Weekending

Gorgeous late summer weekend weather around here and we took full advantage of our new covered deck through most of it!

My DH took Lizzie up into the mountains for her first camping trip this weekend, and they managed to dodge a couple of strong storms up there, although they did have a lot of wind.  I hung out at home with the other two 4-legged girls, Rowan and Emma, and enjoyed some reading time and some spinning and knitting time.  We smoked some ribs on Saturday night and had a really nice, relaxing dinner before my DH gears up to be on work travel for something like the next 10 out of 15 days before the end of the month to various places.

It was a lovely relaxed weekend and I am definitely not ready to go back to work yet!

Weekending

We had a really nice, relaxed weekend here for a change!  D and I puttered around the house, cooked out on the grill and generally enjoyed our time together.

Saturday afternoon, I pulled out my Tour de Fleece fibers and did a little prep work.  I had a batt in the group I wanted to get pre-drafted and ready to spin, and I broke apart one of the rovings I plan to spin as well, and did some pre-drafting on that (with a little supervisory help, of course - she's actually more interested in the plastic bag than the fiber itself).

I've got a nicely organized project basket ready to go for the Tour, which kicks off next Saturday. I've got several books loaded on the Kindle to read while I spin, and I'm ready to get started!

Weekending

I think my DH and I are finally both done with travel for a month or so - it's been crazy since about March, with one of us gone almost every week, and not a lot of downtime in between trips.  He flew in from a trip on Saturday, and was home mid-day.  So I worked in my studio on Saturday a.m. for several hours, so I could have the afternoon freed up to spend with him.  

We both are kind of worn-out and tired, so we spent a very quiet afternoon together.  I read and knit while he dozed and read the book he had started on the plane.  

We've been having hot and dry weather for the last few days, so I've been taking advantage of that and getting as much dyed as I can since it dries so quickly.  I've been working on several large wholesale orders, plus my normal club things right now.  This week I'm hoping to get one of the orders completely done and the other one mostly done, as I'm trying to clear my plate off as much as I can so I've got some time to spin during the Tour de Fleece. 

I was able to finish up the upcoming (September) Heroines shawl and get that blocked, and the draft off to my TE for review, and I started on a really bright and fun cowl that'll be a coordinating project for the simple tee I'm working up with a gorgeous Pima cotton.  I'm hoping to get the cowl sample done this afternoon and then I can cast on for the tee to start the week off.  I've wound up with several garment projects to design for this fall, so my plan is to try to focus on those and get one finished up each month between now and October 1st.  The tee is the first one that needs to go out the door for a September deadline (and I'm hoping it will be a fairly quick knit, all things being equal), so I've started with that one.

Weekending

Mostly just trying to get caught up on things this weekend, post-TNNA conference in Columbus. Elizabeth, my partner at Stitch Definition, and I decided to go to advertise our venture, and it was definitely a successful trip - we got a chance to meet several folks in person we only knew from emails, and to reconnect with a lot of other folks we hadn't seen in a while.  I would have really liked NOT to have been stranded in Denver overnight on the way home, but so it goes.

Losing that extra day coming back kind of threw my planned schedule into a tizzy... so.... mostly just trying to get caught up before I head off to Austin this upcoming week to teach and do a book signing/trunk show at The Happy Ewe in Jonestown.  I shipped class materials and samples out yesterday, and Misty ordered a bunch of book copies, plus yarn so I think we'll have a great turnout. Her shop is very fun and so welcoming - kind of hard to beat it!

After this tour out, I'm hopefully done with travel until September.  And honestly?  I'm tired and very ready for a break - this is more travel than I've done in years and with show prep, and still keeping up with dyeing at home - I definitely could use a few quiet(ish) months.

Finally, in this rambling update, I'm very excited as My Book with Interweave is in the final editing stages.  I will have a copy to review on Monday to make any final corrections or tweaks before it moves on to the printer next month.  I have to say my editor(s) have done a fabulous job of it.  The photo proofs I've seen and some of the preliminary layout pages are absolutely gorgeous, so I'm very excited to see the rest of the book!

Weekending

Courtesy of some not-great weather this weekend, we had quite a bit of quiet time, which was nice!  I was a bit under the weather this weekend, so I didn't mind having some extra hot tea and I made my go-to comfort food recipe of butternut squash soup.

For the first time in a LONG time, I also sat and did some focused spinning.  I plied up the BFL I showed you on Friday and got a nice squishy skein of worsted weight.

