Tying up loose ends

At work, this week has been dragging on, so I feel like I've barely been home. I've been planning this blog post for at least two days now, but it's just as well that I didn't get to the computer, as it gave me time to finish up some things. Like -- would you believe? -- another pair of these:

Pattern: Fetching (duh, you know)
Yarn: Valley Yarns (WEBS' yarn line) Amherst (100% merino), color Black, one skein with a fair amount left over
Needles: US 3 dpns
Started/Completed: December 11/December 13
Mods: Regular (rather than picot) BO at top, smaller needles

The recipient of these wristlets has tee-tiny hands, so I used smaller needles to wind up with a smaller finished product. For comparison's sake, here's one of the above wristlets with one made with the normal size needles:

This yarn was a very acceptable substitute for DB Cashmerino Aran. The resulting fabric was soft and squishy, and I know it will be nice and warm. Perhaps most impressive? From the stash. I wound up with two skeins of this (along with two skeins in a mustard-y gold shade) as part of the Stitch 'n Pitch giveaway goodie bag.

Now that those are done, I've returned to some unfinished projects, namely the long-awaited mate to my Pumpkin Pie sock, which made its return to my sock bag this morning. My goal is to finish up the mate before the end of the year. (There's another mate-less sock for which I'd like to finish a mate, but we're not speaking of it just yet.) Progress also continues on J's scarf. I joined the second skein the other night and was knitting along happily when unfortunately I happened to spy something that made me very angry -- a knot. Grrrr. Did I just have bad luck picking out knotty skeins? Or is this a perpetual problem with Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran? I'd write to the company and complain, but I bet they have enough to deal with right now with the whole cashmere content controversy. (Don't know what I'm talking about? Go Google it and then come back.)

I've had some nice mail come to me the past two days. Last night I got home later than usual after a nice dinner with my future in-laws. Dinner was delightful, but that meant it was really dark on my drive home (I hate driving in the dark). Lucky for me, I had a Knit Picks box waiting for me! Inside was a little sumpin' sumpin' for my Sockret Pal and some additional Classic Circulars, along with this:

This would be my final yarn purchase before the beginning of the self-imposed yarn diet. This is all Telemark (100% Peruvian wool) in Alpine Frost (blue) and Snow Leopard (gray), destined to be my first official fair isle project. These will have to wait for a bit until I finish up some other projects and obligation knits, but I'm excited to get to them so perhaps they'll be a motivator.

This evening I got home and found another surprise -- a package from my Sockret Pal! She sent me a great book, which will come in handy for some comic relief when the wedding planning starts to get stressful. Thank you, Sockret Pal! This was so thoughtful of you!

Finally tonight I leave you with the promised shot of the inside of the hat I knit last Saturday. All you experienced fair islers out there can tell me how my floats look and what you think of my tension. Perhaps you can also give me some good hints on how to weave in the ends in fair isle. Is there a correct way to do it? I've looked through all my general reference book and none of them has any tips on this.