The christmas haul and other tales

You may recognize this mitten from the book of yarn. Having a hearty love of snails (and bats) I wanted to make a pair for quite some time. The motivation came in the form of blistering minus forty weather and a lack of hand coverings. So i decided it's been a while since I've made something really intricate let alone something intricate for myself, so I cast on.
The welts at the bottom were a trial, I discovered I really dislike making welts, or tucks as the case may be. However they do look good and they serve a purpose so I am glad for that. Ideally I want to be done these before school starts again. I got lots of knitting time in on them on christmas eve, mom can attest to that fact.
They really are knitting up quicker than I thought they would.
I am useing two different patons kroy to make them, the stripy effect comes from patons kroy stripes in burnished sierra stripes, I have to take out the navy every time it comes around because i feel it's too close to the black but i really like how the other colors are working with the pattern.
I'm thinking about calling these my halloween snails.
I'm almost done the mitt in this picture I'm on the thumb now so I'm sure there will be more pictures when it has been compleatly compleated.
This lovely skein my mom picked up at the Agribition. It's white fingering just waiting to be dyed. I am looking forward to dying it but I haven't figured out what colors I'm going to dye it with yet.
I have no idea what the yardage is but I'm anticipating something like a scarf or maybe part of one? Really I have no idea yet I just look at it and smush it occasionally.

Ruby slippers mediumweight mom got me this from river city yarns. I love STR and this colorway is just so rock and roll. I haven't anyplans for it yet, except to stare at it and smush it with love occasionally.
I'm sure once class gets back in and my sock fetish comes out again this will be called up for something amazing. There's just so many patterns waiting to be made Oh my.

Chapman springs Mediumweight. HOT I love the color variations in this. Love.
Seriously. When my credit card is paid off I'm dropping a pretty penny on more STR. But you didn't hear that from me ;)

I swear I haven't forgotten you, I've been busy!

In my house the cats rule the roost. So when I placed this stuffed toy christmas gift beside Peatrie for a picture upon compleation, when she reached over and grabbed it like a pillow I was hardpressed to have to remove it from her. She used it for a while and when she woke up, I spirited the stuffie to the bookshelf.
Now anyone who knows me knows, I hate the fiddly stuff, this was like hot needles in my eyesockets, not that it doesn't look cool and won't be compleatly loved, just ten stitches for ten rows on dpns, makes me want to hurt myself. But I may have to make another one, as peatrie has decided she's rather fond of the dang thing.
Some may recall that free handful of fleece I got at agribition (cleaned and weighted about 50 grams). Well with the help of Amy's handcarders I handcarded the white with some green shaded romney from the willow and then spun those rolags nice and thin. Then I plyed it with the leftover green romney, and when that ran out I used a single I spun a while ago that was a neutral tan-y/brown alpaca. The alpaca was a bit on the thick and thin side but not too much, blocking seemed to take a lot of the issue away. All in all I think this skein might be a hat.
It marks the first time I've ever hand carded or hand blended fiber, I like it.
Okay, so I finished mom's christmas gift, the go with the flow tank from "Inspired Cable Knits" just in time to block and wrap it before the big family shindig tonight. Quite frankly I wonder if I'll end up accidentally falling asleep after dinner, it's only the morning and I'm already ready to nap. Bebop gave me no sleep last night dispite the fact that I could go to bed because I was done all pre-requisite christmas knitting.
While I wish fondly that my family were somehow interested in this knitblog, I know they're not so I don't actually worry about showing some x-mass gifts before their gifted.

logic breaks and surprizers galore.

Okay so my knitter group "the clicking needles" had a secret santa this monday, and this glorious box was my giftie. It's 80/20 merino silk. There are several different colors and some natural colored stuff. The natural colored stuff will get dyed most assuridly, whereas the already died will be done either by itself or with something else. It's soooo solf so soft. I was starting to get worried because of the spinning jag I've been on and I've started running low on the dyed stuff, but this combined with *squee* the stuff I'm trading for with Amy will definatly keep me over the break. Plus I do have a lot of natural that I want to spin to make boxed from knitty. But you have to be in a mindset for natural, and that mindset is far from me right now.
This here is the superwash merino I got a while back, spun up and then navajo plyed, and yes, it was one of my first navajo plying experinaces but it came out so nice. I wonder what I'll make with it. the colors are nice, It might be a hat or a cowl, I'm on a cowl fetish right now so that's more than likely its fate. But honestly this city is frelling cold, there's nothing wrong with a million cowls. Cowls GALORE.
Then my mom called to say that I had a package at her place (most everything gets shipped there since I live in an apartment and mail and apartments don't mix well). So I went and picked it up last night and this was inside the plastic bag....
That's right WOLLMEISE!
The second shipment of the sock club came and quite frankly not a minute too late. I've been funking it up (who knows why) and basically I needed something to brighten my day.
Inside was the two skiens (pretty pretty - but yellow is so not my color). And a yarnissima pattern that is to dye for. It's enough to turn me back to my sock lovin self. Cranking out christmas socks has really killed my soul on the sock front but I think once christmas is over and classes are up again the sock urge will be strong within me. And there's a little suprise ball that I have to knit to get to the gift inside, and a little baggie of gummies. Which won't last long since my love of all things gummie bear like is intense. Seriously coke bottle gummies are like ambrosia to me.

Anyway that's the update. There's lots a brew in my head that I want to get to once the last final is done, but alas I must not think of things until the final is out of the way. Grr argh.

I have really wanted to see and feel the greatness of cherry tree hill, and now that I have I wonder if I'll ever be able to go back to the same old Opal again. It's colors are so vibrant, it's a fingering weight so I'll have to do something that's a finer knit sock or maybe mittens with it, but the color I could not refuse.
I question why i didn't get two of them they'd make a lovely clap. Even if knitting yet another clap seems like a lot, I only have one and the other was a gift to someone. I can totally see the colors just being amazing in that pattern. Maybe I'll make something else. Right now I'm all about getting my holiday knitting done, and that is a chore in and of itself. I am so close yet so far.

Dream in Color Smooshy Sock anyone? Isn't it gorgeous? I really want to knit with it but that will have to wait until other obligations are taken care of so it might be a while, but dangit it's so pretty and soft I want to bear it children.
I am overjoyed that there is a store carrying this in my city now. I feel like a new sock door has been opened.