That's More Like It

Ah, now that was the weekend I needed! It was a busy one with a lot of activity crammed into it, but I got everything done that I wanted to -- and no one was sick in bed!

The weekend kicked off slightly strangely in that we did not have our usual Friday night dinner at my parents'; they are in Florida for the month, so we're left to fend for ourselves for the next several weeks. I did, however, finish my sister-in-law's socks:

They are perfectly matched (I know the green on the toes looks a little off, but I think that's just because they weren't arranged precisely the same on the sock blockers). Despite the extra yarn I wound off, I had plenty of yarn to finish -- it's very helpful to be knitting for someone with small feet! I more or less used my typical stockinette recipe, worked over 68 stitches on size 0/2.0 mm needles. I still need to wash and block these (if you look closely, you might see my magic loop ridges), but it feels good to have a holiday gift done in October.

The next socks on the needles will probably be for my mother-in-law, with this yarn that arrived about a week or so:

Yes, we all know that I don't need more sock yarn, but I couldn't resist signing up for the Fibernymph Dye Works Encore club. I'd previously been in three of Lisa's clubs -- Happy Hour, Tea for Two, and Just Desserts -- and this club promised one more colorway for each of the three themes. I justified the purchase by deciding that I'd likely use the shipments as gifts for others, so they won't really be going into the stash. This shipment falls under the Just Desserts theme, and the colorway is called Apple Turnovers (and came with the recipe for them). This colorway looks like an apple orchard to me, and I think it'll be perfect for my mother-in-law, who wears a lot of reds and browns.

I mentioned on Friday that we were planning on going to a local fiber event here on Saturday. And we did, and was ... weird. We didn't get there until mid-afternoon, so I don't know if it was as empty as it was at the beginning of the event, but there were very few people there other than the vendors when we got there, and we overheard one of the organizers talking to a vendor who was saying that sales were lower than in the past. I felt bad about that and would have liked to have bought from every vendor to support them, but I am trying to be strong in my resolve not to add to my stash needlessly, so I kept my purchases to just two items: a project bag for Rainbow and this braid of fiber for me:

 

This is a new and unusual blend from HipStrings, a blend of Southdown and Dorset Horn wools and bio-nylon, an ecologically created nylon that creates no waste and is biodegradable. I've been wanting to try this blend for sock yarn for a while, so I figured this event was a good excuse to pick some up. It won't be going on the wheel just yet, though, because I am still working on my combo spin. Bobbin number two is under way:

I haven't given this spin a ton of attention in the past week or so because I've been trying to focus on finishing up the socks and getting my Shifty to move forward before the trip (I want to split for the body and the sleeves before I leave), but it's moving along. I'm hoping I can at least finish the singles, if not the plying, by the end of the month.

Rainbow is home with me today due to a teacher in-service day, so I need to go see if she's awake yet. I hope you had a good weekend and are feeling like the new week is off to a good start!