The Handmade Revolution

Because of my own enjoyment of making things by hand, I've been thinking more and more about where things around me come from, and how they are made. I want to support other artisans out there (let's face it: as much as I'd like to, I can't make everything myself.) So when I spent some time last week shopping on etsy for a gift for my boss, I also ended up buying a couple of mugs for myself.
I can honestly tell you (as a earthy sensual Taurus) that the experience of drinking a coffee from a mug thrown and glazed by hand is so much better than something factory-made. I think one special and precious and beloved mug is well worth the price of many boring cookie-cutter ones. Two must be even better, hm? The two I bought were made by the very talented Jen of Papapots, whom I highly recommend. Just look at the glorious robin's egg blue on the inside of the mug on the left, and the cascading brown speckles on the mug on the right. Is it decadent to buy two? I hope so.

Though it might seem I've been coasting along without crafting for a couple of weeks, I haven't -- you may have noticed the progress bars changing on the sidebar, if you've been paying attention. The Entrelac lap throw is slowly growing bigger; I want to get it off my list of WIPs so it isn't hovering over me any more. Also, I don't like having more than one large project on the needles at the same time, and the next one I have going is pretty big. Finishing the two of them will get a huge part of my yarn stash emptied out (and therefore make room for more huge purchases... *evil laugh*) Want a sneak peek of what's up next?