The Mailman Loves Me

Swooon!!!!!

It arrived today.

My heart-stoppingly expensive, but worth every penny, gorgeous custom-made knitting tote. Isn't it gorgeous? I tell you what, I am so glad I splurged and bought it for myself. It is absolutely wonderful. The craftsmanship is unbelievable, this girl is good. I can't get over how nice it is. So much nicer than el cheapo knitting bag that I have been using. I can't wait to get it all stocked up. There are like a zillion (okay, maybe only seven) interior pockets. I want to have some quiet time to get it all organized and set-up. Now I just have to decide what project will have the honor of being the first to go in the new bag.

She also made me a matching needle case:

Today I finished up the gift for my co-worker. I ditched the absolutely gorgeous, but completely ass-kicking Shining Star hat in favor of an old stand-by.

That picture is really washed out, but the alternative is this one:which has a ridiculously yellow cast to it. The lighting sucks here right now...I should've remembered to take photos this afternoon when we had more natural light. The bonnet is modified from this hat on Larissa's blog. It is very cute and girly, isn't it?

Next up? I'm not sure...maybe a tank top for summer for me. I have some natural colored hemp yarn that I've been wanting to knit up. Or some pale aqua Trendsetter Dolcino ribbon yarn that I meant to make into a tank last summer and didn't get around to.

I should be starting Colleen's Sheep Dreams baby blanket soon, but I am not happy with the Plymouth Encore that I bought online. It looked good on my monitor, just the right shade of green, but in person, I am not feeling it. I will definitely turn in to something, someday, but it isn't Col's blanket. It isn't a grassy enough green. A little too Christmasy.

I am thinking about ditching the whole machine-washable thing and going for wool. I mean, Col probably won't use the blanket much anyways. I'm going more for a keepsake than everyday use...so if she had to hand-wash it, she would. If that is my decision...I will probably go with the appropriately named colorway of Grass Wool of the Andes from KnitPicks or maybe the Fern colorway. I haven't decided. I think I'll order one of each and see how I feel. I can always make them into Holiday scarves or hats, right? Or maybe, horror of horrors, I will find a suitable color in [gasp!] acrylic yarn.

Good thing I'm not a complete yarn snob yet, I will at least still consider acrylic. Either way, I need to find a yarn that is the right color and speaks to me in a way that this Encore does not.

Any justification for adding to the stash seems to work for me!