I also started singles on a braid of soft and lovely merino/bamboo from FatCatKnits in the "Splash" colorway.

I want to spin this up into a fingering weight yarn and use it for 1 of the 2 colors in a shawl.  I'm going to dye up a complementary braid of the same base - probably using my "Serpent" colorway from the last Mythical Creatures spinner's club - and work up Andrea's Shawl.

Speaking of which, have you seen the fantastic new book collection out from Kirsten Kapur of Through The Loops.  I've been a friend and fan of Kirsten's for a lot of years.  She's done many shawl patterns for my clubs over that time, and I can honestly say that there really is nothing she's designed I haven't loved and wanted to knit, but my time to knit for fun has been fairly curtailed this past year and I really wanted to get back into knitting things without a deadline that just sparked my interest.

I ran into another blogger's post (which I sadly cannot find now and didn't think to bookmark it) in which she is planning on knitting Kirsten's Mystery Shawl-Along 2015 (as am I) and then work her way through all of the Shawl Book One collection.  I thought that was a brilliant idea and once I get a wild hare like that, you know where I'm going with this, right? I thought it'd be GREAT fun to do up a handspun version of each of the shawls.  It'll challenge me a bit with the spinning (for instance, Laight Street is a bulky weight, which I rarely if ever spin) and that'll be good for me AND help me work down my stash, which is another goal of mine for this year.   I'm not putting any deadlines on this project.  I want it to be fun and not work.

I'm really looking forward to this as a long-term process kind of project but I'm also looking forward to a stack of hand-knit/hand-spun shawls at the end of the road too!

And PS - Just for Andi, a Lizzie picture.  She's almost 4 months now and is a bundle of muscle.   I've started thinking of her as "Tank".  Shown here with one of the bazillion sticks she likes to haul around when we go outside to play.

Weekending: May 10, 2015

This weekend was all about photo shoots for designer clients.  Saturday a.m., we finished up a large collection of gorgeous Fair Isle sweaters - barely dodging an incoming snow storm and high winds (WTH?  It's mid-May and we are usually well done with snow by now, but it was COLD out in that wind yesterday for sure).  We had a ton of fun with the shoot - my models laughed a lot, which is usually a good sign, and we tossed in a few lovely shots with a friend's horse and our dog which I'm anxious to see.

Today, Sunday, I've got another shoot for a couple of different designers with various accessory-type pieces.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate a bit more for that - it is currently sunny, but it was in the 30s when we got up, which aren't exactly spring-like temperatures!

D and I have plans to meet for dinner up in town after the shoot for a little casual meal at the brew pub, and otherwise, will probably make it an early night here before the official work week kicks off. (We have transitioned Lizzie to sleeping through the night, which she's doing great with, but we are also getting up pretty early to make sure we get her out since she's still young enough we'd rather not chance having an accident overnight.  We're all about success for her!).

Upcoming this week, I'm back to the studio with a vengeance to work on more wholesale orders that arrived last week.  I'm also dyeing for the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Fiesta, which is in just under 2 weeks, and trying to get a few odds and ends tidied up as well before I go to the TNNA summer conference at the end of the month!

Weekending: May 3, 2015

Lots going on this weekend - it's been definitely trending towards warmer temps and while this is normally not our rainy season (in theory, when we aren't in a drought, that's the summer), but we've had gray clouds and spits of rain the last several afternoons and more forecast for the next several days while the temperatures hover in the upper 60s/low 70s.

I took advantage of the nice weather and weeded our front yard which we xeriscaped a couple of years ago.  It's got landscape cloth under the rock, but the weeds here are tenacious, so I went through and pulled all of those, and tidied up the bed I have all my daylilies in by the front steps.

I worked on several wholesale dye orders and cleaned up my studio space a bit - it definitely needed it after that huge wholesale order I had been working on for months, plus all the show and club dyeing.  I can actually find things on the shelves!

I also did some spinning, and finished up the Shetland I had on the wheel from Friday's spinning-focused post.  I pulled a braid of really deep rich colors of BFL out for my next spin, which I may start today.  I also cast on for a new Sekret Knitting project, since I finished up the cowl sample I had been working on.  That'll be ready for photography this week and to head off to my tech editor.  My test knitter has already started on hers.

