Sunday, March 15, 2015

Two Loves: Bags and Binders

There's a cool little company in Seattle called TOM BIHN where they're making high-quality travel bags, backpacks, and organizing accessories. Durable, made to last a lifetime, happiness guaranteed. If you check out their website you'll see pictures of the factory crew: real people, real lives.

Tom Bihn, the owner, and his company showed up on my Ravelry radar when he designed a knitting bag called the Swift. He collaborated with Knitty.com, Amy Singer, and knitters. They designed an all-purpose, knit friendly bag - no velcro! no zippers! In 2010, a hemp Little Swift made it's way to Hawaii, disguised as a Christmas gift from The Man (much to his surprise).



Okay, I like my earthy, eco-whatever bags. And I also like paper: notebooks, notecards, journals, stationary. I enjoy them all.

You know where this is going don't you?

Last Tuesday a few soon-to-be-retired items were brought back from TOM BIHN's backorder abyss, one of which was the Field Journal Notebook. A few years ago I debated whether to get one the first time I heard about it but couldn't rationalize the purchase. Then it was gone. Now that it's making a brief reappearance I agonized over it: "Should I?" "No." "Yes." "Should I?".

It was very pricey for a binder, pricey for a bag. But, hey, when they're gone, they're gone. That said, the item jumped into my online shopping cart. Next, I had to figure out which color: Red Blend, Grey, Olive, or Burnt Orange. It was a toss up between Red Blend or Olive but decided in the long run I was more harmony than heat: I ordered Olive. Besides at that point, the Red Blend was gone and on backorder till the end of April (so I guess they'll be making a few more) before totally retiring the Field Journal Notebook.

Yummy Goodness: I'm glad I went with Olive.