Thursday, March 5, 2009

Pigs and Chickens

I found these fabulous, folding shopping bags at my favorite Target alternative, Ichiban Kan. My friend, (Jen who remains blogless), showed me her fabu bags, and I just had to get some for myself. The problem was that by the time I made it to Ichiban Kan, only one boring floral print was left. So, I stalked the store every week, sometimes even twice a week, until the bags were back. Last week, I hit the motherlode and I bought 9 bags. For $2 each, they are a steal! And the best part is that they fold up into nothing and I can fit them into my purse. My boring floral bag has been so handy!

My favorite prints, by far, are the ones featuring Mr. Pig and his sidekick, Ms. Chicken. Or is it Ms. Chicken and her sidekick Mr. Pig? Regardless, the idea of barnyard animals baking and serving tea makes me very, very happy.


I brought a friend new to the Japanese dollar store scene with me and she also bought a ton of bags. She says that the French on these bags is kind of funky, but I wouldn't expect anything less. My favorite project bag, also from this place, has an awesome poem on it that reads, "Lunch time will make everyone happy." Indeed, lunch time does make everyone happy!

Because I am a knitter, I could not pass up the sheep bag. Sorry, folks, I took the last one! It was the display, but I lurved it and had to have it.

I'm finally getting around to photographing some of my finished objects from the Christmas knitting frenzy of 2008. This is a hat I made for the boy, a bigger version of a hat I made for Baby RoRo.


The boy, however unlike a baby, has lots of feedback on this hat. He has been begging for a grown up version of the Aviator Hat since last May because he wanted it to fit underneath his snowboarding helmet. Well, it turns out that his snowboarding helmet fits too snugly to accomodate anything other than his giant nugget, so he mostly wears this hat out and about and underneath his bicycling helmet. His complaint, however, is that he does not like the flaps flopping around when he is off of his bike. The traditional solution to this, a long cord at the end of each flap, was deemed "dumb looking." At this point, though, my job was done. I know that the customer is always right, but this customer can sew, so I told him he can attach some buttons to the earflaps and sew a couple of buttonholes into the top of his hat. So, if he does the modifications and likes it, perhaps we'll write a joint pattern.

Mingus has decided that, despite the weather, he's all done with his winter coat. I have been gathering large amounts of fur from this dog on a daily basis. I thought that these pictures made Mingus look like he's floating on a cloud. Except, as you can see, he's actually lying on the floor.


He likes to lay in his fur after I brush it off. I always let him have this moment of silence before I toss it in the dumpster. I used to spin the stuff, but I have a huge fiber stash that needs to be spun up first. In the spirit of recycling, I also tossed a bunch of fur in out backyard since someone told me that birds like to use it for nesting material. Well, his fur just stayed out there in the backyard, and then it rained, so I ended up having to pick up soggy fur. I guess our local birds do not want their nests to smell like dog, especially wet dog.

7 comments:

  1. Oh Mingus
    you, your fur
    my 6 year old
    her grape sucker

    what a party we'd have

    I am very envious of the new bags and hope you find a solution to the hat episode.

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  2. 1. isn't Ichiban Kan the best? I got the "lunch" bag too and it was infintely helpful to me!
    2. way to score the sheepey bag!
    3. the hat looks great on the boy! and with a bit of his sewing finesse, it will be complete! personally i think it looks great as is. :o)
    4. oh Mingus, saying goodbye to your pelt, such a solemn, serious look on his face, laying with it... and that is too bad the birds in your yard don't want his fur for their nests! that is so considerate of you! i know the resident hummingbird and sparrow in our yard would love to get their beaks on some of that! :o)

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  3. I feel your pain on the shedding dog front. Kishka has been majorly shedding for a couple of weeks now. I always brush her outside (usually on a breezy day). If I brushed her inside I'd just have to clean the house!

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  4. Aw...what beautiful pictures of Mingus - does he feel a tad naked maybe? lol
    When I brush my Riley outside in the spring (he sheds as if there were two of him and he's a Lab!) the birds love it and take every bit of his fur they find.

    I enjoy seeing all your knitting projects.

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  5. I like the boy's hat. What if he made a little strap to go under his chin with button holes in each end, then sewed buttons on the flaps. Then he could hold the flaps down when he needed them down, and stow them on top of his head when he didn't need them, and the hat could stay intact without...errr...holes in the head. Nobody needs a hole in the head.

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  6. The weather is definitely changing. I gave Lily a bath this morning and the amount of fur that came off her clogged the drain! That's never happened before!

    The Boy's hat looks terrific!

    And why don't WE have cool stores like Ichiban Kan around here??? I LOOOOOVE those shopping bags!

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  7. Ha Ha Ha! The boy does look dashing in his aviator. Ro's head is now a smidgen too big for his, but the bunny still fits amazingly well. I'm glad we are having somewhat of a winter and I get to parade his cute hats :)

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