cold hands can officially suck it!  i’ve got handspun handknit superwash merino gloves in pinkbrown, no less… AND they’re finished right in time for winter (holy spaghetti, i’m never that skilled with project timing).

*i am not a crayon racist, i just know that different brands of crayons have different ingredients and melting points and i figured if i went with only the majority (which happened to be crayola) i would end up with a halfway decent finished product.

**i still have well over a half of a gallon bag full of crayons yet to be peeled and sorted and melted into muffins

***or is it?

first, the one i made

then, the one vickie brought to work for me

it’s my little people mini-me in cake form! and she’s super tasty!

i think that i’ve found a place to start in my eternal quest for order.  bento lunches.  not sure what i’m talking about?  go on over to my new favorite blog and check things out. they’re neat, they’re tidy, once lunch is done, they’re gone forever and i can start planning the next one.  no frustration, no stress, small enough to not be overwhelming.  perfect for me and my crazy brain.

i’ve been as yet unable to find a bento box around here (not a big surprise in this crappy town), and the ones i’ve found online are rather spendy or little kid size tiny, so it will be a shopping around kind of purchase.   until i find one that NEED to have, i’ll just use the 100s of ziplock and gladware containers that are always floating around the kitchen.

so here’s my first bento-style lunch

it’s not super fancy, but i had fun making it and i suspect i will have fun eating it tomorrow (i know the kids at work will have fun looking and probably poking at it).  it’s 3 couscous piggies, a piggie hardboiled egg, a handful of baby carrots, and a wedge of laughing cow cheese.  the couscous is super easy and super tasty and has dried apricots and cranberries and nuts and cumin and green onion.  the piggies were made with an ice cream sandwich maker i found in the clearance section at walmart.  it came with a cow face one too.

and now that i’ve spent more time writing about my lunch than i probably will spend actually eating it, i’m going to head to bed.

well once again it’s holiday time which means i’ve waited way too long to start too many projects and no one will be getting anything super awesome and handmade (well, almost no one… more to follow).  it also means i’ve gone broke buying things for people who probably won’t really appreciate it and there’s still more people i should shop for.  i know that it’s not about the presents and the money and the commercialism and whatnot, but i feel like an ass when other people give me something really good and i give them something kinda lame, and i don’t so much enjoy feeling like an ass too often.

so, i did finish a few handmade gifts this year, a fancypants paisley fabric crochet hook case for mom and a shawl for my friend wendy’s mom who decided to move to oklahoma before i finished the shawl, so now i have to mail it which means it will probably get sent out some time in march or april because i’m just bad at that sort of thing.  a pic of the shawl…

it’s Kiri knit with knitpicks undyed lace yarn that i dyed with koolaid and food coloring.  i’m not super in love with the color, but i’m not big on green.  wendy told me green is her mom’s favorite, so hopefully she’ll like it.

as i was looking for the picture of the shawl, i was reminded by this picture that i have another finished object…

this is the hemlock ring blanket, and i used leftovers of knitpicks wool of the andes heathers that i was supposed to have used on purses to sell at various craft shows this past season (which would have been a great plan if people would actually spend money at the shows).  ah well, it makes a nice lap blanket and it’s rainbowey and good.

so that’s about it for now…. merry christmas and happy festivus.

pattern: mystery stole 3
yarn: knitpicks bare laceweight
needles: size 4 (i think) plastic circulars

it’s done and blocked and i don’t think i LOVE love it, but i’m glad i made it nonetheless.  the stole itself is really pretty and i learned some new techniques and i kinda liked the mystery of it all.  i’m just not sure if it’s something i’ll really ever wear, and i wish it was a bit longer to better work with my broad shoulders and fluffy arms.  i might gift it or something.  not sure yet.

on a less knit-related note, i threw out TONS of crap from my room and now there’s walking space and a closet and all that stuff that normal people always have access to in their rooms.  there’s still a lot of stuff, but i’m slowly going through that and getting rid of more and organizing and such.  i’m still not sure what to do with all the yarn, but i’m thinking it will get donated to a school or nursing home or shelter or someplace.  it’s unreasonable for me to pretend that i’ll ever actually use it all so it might as well go to someone who will (before anyone asks what kind of yarn, it’s nearly all partial balls of red heart and novelty acrylics).

it’s knitting needles and yarn!  the flavor is yet to be revealed, but the knitting theme is super awesome enough to make up for whatever weirdness might be hidden under the frosting-ey goodness.  yay dad!

now my lunch can travel in style.. yay!