Ok, time for more knitting & less health crap.
I heard about this on As It Happens, but here is your brain on knitting.
I finally finished and blocked my La Traviata from Marianne Kinzel’s Second Book of Modern Lace Knitting. What a lot of knitting. Glad that’s done. I wore it for our family photos at Christmas (it wasn’t ready in time for the work party).
This Christmas I ended up giving away more knitted gifts than planned. You’ve already seen a few items, but I also made some fingerless mitts for Zoé after she wanted mine (except mine weren’t purple enough).
I made a scarf from Tosca for Ian (loved working with that stuff). Simple ribbing with slipped edges. 
In the new year, I started a hat for Ron (twice) and got fed up. First I wanted a provisional cast-on, then I couldn’t count.
To distract me, I used my four balls of Hempathy to knit a bag (Wendy Wonnacott’s “The Bag” from No Sheep For You). It’s now washed & ready to be lined. I’ll have to see if my sewing machine will cooperate with me. I also need something to line it with. Won’t be done any time soon, I predict.
While that rests, I negotiated a new approach for a black ribbed hat with Ron (thicker wool) and finished it (Marsan watchcap) in 2 days. It’s some lovely alpaca & hopefully it’ll wear well.
Now I’m engaged on a mission to knit 2 more pairs of fingerless mitts for my coworker’s daughters. Busy busy. I’m almost done the first pair.
I’m trying to figure out what kind of lace to embark on next. I’ve got Knitted Lace of Estonia and I have started the peacock scarf pattern with my blue Malabrigo lace, but I think it’s not a good match. Perhaps the Lily of the Valley with my Mooi? Also wound up my new Wollmeise in Jultomte from the sock club. Mmm, Wollmeise. And I still want to do Laminaria with my green Misti. Hmm, the flavour of the month is definitely Estonian lace knitting.
That reminds me that I forgot to mention that I’ve had a shipment of Wollmeise and also of Sundara.
The Sundara was fingering silky merino in Carmel Apple (ok, but didn’t knock my socks off). It feels delicious, it’s just that the colour isn’t 100% to my liking. Perhaps I can figure out something that will show it off – or perhaps someone else loves it enough to trade. I’m still kind of peeved that I signed up for the Seasons club just a couple of months before Sundara began offering monthly options for particular colours. What I really wanted was some lovely lace silk. Oh well, this is still quite fun. 2 more shipments in that club to come.
The Wollmeise was wonderful again. The gorgeous Jultomte (burgundy below) has been wound and is destined for lace. The Saami is intriguing & I’m not sure what it’ll be, but I’ll wait and see.
