…and we’re back.

Long time no post!  I won’t bog you down with a ton of details about our trip.  Here are the highlights:

On our unexpected snow day at home (13” before it stopped), I knit two more Deck the Balls.  I tried to pick manly colorways – these ended up on Steven & Jeff’s tree in Austin. The blue striped one is Regia yarn from the arch-shaped socks I just finished: This is Austermann Step from a pair I made several years ago:

Steven and I visited his LYS, The Knitting Nest, while I was in Austin.  What a fun shop!  It was really neat to see so many shades of Cascade 220 in one place (particularly those yummy heathers).  I left the shop with some spinning fiber hand-dyed by Stephig of Spinning Colors (this is 4 oz of Corriedale in color “Amethyst”) and one of those cool multi-compartmented boxes with the store logo on it (I had admired Steven’s in Portland): Also while in Texas, I finished the Cochineal Arch-Shaped Socks I started at home (sock #1 finished in Austin, sock #2 finished in Georgetown).  The yarn is Knit Picks Felici in colorway Cochineal, one of the prettiest color combos they’ve produced (imho):The photo shoot in my parents’ front yard was kind of silly: I also started the Christmas Charade socks and finished up the final toe decrease on January 2 at home.  The yarn is Wollmeise (a prize) and the pattern is Charade.  This photo makes the yarn look a little more orangey than it really is. Now Sharon should be all set for red socks for a while.

What’s next?  Hmmmm.  The only other WIP I have is the Butternut Scarf, which I’m considering ripping back.  The yarn isn’t quite soft enough for next-to-neck wear, so I’m thinking of making it wider and calling it a shawl.  What holds me back is that I’m not really a shawl wearer.  Thoughts?

I’m anxious to get spinning again.

And there must be a new pair of socks – soon.  Gotta have office knitting when I go back to work in a couple of days!