First, a post I wrote yesterday afternoon, when blogger was TOTALLY HOSED and wouldn't even save it as a draft:

Another pattern I like: knit and felted Fortune Cat. If I can lay my hands on some of the hole-in-the-center Japanese coins (I think Japanese coins have that and not just Chinese), I might make this for my sister in law sometime - she spent about 6 months in Japan working on research when she was in grad school. (Not that her memories of being there were all that happy; "Ichi-san*" her lab director was kind of a slave-driver and she didn't like the food. But still.)

(*My brother used to laugh by referring to him as either "Itchy-Crotchy-San" or "Itchy-Scratchy-San" when he talked to her on the phone).

And there's an extremely complex-looking pterodactyl.

Other than that, I'm happy to report that the big exam I collected today is graded, and I also wrote the FINAL exam (whoo hoo) for that class.

And it's raining here at last.

And it's supposed to get REAL REAL COLD later this week. I'm so excited for it. I'm like a little kid about winter weather. (Okay, if we get the predicted freezing rain I hope they cancel/delay opening if the roads are bad so no one gets hurt, but I still love winter weather). And we're supposed to get the first real freeze which will hopefully kill all the residual pollen and the "waterbugs" that have been blundering into my house.

And "now" -

This morning they're even breathing hints of "ice storm." Now, granted, our "ice storms" usually last one day, and the "ice" amounts to a glaze on the roads that makes driving hazardous (and therefore cancels classes). Pre-Ice-Storm is kind of amusing/worrysome at the groceries - I've commented before on how people buy six dozen eggs and all the bread on the shelf and eight gallons of milk (And even the NATIVES have taken to commenting about the weirdness of that).

But whatever. If we do get ice I hope they cancel school for Thursday. I only have one class anyway and I'm kind of tinkering with the material for today and Thursday so, if necessary, I can cover the important stuff today only and move on to the last topic of the semester next week.

Also, a couple of shots of the finished "Exchange Bag" from that SnB Crochet book (I am tiring of the "Happy Hooker" pun).



One thing the photos do not capture is the slight shininess of the finished product, which makes it prettier. Also, the color is slightly more gold-y than the picture reveals.

And a close up, to show the shell stitch pattern:



I still need to totally tie off all the ends, but I either need to get some good glue (or Fray Chek) or some clear nail polish to take care of that. It's a very ravelly cord and comes untwisted easily.

I also need to install some kind of closure. I'm hoping I can find an easily-attached magnetic clasp somewhere (didn't they used to make ones that you could put in with a tack hammer?). Somehow that appeals to me more than just a snap. (It would take at least a coat snap to hold the thing closed, I think). No zippers; I can't imagine sewing a zipper in to this stuff. (Part of the reason I want to use some kind of hammered-in clasp is that I don't relish the thought of trying to sew a snap onto this stuff).