Moms are the ultimate multitaskers; at the park the other day I met a mom who was knitting some groovy socks while looking after her son. I used to be an avid knitter, but I had never seen anything like the little knitting pouch wristlet she was working from and I had to try tracking one down. A super stylish option is the GoKnit Pouch from KnowKnits ($18; available at KnitPicks.com). Made of lightweight, ripstop nylon fabric (in hot pink, lime green, or turquoise), this pouch has a loop that can go over your wrist, belt loop, or purse strap and includes an interior snapped guide loop to keep your yarn in order. Measures 6 inches in diameter by 8 inches tall.

Pursuant to my last post, Auntie Sha-Sha has renewed my faith in the fact that elegant, hand crafted ornaments can in fact be made quickly and glue-free. Sharon made a fleet of amazing bell cranes (shown) for Laurel, and confirmed that they were simple to put together. Fold a paper crane using origami paper. Thread ribbon through the top of a bell (she used 1/2 inch bells and 1/8 inch satin ribbon, about 16 inches long). Hold the ribbon ends even and together and tie a knot about 3/4 of an inch up from the top of the bell. This knot will sit under the belly of the crane (to fix space between the crane belly and the bell). Thread the ribbon ends through a needle with a large eye and insert needle in existing hole in the bottom of the crane and poke a hole through the top point. Pull the ribbon all the way through and tie a knot at the end. For non-denominational cranes, you could forego the bell (leave a longer ribbon end under the belly and snip to separate), or replace the bell with a different trinket (e.g., snowflake, dreidel, photo).