And finally, since I'm still on my stashdown quest for this year, and I wanted a yellow or green project to go along with my Stashdown KAL in my group for quarter 2 of 2015, I cast on a Dustland Hat using a worsted-weight handspun from my stash bin.  (This was a Wooly Wonka club fiber from a couple of years ago - "Harvest Vines" colorway on Corriedale.)  The pattern definitely benefits from a mostly solid yarn, and while I'm actually not a huge fan of yellow for me personally, I love how this is knitting up and it'll be a great gift for the donation box to the orphanage!

Hope you weekend is equally wonderful!

Weekending

Trying to get back in the groove of things here, but today, it's cold and snowing/raining outside and all I really want to do is have a nap for about 6 hours.

Yesterday, I got going in the dye room early, worked on the last bits of the huge wholesale order (which I can review details about shortly - but the yarn colorway is Murky Depths shown here)

and after lunch, met up with an awesome gal who is going to do some modeling for me in early May to pick up a few things I needed to finish up the styling looks.  Today, as soon as I'm off the computer here, I'm heading back to the dye studio.  I don't think I've got enough oompf today to finish the dyeing I need to for the wholesale order, but I have one more custom dye from the Denver show I want to finish and I'll get some things skeined.

Tonight, I'll be knitting along on the sample I'm working up for a free pattern giveaway when my book with Interweave launches for preorders (which will also have details revealed shortly for that!).

I've got a chicken in the slow cooker we can have for dinner (and lunches for me this week), and some fresh green beans, which sounds like a nice way to end a cold and rainy Sunday!

Weekending

Whew!  I kind of fell off the edge of the world there this past week.  I had a wonderful show in Dallas/Ft. Worth.  Tons of driving and probably not enough sleep, but it's always a great crowd at the Fiber Fest, and I enjoyed having time to visit with old friends and new ones in my booth.

At home, the puppy wrassling continues.  Lizzie's working hard at figuring out all the rules.  She's not 100% consistent on everything - she is, after all, only 10 weeks today, but she's got the basics on sit, stay, come, no, down and a few others we are working on.  About 5 days after she came home, she wound up with a parasite infection and that made potty-training kind of rough for a few days while we got that treated, but she's on track with that now and we are really happy to say - no accidents in the house or in her kennel at all in the past 10 days.  Woot!

I will be sort of hit or miss on blog posts for the next 20 days or so - I'm trying to get ready to head off to the Interweave Yarn Fest in Colorado on the 16th of April, so I'm frantically dyeing and skeining and labelling.  (And working on a few other things to boot right now that are all on mid-April deadlines.)  I hope to be back to normal blogging after that!

Weekending

We had actual winter this weekend!  And I know everyone on the east coast and particularly in the northeast is very very tired of winter, but we really need snow.  We've been in a drought for the last several years and March begins our windy season which morphs into fire season, but the more moisture we get now, the less risk of fires.

Of course, in the way things go, my MIL is here for a visit and she lives in the southern part of the US, where she sees snow about once every other decade, and while we assured her we normally have sunny weather (and it has been sunny and in the 60s!), it very much was not this weekend. It's been overcast, snowing or sneeting, and cold the entire time she's been here.  It was bad enough on the roads yesterday that I opted not to make the 2-hour drive up to Taos for a book signing - I probably could have gotten there, but coming home through the gorge in the late afternoon wasn't looking very good.

So we wound up staying here and doing things around the house.  I worked in my studio for several hours, started some new knitting projects. We watched The Theory of Everything last night, which was excellent.  (It's the story of renowned physicist Stephen Hawking and his wife, Jane, and their life together.)  Easy to see why Eddie Redmayne won an Oscar for his portrayal of Hawking.

Tonight we are going to try to go out to dinner and then my MIL leaves for home tomorrow morning. A busy week ahead..... D leaves at the end of the week to go pick up his new puppy as well!

Weekending

A weekend of some weather changes for us - Friday was gorgeous, sunny and warm.  The winds picked up on Saturday and there was a definite chill in the air.  We woke up this morning to more wind and off-and-on spitting snow/rain/sneet.  We've been spoiled by all the gorgeous spring-like weather we've been having!

I did manage to sneak in a photo shoot for two clients this weekend for my new venture with Elizabeth Green Musselman and Stitch Definition.  While it was cold and a bit gray out, we managed to get everything done before it started spitting rain.  I have to make a huge shout-out to my model, Ashley, who filled in at the last minute for us when my originally scheduled model woke up sick on Saturday a.m.  I'm excited to see the final post-production photographs from this batch!

Otherwise, I worked on lots of dyeing this weekend, knit quite a bit on some Sekret projects, and I finished up my Portland Mittens as well.

