Not Frantic Yet

Normally nothing would make me happier than a large plate full of tater tots, but I had heard rumors that Whole Foods had waffle fries. Apparently, that would be the Whole Foods in Long Island only, unless there’s hope for the Bowery location. I had to have instant something, though, so I went for tater tots instead. On day 1 of Christmas Crafting for the Family they were a bit of a let down, but they weren’t supposed to be my prime focus. My grandmother’s lap quilt was:

I didn’t have the time to spare to move the pieced bits off of my bed, so yes . . . I slept on my grandmother’s quilt. Fortunately, this is not one of the evenings I slept on a sewing needle. Or a crochet hook. Or scissors. Or knitting needles. Clearly, I need to stop crafting in bed.

Christmas Miracle?

I firmly believe in bookending my years with a nice healthy bout of delusion. This delusion usually tends to manifest in list form. While January’s resolution list tends to contain one or two things I accomplish (I learned to crochet this year. Maybe next year I’ll actually learn how to read a crochet pattern.), my holiday present to-make list tends to require a Christmas miracle for completion or, at the very least, understandable Disneyland employees who let me enter the park with my needles on Christmas Eve so I can finish my mother’s cardigan in front of her. The fact that I was much further ahead this time last year has me a shade concerned. Granted, last year this time three-quarters of my craft corner and half of my apartment wasn’t in boxes in anticipation of a move that still hasn’t happened. I know that there will be problems ahead, however, as I don’t even know what everyone’s getting yet . . .

I ♥ Snail Mail

I love getting snail mail. Particularly when it brings little goodies like the newest pattern books from Hillary Lang at Wee Wonderfuls. I thought the butterfly would be my favorite, but the snail is too cute. If only it were winter already and I could justify hunkering down in my apartment with cookie-making ingredients, some good red wine and a pile of crafting supplies. But as shut-in season is not yet upon us, this weekend will entail only:

1. Finishing the cap-sleeve cardigan before it becomes a RIPWIP.
2. Making something, anything from the macramé tutorial.
3. Making plastic fabric. Yes, plastic fabric. Everyone’s doing it, but it took me a while to figure out where I had placed my instructions and I have only recently bought an iron for the first time in years and was not hot to ruin it until I knew what I was doing and how to prevent near-certain iron destruction.

I’m going to leave off the list here. Undoubtedly, I’ll decide something else absolutely must get done. Likely fifteen other things. I’ve got some big cooking plans, too, with the weather forecast including days in the 70s. I figure it’s best for me to prepare ahead while it’s cool enough for me to cook up a storm. I need to start bring lunch to work again. My wallet will thank me. Hmmm. I wonder if it’s possible to make a bento box. Or at least a lunch bag. Or . . .

Cooking With Cuties

There was an explosion of cuteness in my apartment this weekend.

She came from the deep.

This octopus pattern was super easy. I made one modification, though. The pattern calls for you to make the top and bottom halves of the octopus body separately. There are slight variations beyond that, but I was able to reverse the shaping and stuffed as I went. This meant a little less sewing. I picked up on this trick while making Totoro (although he’s not finished because I do not have enough material to stuff him with . . . he’s much bigger than this gal).