The word that I chose to focus on this year is AWARE. I want to be more aware of all aspects of my life. That includes being aware of how the choices I make affect the environment. My husband and I used to be frequent consumers of Starbucks chai. On bad weeks, it would be several times a week. We used to have our Starbucks reusable cups that we took with us, but then I started worrying about drinking a hot liquid from a plastic cup. Just didn't feel safe to me. So then we phased out the reusable cups and started getting the paper ones again. But that is such a waste. The paperboard cup, the plastic lid, the plastic lid stopper, and the cardboard sleeve - whew, that is a lot of stuff for a drink that only lasts my husband 15 minutes. I can stretch mine out for an hour. The plastic lid lasts forever.
So we have now started taking our own glass mason jars to Starbucks - better for the environment and better for our health. The pint size jar is equal to a grande - 16 ounces. I thought the baristas would put up a stink, but we haven't gotten any flack about it at our local Starbucks. We started doing this in the summer when we would run with our little babe in her jogging stroller. It made for a nice way to break-up our long Saturday morning runs for her. She would sleep for most of the run, then wake-up for her Starbucks treat, and then only have a few miles more until we got home. We would drink one iced chai there and then get another one to take with us. We had to put it in a lidded mason jar so that it didn't spill when we were running.
The mason jar works great for cold drinks, but hot chais cool down pretty quickly in them. So I decided to knit these cozies to insulate the jars.
I had these two types of yarn leftover from a scarf I made several years ago. One little ball of each, just the right amount for a cozie each. I used No. 7, 4.50 mm double pointed needles. I cast on 32 stitches for the red cozie and it is a smidge too tight. I haven't used double pointed needles for over two years and so it was a re-learning experience. Almost poked my eye out several times, but once I got several rounds done, it was smooth sailing. For the white cozie, I cast on 36 stitches and it fits just right. I also made it a little bit longer.
So after all of this coziness, these adorable little things won't be seeing much use. Another area that I am being more AWARE of this year is my spending habits. We are trying to be much more frugal. As part of our Frugal 'Fun Budget' Calendar, we are only allowed to go to Starbucks once a month. So unless we are bad and cheat (or someone else pays), we won't have a need for these cozies very often. This morning I made my own chai latte at home and while it wasn't an exact imitation, it was much cheaper (even using raw milk) and was healthier.
So I'll raise a glass (I mean mason jar) to being more AWARE of my plastic use and unnecessary spending. I also think that we all can use more knitted coziness in our lives! Don't they just make you smile?
I shared this post on Living Well, Spending Less for Thrifty Thursday.
