There's an adorable knitted octopus in my future...

We kept it light on presents this year (I mostly bought family members charity donations in their names to organizations such as Madre and Doctors Without Borders)... but Masheka and I did get each other a few things. The below gifts from Masheka combined two of my obsessions: reading books, and making stuff. The man knows what I like!

Amigurumi Knits: Patterns for 20 Cute Mini Knits by Hansi Singh. I've sewn a few stuffed softies for Miss Z (well, ok, one, and I still have to embroider on the eyes, and yes, I will photograph it for this blog, and ... ok whatever), but I'd been wanting to try my hand at knitting some as well. I haven't attempted these yet, but flipping through, I'm especially loving the eggplant (and other assorted knitted vegetables), the kraken, the snail and the octopus.

Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People by Amy Sedaris. More of a lavishly photographed humor book than an inspiring craft book, similar in format and style to her previous book about hospitality, I Like You. I laughed so hard reading the first few pages I didn't mind at all that I have no interest in making weird crafts out of pantyhose (which I've seen her do live, with the nylons she wore to the book signing) or fringy-pom-pom anything.

Oh, and if you don't hear from me until 2011... Happy New Year!