But honey, I thought you wanted a new vacuum!

When I was trying to think of something awesome yet cheapish that I could make my mother for Mothers' Day, I stumbled across a wee bin of leftover cotton yarn in the back of my closet. Since my mother's potholders have been looking a little singed lately, I am ruthlessly ignoring the little voice that says "but that's like buying someone a toaster for your anniversary!" and potholder-ing away. I figure if I make them really, really pretty, I might be able to avoid toaster or vacuum comparisons.

This will be the first one, front and back:



The tulip is from Debbie Abrahams' book 100 More Afghan Squares To Knit. Now, I'll admit it, I'm a snob, and usually I don't find anything I like in that sort of book, but dude, this one has all kinds of cute charts for fruit (there's a kiwi!) and a tulip and a wee cute fluffy chick . . . there are also some creepy clown-heads, but I flip past that part of the book pretty quickly. Oh, who am I kidding, I'm totally contemplating making some Creepy Clown Potholders just for the hell of it. Christmas Handmade Grab Bag Gift, anyone? Nightmare in a box? There's this one frowny clown which, if made into a potholder, is guaranteed to make anyone who's seen Poltergeist set it on fire on purpose. :)

I'm intending to make four potholders, but they're kind of like popcorn, and I may just end up knitting the damn things until I run out of cotton yarn. And then it's possible that I'll start on the wool or acrylic.

Now my only worry is that my mom will think they're too nice to use, because she won't want them to get all singed. And I will have to tell her that that's ok, if they get ruined, then I get to make more!