Winter sets in

I am still in the midst of two full weeks off of work and it is everything I knew it would be! I had a great time with family and friends and am now planning on enjoying the next four days at home.

I will have a few more photos of finished projects in the next post. I managed to finish one project, start and finish another, and start a third. I started the Gaffer's Gansey for my dad-in-law. Everyone approved of the color and I've made great progress in the past 7 days.



Sue, my MIL, gave me a great Lang engagement calendar of American folk cats. You can see that in the photo above. We trekked out on Saturday to Delafield, WI to the Knitsch - a very cute knitting store with friendly staff where I bought some Cascade 220 in fuschia for a yet to be determined project. Our shopping was delayed by a day because of 8 inches of snow that fell on Friday. It was so beautiful - here's the aftermath:



There was amazing bird watching over the weekend - we saw 17 cardinals at one time!






Ok....the big event of this year's holiday season was my husband's 40th birthday. He got wonderful gifts to commemorate the big day. His folks gave him a telescope - something he's wanted for as long as he can remember. Can you believe the size of this thing:



And my folks gave him enormous binoculars. Do you think the neighbors will be nervous?



Sue and I got in hours and hours of productive knitting while being kept company by the kitties, Tobey and Wiley. And isnt' Tobey the cutest? He's doing a little birdwatching.





Since the photo of the Gaffer's Gansey was taken, I have finished a few more inches of the body and I will be making my second attempt at doing steeks sleeves. My first attempt was unsuccessful - the arm holes were too deep, the sleeves were too long and I tried several attempts to salvage this to at least be able to wear the thing aroung the house, but to no avail. Let's hope this is more successful. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve since I tried this last. More project updates next time.

Knitting hangover

Have you ever had a knitting hangover? It isn't pretty. I was up until 2 am working on my sock from Knitting Vintage Socks and watching a TV series Kidnapped. I got the DVD from the library and became immediately addicted. Well, this is the aftermath on the next day.



I had been hoping to get my yarn from Knit Picks on Saturday to get started on the Gaffer's Gansey for my dad-in-law during the first Minnesota snow storm. We got about six inches and no new yarn. It did finally arrive today - during our second snow storm, and we're scheduled to have two more by Saturday. Yikes - it is going to be a long and snowy winter. I had a 90 minutes commute home from work - to travel 4 miles. I could have walked home faster. Have I mentioned that I hate taking the bus? But when I got home, I had more problems. The yarn...not good, as we say in Minnesota.

The color for the Gaffer's Gansey is probably too bright for a man. I will have to wait to see the verdict from the recipient.



And my clumsiness with rolling up a hank of lace weight? Also, not good...



But my new project is off to a great start. I am making the Lace Leaf Scarf from the Holiday 2006 issue of Knit Simple out of Andean silk from Knit Picks in Hollyberry. I was going to knit it with the lace weight (seen in the mess above) but I am too mad at that yarn at the moment to include it with this project. After dismissing the lace weight Alpaca Cloud from Knit Picks, I thought I might include the Misti Alpaca in the scarf (seen below). But you will see I am sticking with one yarn - and regular knitting needles to boot. Very old school! This will be a gift for a good colleague at work - someone who has been very generous with her time and support.



In closing, I feel compelled to share with you that Wiley (the cat knitting on Thanksgiving) has developed a large ego after seeing himself on the web. Tobey, his brother, feels he is a much better model and better behaved. I can't say I agree with the better behaved part, but he is a charmer...



The camera adds a few pounds, right?