Domestic Sunday: Tentacular Craftacular

For many years, my fitful attempts at a regular yoga practice were enabled by my handmade yoga mat bag. The body was one of the only things I had ever crocheted that wasn't aggressively hideous, while the strap came from an import store and was purchased entirely because there was a time in my life when I felt uncomfortable if I spoke to a retail store employee and then DIDN'T buy anything in the store.

Of course, those semi-fond memories didn't stop me from leaving the yoga mat bag (and the yoga mat it contained) behind on the subway one day. Nobody ever turned it in to the TTC's Lost and Found either. I hope whoever found it is haunted every time they use it, perpetually unable to relax during shavasana and forever barfing during hot yoga classes.

I replaced the mat but not the bag. At least, not until this weekend. My friend Tamera had gifted me with just enough of this rad octopus print that I could make a decent-sized yoga mat bag. I spliced together this free pattern from Amy Butler(PDF) and a bag pattern from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing, because I wanted a drawstring top. I placed the drawstring casing too high (the bag basically has a manbun of extra fabric on top), but I'm not about to rip the whole thing out. Otherwise, it turned out just fine.

My beer selection this week isn't all that domestic. Instead, it's from Portland's Rogue Brewery, but I'm highlighting it anyway because it's a weird, weird brew. It's their Voodoo Doughnut Lemon Crueller flavour, and there's definitely some witchcraft happening here. It tastes exactly like a lemon doughnut. Not like they dropped in a boatload of artificial flavouring, or like they got their spices but not the texture. Instead, the aftertaste even has a glazed quality. It's a mystery to me. However, it's also so sweet and powerfully dessert-like that it's impossible to enjoy more than one glass. I was reminded of my friend who demanded "Beer flavoured beer." Sometimes that's better than a liquified doughnut.