January Doldrums

Last night I made it to knit night -- an unusual occurrence lately because the Mister seems always to have work events on Wednesday nights (and usually only Wednesday nights that are knit nights). I took the opportunity to knit a second swatch for my sweater (the first attempt was unsuccessful), this time with a size 8 needle -- a truly huge needle size for me. I washed the swatch when I got home and left it to dry on the radiator overnight, so we'll see if my gauge is closer this time. It would be nice to be able to cast on for the sweater soon, especially before the urge to knit it goes away!

Most of my knitting the past two days has consisted of my striped socks, and as a result, I am nearly finished with the first one. Here's where I was at the end of my lunch break yesterday:

I should be able to at least start the toe today, and perhaps I can finish up the first sock this evening.

I also cast on for a new hat on Tuesday evening, though I don't have a photos of it just yet -- just as well, as it's not much more than a ribbed brim at this point. I'm using the same stranded colorwork pattern that I used for the cowl, but the hat will have only two colors (so I'll start with one and finish with the other). I'm using two colors of one of my favorite yarns, Yarn Hollow Tor DK, that I rescued from the orphan bin at my LYS late in the summer. As I did with the initial samples for Schmur, I'll be knitting two hats, one for me and one for Rainbow, and reversing the colors.

Because I seem to have a dearth of knitting to show you, will you settle for some pictures of stuff that came in the mail while we were gone?

First was a package from Ravelry. If you read the main boards regularly, then you will have likely seen the thread about the items for the shop with an unfortunate typo (a letter was missing in one word). These items were offered for a discount because of the error, and I promptly ordered a tote bag and a T-shirt. They arrived while we were gone and were picked up by our neighbor so they wouldn't wander off before we could get back.

I haven't worn the T-shirt yet (too cold!), but I used the bag last night and love it. It opens up so that the bottom is flat, and there's even a generously sized pocket along one side.

The other package was a really delight to open. Thanks to the enabling of the Knit Girllls, I had preordered a Charlotte's Web-themed kit from Little Skein in the Big Wool. It arrived really beautifully packaged, but of course I was too excited to take a photo before I ripped it open. Here's what was inside:

There are several options for the kit, but I went with the "work from stash" option, which means my kit contained no yarn. But I got the rest of the items: a project bag, a set of stitch markers, and the pattern. (There was also a square of Ghiradelli chocolate in the box, but I quickly devoured that.) Here's a close-up of the stitch markers, which I find particularly enchanting:

My hope is to knit the pattern using handspun, but that may require me to spin the yarn first because I'm not sure I have two colors that will go well together and have enough yardage for the pattern in my stash. I am thinking of perhaps using the two coordinates from my last big SCF shipment if nothing else presents itself.