BitterSweet

As the summer’s brutal heat cools off a bit, I find myself spending more time outside, admiring the busy city streets below from the safe isolation of the balcony. People are undeniably facinating, and there’s just something so curious about their manerisms, I can’t help but watch as the world walks by, taking note of different strides and gestures, different relations and different clothes. All these details by themselves are unremarkable, when considered in the greater scheme of things, it truely tells a richer story than what one could pry from their very lips.

One late afternoon as I examined the groups of people, walking together to who knows where, to do who knows what, two sweet little birds fluttered down to join me in my observations.

Even more interesting than the passerbys hurrying on their way to some important destination, these bright birds held my normally scattered attention, begging to be seen. Certainly not feathered friends from around here, I couldn’t even remotely guess where they may have come from. No matter, I was more than happy to have their company; Being so far separated from the street up on the 4th floor of my building, I was beginning to feel the familiar tug of loneliness again.

The plump and comfortably rotund female fused lovingly with her mate, a slightly leaner bird, striped in distinctive cool colors. Clearly not of the same species, but undoubtedly a perfectly matched couple nontheless.

How I wished they would stay here with me longer, but in the blink of an eye, off they went, to what I can only hope is another loving home. But I’m not too worried; I know that these two lovers will never be separated from one another, no matter who adopts them from my temporary home adjoined to this balcony. Off the hook one day, and on to bigger and better things the next!

…You’ll probably make a new friend.

But if you give a mouse a pile of cookies…

You’ll get one hyperactive rodent.

Trust me, I had only wanted to was to make him feel welcome here, new to this world and scared of all the bright lights, wide open spaces. Only a few hours experience in terrifying new life and his little beady black eyes could bore a hole right into your head, commanding his presence to be taken note of. So innocent, so helpless, how could I ignore his lonely cries?

After spending the whole day huddled in my arms, he simply leapt at the chance to try out a sweet treat completely foreign to him. One cookie would have been no problem, but he just commandered the whole platter within minutes! Who would have guessed a tiny newborn mouse could have been so forceful! Before I knew it, he had devoured atleast half of my whole stash! It took hours for him to calm down afterward, and boy, did he crash hard.

After a long nap, we had a little talk, and came to the conclusion that you should only give a mouse one cookie at a time.

Sweet treats are still a comfort food in his eyes, but not a wise stable when the recipient can’t metabolize more than one extra sunflower seed in his diet without getting a sudden burst of spontaneous energy. Cute but crazy, especially on a sugar high.

[Free pattern is avaliable here, but in Japanese]

When you wake up in the morning, how many times do you have to hit the snooze button before finally forcing yourself out of bed and jamming your feet into some socks? For me, I’m one of those rare “morning” people that are sometimes refered to as mythical creatures. There is nothing more invigorating that hopping out of bed and watching the sun rise with a steaming cup of coffee at hand.

During this past year in school, I found that the most time I ever had to myself was when I got up early for breakfast, alone in my quiet house, still filled with the quiet, even breathing of my slumbering family. It was during these solitary moments when I would take out my latest knitting or crochet project and turn out a couple solid rows before packing a lunch and heading out to catch my train.

Deep in thought one particular morning, enjoying the beautiful sunrise and ritual cup of coffee, I had a moment of inspiration. If coffee and crafting were such a passion of mine, what could be better than coffee composed of yarn?

A very quick but cute project, something you can finish in the small amount of free time in your morning schedule. Also a plus for those who love coffee but are sensitive to caffiene – Now you can have a cup all day long!

Materials:

Scraps of worsted weight yarn in white, dark brown, and cream
Size F hook1. Using the magic loop technique and white yarn, sc 6 in a circle

2. 2 into each stitch (12)

3. [sc 1, sc 2 into next stitch] 6 times (18)

4. [sc 2, sc2 into next stitch] 6 times (24)

5. [sc 3, sc 2 into next stitch] 6 times (30)

6. [sc 4, sc 2 into next stitch] 6 times (36)

sc in each stitch for 10 rounds

17. ch 10, sc into each stitch

Cut thread, leaving a decent length to draw back down through the stitches and tack down the handle to the bottom of the cup.

In brown, repeat rounds 1-6 and cut thread, leaving a tail long enough to sew it down later.

Using the cream yarn, top stitch (I’m not sure what the proper term is) around in a spiral on the top of your brown circle.

Lightly stuff the cup and insert the brown circle a couple rounds in from the top. Stitch to the inside, stopping when you get near the end of your coffee circle, and readjust stuffing, if you desire yours to be more or less firm. Close up remaining hole and secure, bury the end on the inside and cut thread.

Enjoy, but don’t injest.