Plucking at my heart strings

Long, long ago, I came to terms with the fact that I am profoundly tone deaf and have zero rhythm. I took piano, violin and flute lessons when I was a teenager, but any song I tried to play sounded the same, like a high-pitched, miserable keening. Oh, it was awful. But these instruments from Celentano Woodworks make me wish I had some musical talent. I would strum the apple ukulele in the park next to our house and children would gather to dance. Bluebirds would alight on my shoulder, squirrels would clap and all would be well in the world. Alas, I can only enjoy their loveliness from afar. But when we have kids, I'll definitely make them learn a plucked string instrument just so I have an excuse to buy one of these!

Bunnies! Lots and lots of bunnies!

If you celebrate Lunar New Year, then you know it is the Year of the Rabbit (unless you are Vietnamese, in which case it is the Year of the Cat, lucky you!). This is a good excuse to stock up on truckloads of bunny emblazoned items. I wish I were born in the Year of the Rabbit. I was born in the Year of the Rooster. Chicken shapes are not so aesthetically pleasing because they are basically just a blob with a beak and maybe a crown, while bunnies have their long ears balancing out their fat behinds (yes, I've spent some time thinking about this). One of my favorite Taipei stores, Blah Blah Blah, currently carries the pendant above from their jewelry series based on tiny vintage plastic toys. The rest of the these items are from Etsy... click on each photo for the listing.

Zig-a-zig-ah

When I was back in California last fall, I bought an old chevron stitch throw in a flea market. It was so quintessentially Seventies Americana that I just had to make space in my luggage and haul it back to Taipei with me. It seems like everyone who had a crochet hook in the 1970s felt compelled to make one of these. Here are a few examples I found on Etsy. If you want to make your own chevron stitch throw, check out this vintage pattern. I thought about crafting my own, but I'm not sure if I want to spend all that time working with acrylic yarn -- these throws have to be acrylic, otherwise they aren't authentically scratchy! Click on each photo for a link back to the Etsy listing.