Finally!

Seems like I've been waiting forever for this package from Knit Picks, but I didn't order it until the last week of the year, so it really hasn't been that long. I now have my ball winder, but the swift is on back order. I also now have the yarn for DH's sweater, although I think I changed the pattern I want to use again after consulting with Corey.

The purple and green yarns in the upper left are slated for future fetchings, but that may change, and the yarn in the lower left corner...holly berry....is for a Christmas gift next year. all the yarns are Knit Picks' Andean Silk. Figured I'd better start planning Christmas and Hannukah now!

I spent all day Saturday at the monthly NIN meeting, then did the hospital delivery yesterday. After which we did our usual lunch thing. Then we went to a fabric place on Harry Hines and shopped for $.99/yd knit to use for diaper shirts and hats for the babies. While there I found this flamingo flannelette.

My scrapping board's mascot is a flamingo, so I plan to make some pajamas from this. I have six yards, so I may make a long sleeve/long pant pair followed by a short sleeve/shorts pair. I then went by Marge's and picked up about 6 or 7 more trash bags of wool yarn to be used for charity. It was donated to NIN, but we can't use wool for the babies, so since I also knit for CIC, I took a huge load of it several months ago to distribute to CIC knitters. Now I have another load. The previous load was large double hanks of tapestry wool, and this load is smaller skeins of tapestry wool...more suitable for socks and smaller projects, since the lengths are so short.

At the NIN meeting Saturday I met a lady who knits with a Plano area charity group...Chicks with Sticks who Care. They meet at a church on Monday afternoons. Looks like I've found another group to join, LOL! They meet in Plano, about 20-30 minutes away for me, but at least they meet during the day. I don't do evening knitting groups. I'll probably be able to give a lot of my most recent wool acquisition to this group when they work on wool-friendly projects....right now the yarn is still piled in my trunk and back seat. I need to make room for it in a closet here somewhere and sneak it in when Corey isn't around, LOL! He mostly just rolls his eyes when I come home with NIN fabric and I've already told y'all that he calls my yarn balls "tribbles". I try to keep most of this stuff contained in my sewing/scrapping room, but there are currently 8 tribbles in the living room as I type this not counting the full Lantern Moon basket on the hearth.

And here is my progress on the stranded knitting socks. I don't like really tall socks, so I finished the legs on both socks and have started the heel on one. It is an eye of partridge heel, which I have never done before. I don't know why I was having so much trouble getting the directions into my head the right way...I had to tink back to the beginning of the heel twice. And let me tell you it is discouraging to tink 6 rows of double stranded knitting.

After watching the heartbreaking loss of the Cowboys Saturday night (I feel badly for Romo, I really do....it's going to be a loooong off-season for him), I started and finished this NIN hat during the Sunday noon game between the Colts and the Chiefs. I cast on 60 stitches on size 6 needles using worsted weight yarn. I don't usually use 4-ply worsted for baby knitting, usually use 3-ply baby weight, but I bought this stuff by accident. Worked about 3 inches in 2x1 rib, then worked a checkerboard pattern in stranded knitting...3 stitches of each color. This stranded knitting is a.d.d.i.c.t.i.v.e. It is easier, though, in fingering weight yarn. My left handed gauge has issues in worsted weight.