a little corduroy pouch

i made these little pouches - sort of a miniature version of this bag - and gave the one on the left to my brother's girlfriend for christmas (they are here visiting right now!) they kept coming out not-quite-right in my opinion. the one on the left was made first and i wasn't happy with the shape (too tall and narrow) so the second one was an attempt to fix that - i cut a polygon rather than a square, with the top longer than the bottom before pleating. i think the shape of the pleated section came out well, but i wish i had made the top panel thinner. maybe i'll try a third one.

i didn't take pictures of the linings, but used a vintage replica barkcloth-like fabric (that i also used for our stockings last year, which i guess i never blogged) for the smaller one, and a lightweight white cotton with turquoise dots for the larger one.

wrap me up

i've made myself a few things to wrap myself in... allow myself to introduce myself...

this is kaiju, a norah gaughan pattern from the same booklet as kaari. this was a nice, simple knit and i like the rustic quality the fishermen's wool adds to it. i actually like it better than i thought i would (why was i knitting something i didn't think i'd like?)

this was a quick scarf from that lovely vintage flannel i made my dad's heat wrap in. i don't have enough of it to make pajama pants or a top, and i wanted to put the softness to good use against skin, so a scarf it is!

more to come if i can keep taking a decent photograph.

a new tradition and some overdue pictures

this morning we watched a mindblowing sunrise, the first of 2011.

i think this is going to be our new tradition - i'm about as into getting drunk and screaming at midnight as i am into a turkey dinner. well maybe it's not as bad as a turkey dinner. so instead, we'll celebrate the dawn of day in the new year. i loved it! and we enjoyed these jelly donut cupcakes from veganomicon as well. two each at 7:00 am. oh many i love that cookbook. home-style potato roll dough rising as we speak. type.

oh yeah, and there are a slew of projects i hadn't photographed and posted. christmas presents:

basket rib bath mitt for a handmade comfort gift basket i made for a work raffle. forgot to photograph the basket for the second year in a row. another tradition too, i guess.

another pair of pajama pants, this time for my mom.

heat wrap for my dad, in the softest vintage flannel (more of this later) with lavender-scented rice.

and another heat wrap for a coworker for secret santa (along with some slippers i forgot to photograph. and a mug, hot chocolate, and a can of frosting. to each person's comfort their own).

more to come, including a long-awaited project.