Pictures and Crochet Lace

Here are my goodies from my secret pal, a scarf, a coin purse, bangles;









orange gummis, Pocky, green tea, green tea ice;










strawberry cough drops, origami papers and instructions and orange yarn. (The kitty paws came separately.)

I received my copy of Amazing Crochet Lace today. Lots of fun projects and a couple I want to tackle right away, although I'll have to go yarn shopping. Hmmm. I just got my registration confirmation for Stitches West and I did get the classes I wanted. Hurray! Maybe I'll save up my yarn money for February, though. It's only 3 months away. I have lots of yarn in the stash that I should use.

Secret Pal package arrived!

I received a package from my secret pal in Singapore today, with lots of goodies, including some orange gummies that actually taste like oranges, and one intriguing package called Green Tea Ice, with the instructions written in Japanese. I'll have to take that into work to be translated. She also sent a beautiful wine & cream scarf, some pretty pink bangles, a cute purple coin purse, and some tiny origami papers with instructions (I know what I'm doing at work tomorrow!) and some dark orange yarn. I'll post pics this afternoon after work. Thank you, secret pal!

I had an uneventful holiday weekend, although I did finally put together my knitting bookshelf. Surprisingly, I still have room to add to my knitting book collection. :) The cats were fascinated by this new toy, and spent all day yesterday jumping on and off the bookshelf, and curling up next to the books.

No actual knitting was accomplished, but I spent some time planning out my next projects. And now I have that lovely orange yarn that wants to be a scarf, or maybe some fingerless gloves, or even a hat. Hmmm.

New scarf AND a new book

I started a new scarf in elann's Baby Cashmere. It's a lovely burgundy color. It's another reversible cable scarf, but it's teeny-tiny. The cables are so cute at that size! It was going to be a Christmas present, but at that size, I'm not sure I'll finish in time.

I don't have anything else on the needles at the moment, which is a little disconcerting. However, I have the yarn and have swatched for Sally Melville's Not So Warm Coat, the lighter version of the Einstein coat. It's Patons Katrina in a lovely pale blue, perfect for blue jeans. I also have Ilga Leja's Lady of the Forest shawl kit, in Paris Memory, from Colorsong Yarns, which I've been meaning to start. But I just got Victorian Lace Today last night, and I'm so tempted by those, even though most of them are beyond my skills at the moment. They're simply gorgeous, though. I will not go to the LYS tonight, I won't, I won't. (Sure, that'll happen.)

The scarf is done!

I finished my scarf for ISE III today. I couldn't get the cast off to match the cast on exactly, but it's close enough. I think it came out beautifully. I'm already planning a second scarf, with 3 reversible cables, 1 large and 2 small, one on each side of the large one. Maybe in a worsted or DK weight cashmere, for a skinny scarf scarf for a petite friend. Mmm, cashmere!