Mixed Bouquet
This has been a month of small making. I have been collecting a postcard from every museum I visit, and at the National Portrait Gallery/Smithsonian American Art Museum I also snagged a pad of cherry blossom origami paper (the danger of going into the gift shop). I didn’t really have a specific project in mind, but the algorithm promptly produced an inflated bunny pattern in my Insta feed, and I made… a lot. Let’s go with a lot. of bunnies. Because there were very fun to make and also very cute once finished, and because I wanted to see how they looked in all the different paper patterns.
I saw a wire monstera leaf plant support awhile ago, and kept thinking it would be a fun thing to try to make—and then I found a roll of wire in the garage, while looking for something else. It was not gold wire like the original, but it was both soft enough to bend by hand and sturdy enough to do the job, so I drew a leaf on a sheet of paper and loopily traced it. After a day of use I made another one, half the size, because Norma the snake plant is very floppy and required closer supporting. It was gratifying, both to get it looking how I imagined in my mind, and also because it works and I no longer almost drag the plant off the bookshelf every time I walk past.
Another cute video I saw and wanted to try (and then two separate people, who do not know each other, both sent me said video via direct message—it’s nice to be known) was button books. I purchased these two buttons (one black with gold glitter, one yellow with gold glitter) while getting yarn for my next knitting project, because it was the weekend before the solar eclipse and I wanted to make a little themed book. It took me a ridiculous number of tries to get my interior pages cut out properly (even if I draw on guidelines, I am apparently incapable of accordion folding a sheet of paper evenly) but I’m pleased with the end result.
I’m also slowly turning a bunch of avocado pits into buttons. I would normally get smashed avocado cups for the grocery store, but this time got whole avocados and I’ve been slicing up the pits as I use them. I’ve gotten at least one useable button out of each pit, and only sliced my finger once (upside, that finger is so calloused that it just made a small cut rather than lopping off the end of my finger, downside, the callous is from knitting so I had to do other things for a few days while it healed).
I use a lot of sock weight yarn (not always for socks) and I keep all the leftovers in a bag until I have enough to make a circular blanket out of. I noticed recently that the bag was rather full and I pulled enough yarn to make two. I like to plan it out ahead of time, so each stripe has at least one color in common with the ones on either side of it, but it’s still decidedly scrappy. I’ve made four of these now, and they tend to go home with other people. I’m hoping to keep this one, but if not, I do have the next one lined up. It’s a fun project because it requires approximately zero attention and, because I join the yarn as I go, there are only two ends to weave in when I’m done. It’s also always a bit of a surprise how it looks in the end.
The blanket was a filler project before acquiring yarn for the Traveler Shell I really wanted to make (but needed to save for—the right yarn is worth waiting for). I’ve done the bottom band and I’m working my way up the body, and hoping I can finish it while there are enough cool days for me to wear it a little this spring.