I made a few mods to the pattern since a lot of the project pages on Ravelry had indicated these came out pretty big.  I dropped down a needle size for both the cuffs and the mittens themselves.  I dropped off a half-repeat of the stitch pattern before starting the decreases at the top as well.  Post-blocking, they wound up measuring10" from cuff to tip, and 8 3/4" hand circumference, so they are still on the large size, but at least not huge.  These are another Mittens for Akkol donation, and since the kids had specifically requested mittens for layering, I think these will work just fine as an outer layer.

They are knit from 2 colors (the original pattern called for 3), of Lite-Lopi I had in stash, so I'm really happy to have 2 more skeins gone from storage bins in the great 2015 Stashdown Project.  (I still have 2 skeins left, one of each color, and I may just make some basic striped mitts with those.... at some point.)

For the rest of today, after I'm done work, we're planning on having the fire going, making a nice slow-cooker dinner, and just hanging out this afternoon.

Weekending

Another late-spring-like weekend here - beautiful, sunny weather with highs in the mid-60s.  (Yes, I know Northeast - I'm sorry.... I'd send you some of that if I could!).

Yesterday, D and I ran down to Santa Fe to pick up a set of panels to set up and outdoor dog space. He's getting a new puppy in a few weeks, and while the little one won't be able to be outside a lot right now, he wanted to get it set up and ready to go for when she is big enough to start introducing her to it.  There's plenty of space in it for both her and her big sister, Rowan (who, at 30 pounds, will likely only be the "big" sister for a few weeks after the puppy comes home), to hang out in and we set it up where they will have shade from a few of our bigger trees in the summer, but still be able to have a nap in the sun if they want.

I did some dyeing in the afternoon and worked on two deadline knitting pieces in the afternoon before we had a great stay-at-home Valentine's Day dinner together.

Today, my afternoon plans are to pop a stew into the slow cooker, get a bit of spinning done and then have some time this afternoon to spin.  I've been reading The Greyfriar for this week's reading challenge book, and I'm about 75% of the way through it - it's a perfect book to read while I'm spinning as it doesn't require a lot of focus.  More of a mind-candy sort of read, so I find it relaxing to have that going while I spin!

Weekending: February 7, 2015

Busy weekend at this end - I feel like I've not really had a proper few days off this week with everything that's been going on around here.  I wound up picking up some extra hours at work on what would usually be my days off, and then on Saturday, we spent most of the day in Santa Fe.

D and I made the decision several weeks ago to trade in my 10-year-old 3/4-ton diesel truck.  It seemed silly to continue to put money into it when we no longer needed the hauling power (since we no longer have horses and/or big trailers).  The truck was getting to that age where the little stuff was starting to have issues.  One window sometimes got stuck.  It needed to have the hood repainted after sitting outside in our harsh New Mexico sun.  But I wasn't really sure what I wanted to get to replace it.

I knew I wanted something that I could tow my little trailer with to shows, but that rode nicely on the interstate.  I wound up taking several weeks of online research and several test drives, but I settled on getting a Chevy Traverse.  The one I got has all-wheel drive (which is nice for bad weather up here in the mountains), and I got it with the factory towing package, so I've got a 5200-pound towing capability plus it comes with an additional transmission cooler, which is also really helpful if you are towing a lot in the mountains. But the great part is.... the interior is big enough I can lay my 6-foot grid-wire panels down in the back so I don't have to take the trailer unless we are doing an outdoor show and I also need to take my tent.  Which means I don't have to fight Dallas and Denver traffic and try to find parking spaces with a trailer for two of my 3 spring shows.  Win/win!  I also ordered a roof rack and a Thule roof cargo carrier where I can put overflow if I need too - those I'll get installed on Friday.  (Although frankly, with all the seats laid down, I'm 99% sure I can get everything I need in the interior of the vehicle, but I like to know I've got the space option if I really need it.)

It's been so long (10 years after all!) since I've had a new vehicle, I can hardly believe all the bells and whistles you can get.  It's crazy, really, that you can surf the web in your car.  (I opted not to get wifi.  I'm fairly overwhelmed by the concept of a touch-screen in the dashboard.  And yes, I'm aware that makes me sound about 95 years old.  I'm okay with that.)

Otherwise today, after work, I've got some shop things to get packed up and tidied up for next week, a few errands to run, and then I've got a few hours of knitting planned this afternoon outside since the weather here is gorgeous!  (Hard to beat 63 and sunny when it's February......)

