A Little Side Project

I've thought a few times about instituting more "rules" about my blog, particularly about adding regular features like Booking Through Thursday, but I decided I like keeping this as a less structured journal. Sadly, that means I sometimes go a bit without posting, like when Morning Sickness II: The Revenge comes to a theater near me. I think I have that under control now, though, so here's something new.

I also keep saying that I will try to only work on my WIPs until they're all done before starting new projects. You should really just ignore me when I make such outrageous claims. I cast on for a little something a couple of days ago, and after two false starts (including one truly hideous color combination), I think I'm onto something. I'm not sure that anyone else will want to follow suit, but I'll post the pattern once it's done.

We like coffee very much, and for years, we have been using a tea towel to keep the coffee in the French press warm. My husband asked me if I might be able to make something to cover the French press, and since he rarely suggests knitting projects, I thought, sure! (This is our French press, by the way:)

I dithered around for a bit, trying to decide whether to make it more or less a big tube that would go around the whole thing, including the handle, or whether to make it a fancier, fitted affair with a strap going underneath the handle. After considering our probable usage of it, I decided it needed to be something we could just plop down over the top. I came up with this cheesy little coffee cup motif (you love the steam from the top of the cup, don't you?):

Here's the progress so far:

I hope to bust through this pretty quickly and have FO photos and a pattern up by the end of the weekend.

I've done a bit more on the Candle Flame Shawl, but it's not worth another progress photo. Thank you for the blocking tip, Abby! I'd only ever blocked wool and wool blends, so it's great to hear something that works on silk. I've taken a short break from Hourglass Sweater to let Holly catch up. I keep inadvertently stopping her progress with my bad math. The baby hat is still languishing, as is the baby blanket. You'd think I'd just knock off the baby hat to cross it off the list, wouldn't you? I mean, it can't take more than a couple of hours.

I've also been thinking about the fun of Christmas gifts. Last year, I started Christmas gifts in March, I think, and I made about a million. This was clearly insane, and I'm going lower-key this year. I'm strongly considering the fantastic coffee and can cozies posted by poops. Perhaps in coordinating colors for people. My husband is getting a pair of Gryffindor socks. And that's as far as I've gotten. I need to start a list and assess my yarn needs.

Oh, Matt and I hate grocery shopping, but Mirando loves when we go:


Reading: Tammy, I have to admit, I hated Pride & Prejudice when we had to read it in high school. I thought it was more boring than watching paint dry. Then I read Northanger Abbey for a college course, and breezed through the rest of her novels, and now I've read them more times than I can count! It definitely takes some getting used to, but I absolutely adore them now. I think it's great that so many of you love the P&P film right along with me! I'm currently reading Pride & Prejudice for the billionth time. I finished the Harry Potter series again, with a box of Kleenex for the last 50 pages of Half-Blood Prince. I want Book 7! Or at least a publication date...

Writing: Has taken a back seat this week to the morning sickness. I'll be happy to get back to it.

Cooking: I made yet more mint chip ice cream. This drives Matt nuts since we still have cherry buttermilk and blueberry cheesecake ice cream in the freezer, but that's fancy, serve-in-a-bowl ice cream. My mint chip is grab-the-container-and-a-spoon ice cream. Totally different things. I may actually make Stracciatella Gelato or Turtle Ice Cream while I have the 2% milk on hand and the interest in making them.