Crochet for weddings

Here's a gross oversimplification for the ages: weddings, like holidays, frequently bring out the worst in the craft world. Or maybe just in the crochet world, because overall, DIY wedding stuff seems to be getting a lot better. Or maybe I just read the right wedding blogs.

Still, I haven't been feeling a lot of love for the intersection of crochet and weddings. I'm getting married in May, and since I'm into DIYing it in general and crocheting in particular, I'd love to find one or two ways to incorporate that into Our Special Day. Crochet Today's wedding feature in the May/June 2010 issue gave me a brief burst of hope, but that was quickly dashed when I saw the patterns. They're not bad, exactly (except the crocheted wedding cake--I just think that's weird), but they're not really me, let alone us.

I'm not planning on a gigantic veil, so the bridal headband might have some potential buried underneath the starched flowers and the pearl beads, but the effort it would take to make it work for me is probably not worth it. Not when Etsy exists. The double wedding rings blanket would be great in a different colorway, but that would be for our house, not the wedding day itself.

I could make a pretty awesome ring bearer pillow... but I don't think we're having a ring bearer. (And I don't think our best man would be down with toting a pillow around. Not as long as suits come with pockets.) I'm not really a lacy-wrap-wearing kind of girl, and I don't think my 'maids are either. So far, my two best ideas are amigurumi cake toppers (zombie for him, robot-with-a-veil for me?) and doilies like these for under our centerpieces. (Which will also be DIY. Thanks, Martha!)

Anyone have any better ideas for adding (modern, fun) crochet touches to a wedding?

ISO: the perfect vacation project

I'm about to go spend a week in the mountains, with nothing in particular to do except eat Goldfish and drink iced lattes. I found a couple good space operas at the library, and if the spirit moves me, I'll probably get in some crochet time, too. So I've been searching for the perfect vacation project.

What makes a good vacation project? Compact--so the granny square afghan I've got going is out. Simple--so the amigurumi projects I've had an eye on aren't going to work. I want to be able to relax and stitch on auto-pilot, not sweat over teeny-tiny increases. I also don't want a project involving multiple color changes--that many more balls of yarn I'd have to tote along.

So I'd settled on this pretty triangle scarf from the September/October 2009 issue of Crochet Today. Gray is my color of choice for far too many projects, but the only gray crochet thread I could find was mercerized cotton, which wouldn't drape well enough for this sort of thing. So I figured I'd use their recommended bamboo thread (which is super soft), in a nice neutral.

Too bad I can't find any. Michael's doesn't carry the Aunt Lydia's brand, and my local Joann's has been consistently out of the natural color that I want. I'm leaving tomorrow morning, so unless Joann's does an overnight restock (unlikely...) I'll just have to find a project I can make with the yarn stash I already have.

Right now I'm leaning towards a basket-weave clutch in cotton, a design I've been working on in my head for awhile. Unless anybody has any better suggestions?