Small Gifties for Friends Long Ditstances Away

I have a hard time crafting for friends. Not that I don't like to do it, because sometimes when you get me started I just can't stop, but I have this strong need to make things for people that I really, really know that they'll like. So sometimes I'll know somebody through 2, 3, 4 birthday seasons and not make them anything, because I can't hit on that perfect gift for them. Hence the "not being able to stop" part, too ~ because once I figure it out, I want to make up for as much lost time as possible.



When I was in CA in May/June, I had the opportunity to catch up with a bunch of friends from my old days at the nonprofit that I consider my first real job as an adult. When you worked there, it was your LIFE. I remember one month where I saw my youth workers 21 out of 22 days straight. And the evenings and weekends when you weren't at work, you were often hanging out with people from work. In retrospect, it was a really nice opportunity to make some lasting friendships with some really open-hearted people who made my 2 years in San Francisco so much easier for having such wonderful friends in my life.

So when Rudy regaled us with tales of his trip to Europe and how much more fashion-conscious the men there are compared to here, I started thinking about those plaid scarves I've seen around the Internet in the past couple years. Unfortunately [or perhaps fortunately], this is not a look I could ever pull off: it's just not my style, and I'd have to buy an entirely new set of clothes to get it to work. But Rudy, I knew, could pull it off.


I used Stephanie's tutorial, and I will not tell you how many episodes of Battlestar Galactica I watched to finish this off. What I will confess, however, is that it took me a full 3 episodes just to get all the knotting done, though that might be due, in part, to the highly addictive and riveting nature of the show, or my slow technique. I used 1 1/4 yard of fabric, as she suggested, and got the fabric from the homespun section of Joann's while I was in CA. My mom helped me pick it out. I kept eyeing brighter colors, and she kept gently reminding me that guys don't like garments to be that dramatic. Heh. Right.

I didn't get a chance to see Serena while I was catching up with our little circle of friends, but we've been catching up via email, and so when Rita gifted me with this towel and I found some coordinating fabric/buttons in the stash, I thought of her because we both like to cook and she has a really cheery personality:


We're about the same size, so I think it'll fit her OK. I'm hoping to put them in the mail tomorrow, along with some postcards [from China ~ sh! I'm only a month late]. I'm hoping they like them, too, but most of all I hope they know I'm thinking of them, and how grateful I am to have them in my life.