Is It the Weekend Yet?

Phew! It has been one of those weeks. There have been all sorts of surprises at work (no Internet for the first part of the day on Tuesday, then discovering my computer had been broken by an overnight construction contractor when I got in yesterday), plus late nights and really hot days, so I'm pretty much done. I'm looking forward to what I hope will be a relaxing weekend with extra time to sleep.

Tour de Fleece spinning is continuing. Last night I started plying my Bond/Suri singles. I didn't get too far, as I didn't actually sit down at the wheel until after 9 p.m., but I'll put in more time tonight and Friday evening, so I should have a finished skein by the weekend. I'm also still working on the Sheep to Shoe singles, though they don't look that much different from the last time you saw them.

I've still been knitting, and I managed to finish up another project (and another sample for the pattern collection) on Sunday evening. They've now been blocked and the pattern's been sent off to my tech editor, so you can now see them.

These are meant to match the hat you saw a few weeks ago, though the colorwork pattern is slightly modified to make sizing a bit easier. What you cannot see in the above photo is the surprise inside the cuffs -- an extra ribbed lining!

This lining gives the mitten a really cozy fit -- because, honestly, is there anything worse on a really cold winter day than cold air getting into sensitive spots like your wrists?

I'm also working on the next sample for the collection, a double-knit cowl. I'm a bit farther than what you see in the photo, but the light has been weird today, so I didn't want to try to take an updated shot only to be disappointed.

Like the mittens and the hat, I'm working with Fibernymph Dye Works yarn for this cowl. This base is Bona Fide, her DK-weight yarn, and I'm using Red Hot Chili Pepper and Soft Black for my colors. I am once again finding double-knitting to be a really addictive technique, so I predict it will not take very much time to get this finished.

The last project still on the go is my Waiting for Rain, and I'm getting very close to finishing it. I finished the final lace section last weekend and got started on the garter stitch rows that follow it, so really the end is in sight. The problem is that each row now takes about 15 minutes to knit, so progress is very slow, and on top of that my yarn supply is dwindling. I'm hoping to have enough of the darker color I used for the stripes and lace to do the knit-on edging, and I'm hoping to get to that point by the weekend, when I'll have time to devote to it. Fingers crossed!