Hiatus

Obviously I've been on hiatus - not from knitting but blogging. It's hard to fit in blogging along with the rest of my life. Okay - I'm just lazy sometimes.

Old business -
The hoodie for the kiddo was finished for Valentines Day. It turned out well and she wears the dickens out of it when temps are fitting.
The cool knee socks were a stocking gift that was a big hit. After several attempts I gave up on the pattern that Vogue printed and did my own thing with the standard sock pattern using Cascade. Then I embroided her favorite herb (cough cough) up the side of one sock and around the top of the other.


Completed during hiatus -
A nice triangle shawl with beads using Louet Gems. Several pairs of socks. A drop stitch scarf from bamboo bought in Paris. (oh yeah that was one of the reasons for hiatus! Vacation - Christmas Day in Paris, New Years in Amsterdam, and some fine chocolate from Belguim sandwiched between the two.)
Here are two goofy photos of the shawl -





Currently on the needles -
Socks for Christopher's father using Louet Gem in Indigo with a Maroon stripe around the top. One down, the other about an inch long. I'm doing these toe up. After several tries using the Eastern Cast On in the new IK I'm pretty happy with the result. It's a bit like eating with chopsticks - tricky stuff with disaster just a breath away. What I didn't like about the pattern was the heel. Totally sucked. I ended up creating my own pattern, I'll post it sometime soon.
Also OTN is a sweater for Chris. It's a basic navy blue raglan sleeve. Not exciting knitting but very nice and mindless knitting.
For Moi OTN I've recently begun the Notre Dame sweater in the new IK. I'm using some quite yummy wool that I traded some basic sewing for. It's a nice subtle gray organic Rambouillet (sp?) from Full Belly Farm. The double seed stitch really shows off this simple yarn. I've asked the kiddo to make me a cool button for the neck when it's finished. She's an incredible metalsmith and there's no telling what interesting design she'll create.

In Dream Status -
The Equinox Yoke from IK. I bought serious luxury alpaca in Paris - four fall colors, fingering weight. From Lisa, the llama lady at the farmer's market, I bought a equally yummy sable brown llama in the same weight for the body. The Equinox has an intricate fair isle that calls for about four more colors. I'm on the hunt and not in any hurry.

WOO HOO!
The mail just arrived and so did my three back issues of Wild Fibers Magazine! Enough blogging...time to drool!