ye gads

Sometimes things take on a life of their own. I called my mom as soon as I got home to find out the name of the artist at her gallery who made the bigger knit? felted? bike bags that inspired my little bag. Cindy Krushenisky showed a series of bags at the art gallery my mom is a member of last February. Hers were much larger, designed more like a traditional front basket, but they gave me the idea to hey! knit something for my bike.

I finished a gift project yesterday. It will probably be late arriving to its recipient, but only by a day or two. I am rarely on time, but I try.

My odometer rolled past 100 today. I'd intended to photograph it (geek), but I was too busy thinking about the near-miss slow speed accident I avoided. Note to people in cars: you have to check crosswalks before you turn! Really! And turn signals are good, too.

my bike is a supermodel

but also charmingly utilitarian. I just took this photo because it kind of cracked me up. By the time I reached my driveway, I was tooling along with a hat and pair of mittens in the handlebar bag, plus two pennies I found in the street; my coffee cup; a small tote bag containing a knitting project, three catalogs I got in the mail yesterday, and my lunchbox; mail from today; my bike lock; and a loaf of bread. Amazingly, the bread didn't really get scrunched--I just fastened the cargo net between two slices in the middle of the loaf.


This was my lunch from yesterday--simple coleslaw with radish slices, potatoes and chickpeas roasted with nutritional yeast, some almonds and corn nuts (left over from the bike ride with the kid), and some baby carrots with a Vegannaise dip. The kid and I both use Laptop Lunches bento boxes, which are the most awesome lunch boxes evah. They make it super easy to pack a varied lunch, and we generate no lunchtime waste. (I carry a bandana as a napkin, and I'm quite certain the kid uses his clothing.) Plus the plastic boxes ride around in lead-free insulated cases which have room for a small water bottle (which comes with the kit). I usually freeze the water bottle, and then don't worry about refrigerating my lunch.

helmet liner

I made a helmet liner of leftover sock yarn. I needed something with earflaps, and it needed to be lightweight and warm. I started at the top, worked increases at eight points, and single crocheted the edging.

I rode my Bianchi hybrid on a short errand after work today. It was quicker to take it than to unlock the e-bike. I totally love my e-bike, but my hybrid is a sweet little bike, too.

It snowed on me on the way home from my errand.

I did not sign up for this.

It keeps snowing. Not a lot; just enough to continue annoying me. And the robins.

I'm attempting to make a helmet liner out of leftover sock yarn. If it worked, I'll know shortly. I've been winging it, working from the top down, and I ran out of yarn and had to go foraging for something that was at least in the ballpark. It has ear flaps. It should probably be a full face mask.

I promise not to add an orange safety flag.

Am I taking the accessorizing too far? But how can I resist combining some of my favorite avocations? (Wait, I'll answer that rhetorical question when I get home from the library.)

This is a small felted handlebar bag, which I concocted from some nice thick and thin wool I purchased at my LYS' big sale. It's just a rectangle knit with the yarn double stranded on size 11 needles. I folded it in half and seamed it, then picked up and knit the straps. Then I made a very loosely-knit swatch out of a single strand of the yarn, felted it on a vintage washboard, and used it with a cover-your-own-button kit I bought at a clearance sale. I think I made buttonholes when I knit the straps, but I ended up having to trim them, so what I ended up with were a couple of slits cut to fit after I felted the whole project.

The idea here was to have someplace handy to stash my wallet and cell phone when I am going for a ride and either don't need my bag or want to reserve the space in my grocery panniers for other things. A test run has been executed, and the items a) fit, b) are handy, and c) don't bounce out. If the buttons hold, we'll call this mod a success.

not cycling stockings.

(Though, aren't they all?)

Finished yesterday, Chameleon Colorworks in September.

One way ride today. I had a meeting after work, and when we finished, it was twilight, and I don't have any kind of lights on my bike yet. Besides a headlight and taillight combo, I want these. So the bike got to ride in the back of my coworker's big truck. She drove very nicely, so it didn't slide around....