Twinkie Chan is, to my mind, a crochet genius, and now that the four felted crochet cookie pot holders (which were inspired by my original crochet cookieghan which in turn drew inspiration from the cookie scarf featured on the cover of Ms. Chan’s first crochet book, “Twinkie Chan’s Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies”) are nearly done:

I can turn my attention (in between loads of laundry being done to finish felting said pot holders) to my project du jour: Twinkie Chan’s Gingerbread House which doubles as a tissue box cozy.

While the original Gingerbread House is worked in a more gingerbready color, I drew inspiration from a veritable village of crochet gingerbread houses that Twinkie Chan assembled (with help) for a display for ImagiKnit, a local yarn shop in San Francisco.

Escaping to San Franciso to see a crochet village display (with a train!) is not on my “things I can do now” list, so I am doing the next best thing: I am crocheting my very own Gingerbread House tissue box crochet cozy using Twinkie Chan’s pattern as a guide.

Armed with a box of tissues that has been in the back of my car for several months now, a skein of CraftSmart Value yarn in yellow, and a 4.0 mm hook I got to work early this afternoon.

Because I am all about using what I already have, and because my tissue box is a somewhat smaller size than the one used for the pattern, I had to make a few minor adjustments. Despite that, I had the interior top of the cozy crocheted in almost no time:

After what for me was 18 rows of crochet (One of the first adjustments I had to make to get the right fit for the tissue box being used), I began the process of working in the round and forming the sides of the crochet cozy.

Despite repeated interruptions from my dog who was trying to persuade me that what I really wanted to do was taking him for a walk, I persisted, and my persistence paid off when, shortly before sunset, I was able to get this photo:

What isn’t clearly visible from this photo is that I am just one and-a-half inches from finishing this part of the cozy, and as I am anxious to get to all of the intricate and joyful crochet bells and whistles of this project.

And if you too need a small yet delightful project that will both build your skills and spark your imagination, you might want to take a look at Twinkie Chan’s Etsy shop to see if you, like me, can find the perfect crochet project for your yarn stash.