I haven’t updated my bucket list since June of this year, and now that Halloween is just two days away, I have decided that the flip-flop coaster I included in my last update (which would be perfect if I lived in Australia) is not really suitable for the end of October here in the central Piedmont of North Carolina where the leaves are turning and a blast of unseasonably cool weather has come for the weekend.

So I checked my queue at Ravelry to see what projects I had earmarked that better suited the autumnal aura that has taken hold.

Item 78 on my bucket list is this crochet hat:

While this design from Megan Mills of New Zealand has much to recommend it, it was the word “brioche” that initially caught my attention, and, like the dessert-like bread for which it is named, the hat is elegant in it’s simplicity, the genius coming not in how impossibly complicated the pattern is, but in the innovative use of simple stitches.

If you, like me, think this hat should be on your must do list, you can find the pattern here with a short video demonstration of a particularly interesting way to work a dc into the side of a stitch.

Item 77 is this bag which looks to me to be the perfect size for carting around all of the extra stuff one needs in colder weather:

While the bag depicted is done in all white and highlights the bag’s simplicity, there are any number of crocheters who have made the bag and tricked it out to suit their personalities (or perhaps the personalities of the recipient). This tote serves not only as a tote, but also as a canvas for self expression.

The pattern is free, but if you want to make this stellar bag, you will need to email Ms. Merlino directly to get the pattern; you can find all of the information on how to make this request here).