Weekending

A quiet, at-home weekend here so far.  We had a nice little snowstorm on Friday, with a bit more on Saturday, and woke up to a gray sky and some freezing fog today.  Perfect weather to stay inside with the fire and some hot tea!

I did a lot of knitting this weekend.  I finished up one Sekret Knitting project and got started on two others.  I did a bit of spinning too.

I also finished knitting up a pair of handspun mittens to go into the Mittens for Akkol orphanage donation box.  Aren't these fun?

These should fit a women's small/medium.  I knit these up with a heavy Aran-weight Finn wool handspun, and they are lovely, squishy and warm!  It makes me feel good that I'm using up some personal stash right now, and I've got another pair of mittens earmarked to go on the needles next for some personal knitting.

Today, we don't have any big plans.  After I get done work this morning, I'm planning to make some veggies and dip to have while we watch the SuperBowl, and D will fire up the grill tonight while we enjoy the game!

Weekending: January 18, 2015

D headed off with a friend for a guy's weekend on Thursday, and I had plans to get a lot of things done around the house, but he called me on Friday a.m. and said they were already headed home.  He had come down with some kind of stomach flu (and his friend's little one had as well), so they arrived back here Friday mid-day.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed all the nasty bugs stay away from me!

So in between making some chicken soup and running out to grab some 7-Up for him, I did a quick run to Yarn and Coffee in Santa Fe to drop off a big yarn order, and worked in the studio as well with lots of dyeing for another big order as well, plus some smaller dye runs for my first spring show, the Dallas/Fort Worth Fiber Fest that's in March.

In between times, I did a bunch of knitting and I finished up my Wood Hollow Mittens.  I love how these mittens knit up, and they are so fun to work up in handspun.  (This is a worsted-weight BFL handspun in the "Herbes de Provence" colorway from Oceanwind Knits - out of deep stash.)

These are going into the donation box for the Mittens for Akkol orphanage.  The only modification I made was to add a couple rounds of ribbing - they asked specifically for slightly longer cuffs on any mittens we sent, so I made sure to do that.  They are soft and warm - I hope they make one of the kids happy too!

Finally.... a fun giveaway to announce.  My friend, Andi, is doing a give-away of the entire Ebook copy of Legendary Knits, V3, right now on her blog. If you'd like to be entered in the running to win a copy, please check out her post from today!

Weekending

Crazy, busy weekend to follow a matching week!  D was aways on travel this entire week, and in the way of how things go when he's away, Tuesday a.m., our furnace died.  We knew it was probably coming, and it could have been worse in the sense that it was only in the 20s here, but still.  I spent the week shuttling wood into the downstairs to feed the woodstove to try to keep the pipes from freezing, and I was exceptionally happy we were able to get a replacement put in on Friday.

Yesterday, while I could have used a bit of a day to regroup and relax, I had a several-hour photo shoot and whoosh!  today's Sunday already!  (The photo shoot went SO well yesterday.  My model did an awesome job even though I know she was practically frozen by the time we knocked off at 4:30, but she looked gorgeous even with her goosebumps.)  :)

Today my plan is to get my work shift done and then have a quiet afternoon with D, watching some football and doing some knitting.  I've got two deadline/Sekret Knitting projects I'm working on right now, one of which I need to do a bit of frogging before I can move on, but that's my plan for today!

Hope your weekend has been wonderful too!

Weekending: The Post-Holiday Edition

I can't remember the last time I took 3 days in a row to do mostly free-time things, but it's been SO GREAT.  I slept in a couple of days, and generally lazed around the house, took some walks with the dogs (although it's been very cold here), and enjoyed myself.

I spun a bunch on Friday and Saturday - more details on that to come on the Spinning Friday post.

I worked a bit on a Sekret Knitting project, but I also knit quite a bit on my Hecate shawl - I'm in the striped lace section, and I've got just one more repeat of the eyelets and stripes to do to finish the final chart in that section, and then I'm on to the border!

I also cast on for another one of Kirsten's patterns, her Wood Hollow Mittens, which I have knit before and really enjoyed, so I'm making them again, this time out of a handspun BFL.  While I have kept the needle size as written, they are coming out a little larger since the yarn is a plumper worsted than the original sample.  This is perfect as I am making them for my Mittens for Akkol donation package and the kids apparently often wear two pairs of mittens, layered, for warmth.

