FO: Snappy Coin Purses

 I whipped these cute little Snappy Coin Purses a couple of weekends ago using some stashed fat quarters and muslin. These two will go to a couple of my favorite kiddos whose birthdays are coming up. I think I'll make one for myself to hold my knitting tools (scissors, tape measure, stitch markers, tapestry needles, etc).



The trickiest part was definitely the snaps. I tried to use the little snap guide and hammer, but ended up needing to get one of those hand-held snap tools. I'll definitely be making more of these--gotta get my money's worth for that snap tool! Also, if anyone needs to apply some heavy-duty snaps, let me know...



Overall, a great, quick little project. Would make a great stocking stuffer!

FO: Botanic Hat

Pattern: Botanic by Stephen West (ravelry page)
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted and Manos del Uraguay Maxima

I'd had my eye on this hat pattern for a while, and decided these two yarns, remnants from other projects, would be a nice pair for this hat. The pattern is very straightforward. I did go up a needle size for the body of the hat. Even with this change, the resulting hat is a bit snug for my large noggin. But if fits the recipient just right!

Next time I make this pattern, I'll go up a needle size for the brim and an addition size for the body of the hat. And maybe consider using aran weight yarn (pattern calls for worsted).

FO: On The Sea Shawlette

Yarn: Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label (Midnight), Shibui Knits Sock (Rapids, Ivory)
Needle: US4
Pattern: Earth & Sky by Stephen West (ravelry project page)

As a fan of Stephen West's designs, I was excited in July when I found out that he was going to be doing a mystery shawlette. I cast on eagerly and knit the first couple sections rapidly... Then the repetitiveness of the mostly-stockinette hit me and this languished in the WIP pile until after we got back from India, at which point I would knit on it as a break from the tediousness of that blanket border.

I made the large size, but in retrospect, I probably would have enjoyed this project more if I'd chosen to make one of the smaller sizes. It wasn't until I was blocking this shawlette that I realized who it was destined for--all of a sudden it was perfectly clear to me that this needed to go to a friend who loves all things ocean--boats, fish. Finding a good home for the shawlette definitely improves how I feel about it.

Today I like...

• Flannel sheets. I got these sheets from Target. Not only are they cozy and warm, but the pattern is imitative of fair isle knitting!

• 8tracks.com. Like Pandora, only way cooler. Joe Schmoe makes a mix and you can listen to it! You can search by artist or genre. And they actually have an app for my phone! 
• The book A Visit from the Goon Squad. (Shout out to Chana for passing this along to me!) I don't really have any books to compare this one to--it's that different. It's sort of like a series of vignettes--each chapter is from a different character's point of view; the characters are related directly or tangentially. There's an entire chapter told using PowerPoint-style slides full of flow charts and diagrams--I feel like my brain is working that way sometimes, and that chapter my favorite.
• The radio show/podcast Snap Judgment. I stumbled up this one weekend afternoon on NPR a few months ago and I have been so happy to have it in my cadre of podcasts for my time commuting. I think the easiest way to describe it would be to say the hip hop version of This American Life. It's great.