rots in the corner. It's happened with every single one I've ever made and it was no different this time. Ah well, now it's done.

well, happy new year

In 2008 there will be mini bread loaves, cute dresses, yoga, celebrations + treats, lunch bags, a Masters degree, a new non-student identity, 8 glasses of water a day, peace + calm instead of frantic nervousness, more movies + music but less overall consumption, more fun, early mornings + maximized daylight hours, deliberate living, acts of kindness and fresh air...

(Photograph by Mike Groll, the Associated Press photographer who happened to witness my very first snowshoeing steps despite my best efforts to go unnoticed. Neat-o.)

(Photograph by me, once the paparazzi had left.)