So all that said, while I say every year I don't make resolutions, I suppose I have this year.  A fairly short list, but here it is:

• Work on spinning down my fiber stash.  I've earmarked a small set of 11 braids to Spin the Bin (and have spun one up and started a second already.)  If I spin all those, I'll refill the bin and start over.  I've also decided to sign up for the 7.5 pound (half of 15 pounds) challenge from the 15 in 2015 group on Ravelry, as well as participate in the monthly challenges at the Spin Your Stash group.
• Work on knitting down some personal stash.  I recognize I have "work" type knitting that I do, which is mostly with my shop yarns, but I'd also like to make a dent in my personal yarn stash that's been languishing for the last couple of years.  I own some nice yarns.  They need to be more than just skeins in a bin!
• Read 50 books in 2015.
• Spend some focused time on charity knitting. I've already mentioned the Mittens for Akkol group, and I plan to make use of some of my stash knitting to go towards projects they need.  I'm making an effort to get some mittens done before I move on to socks, since the kids have requested mittens this year specifically, but I've got plenty of yarns in stash to work on both.
• Be mindful of my fun time/free time.  See above re: "work" knitting.  Sometimes I get so target-locked on deadline things, I forget how good a little mental health break is for me to feel reinspired and rejuvinated.  I'm going to try to make sure I don't get too focused on deadlines in 2015. 
• Get out and walk several times a week.  I've had to give up running this year, but I do enjoy the 2-mile loop around our neighborhood, and I can certainly walk that instead of running.  A great excuse to take the high-energy 9-year-old "puppy" out with me too. 

FO: Norie Hat

I finished up my (modified version) Norie hat this weekend!

I knit my version using an orphan skein of Madeline Tosh DK (merino wool) I had in stash in the colorway "Celadon".  I knew casting on I'd likely have to do some creative design tweaking since I was using a yarn with less yardage than the original (and had pirated some of it for a swatch as well).
I wound up only working 2 bands of the cat's paw lace, and I drastically shortened the number of rounds at the top of the crown while working the decrease rounds.  I had just a wee bit of yarn left when I finished it up.

It's definitely not as slouchy as the original, but I actually would wear it myself and consider it a slouch - although this one is slated for my charity box for the Mittens for Akkol kids.

The pattern is a fun one - I highly recommend it - and I got a skein knit up out of stash for charity, so I'm counting this a win/win situation!

Weekending

A lovely pre-holiday weekend here.  Saturday I had a wonderful brunch with some local friends.  It was a great time - we had delicious food and great conversation.  Saturday I treated myself to some "just for fun" spinning, and wandered around in my Ravelry queue trying to decide what I might want to knit next.

D and I have some family things over the next 10 days - obviously the Christmas holiday, but my parents' 50th wedding anniversary is the 26th, so we are taking them out to a big celebratory dinner. We've also got some time planned with our nephews and D's family too.  So with that, I'm trying to decide on some projects I can knit that will be relatively mindless, so I can talk and be interrupted in between things, but I also need to focus on starting some planned designs for 2015 - I've been waffling back and forth about what I'd like to have on the needles for the next couple of weeks!

Today, I'm working on some computer things this a.m., have a few dye studio tasks to complete before I close the studio for 5 or 6 days over the holidays to take a little break, but I'm hoping to get back to spinning this pretty braid of Polwarth from deep stash (a Two If by Hand fiber) this afternoon too.

Weekending

I had a very quiet weekend this week - a bit under the weather, but that's a great time to curl up with some knitting. Although it's kind of rare for me these days, I have a bunch of things on the go I worked on.

I cast on for two hats this weekend - the first one to go into the Mittens for Akkol charity box.  Norie is one of my favorite patterns I've knit. It works up quickly, has enough going on to keep you interested, and is a great stashbuster.  I hauled out a skein of MadTosh DK merino weight for this one.  I also cast on for a double-thick watchman's type hat for my DH.  He rarely requests anything knitted, so I was happy to oblige.  I sort of wing this pattern as I go, but I've knit 2 others for him in DK weight yarns, so I snagged one of those and just reverse engineered off that.

I also finished up my Amberwell Shawl.   That's off the needles and blocked.  I wound up having enough yarn to knit 2-3/4 repeats of the Chart B border, and it came out the perfect size, I think: 56" wingspan  x 26" deep at the center back.

I knit this up using a light fingering weight handspun, 80/20 merino/silk from the Wooly Wonka Handspinner's Club fiber from October, colorway Bordeaux.

It's got a lovely drape, is super soft and very warm for it's weight!  I'm really happy with this one and it was FUN not to have to think about stitch counts or anything else and just knit.