Misti Alpaca Chunky, 4X4 ribbing, heathery eggplant color.

A quick project, made to give a virtual hug to a relative going through some really crappy (such an understatement) health issues right now.  (Love you, Uncle Tim!)

Jacob's camo socks are finished, and already keeping his feet warm and cozy. 

The pattern:  Gentleman's Fancy Sock, from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush.  I omitted the decreases down the leg and shortened the cuff a bit to fit Jacob's feet without running out of yarn.  The camo yarn (Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock) looks great in the stitch - mottled and rich.  The needles got no rest before I cast on another pair.  Gotta keep the socks flowing! 

Bright happy pink, a simple, fun knit...

A certain fabulous future sister-in-law of mine already guessed her birthday gift... well, more like weasled the gift idea out of me in email by pretending she was going to make one after she saw my last bolero on the blog even though she knew darn well this is exactly the type of thing I like to make her and had probably already cast on and everything... so I don't feel bad about posting this picture.

I'm totally not falling for that again, though.

As the weather gets colder, I find myself pulling out my unfinished wool projects and rummaging in my stash to start something new.  I've wanted a sweater made of this beautiful Silk Garden colorway for a long time - I started a top-down raglan a long time ago, ripped it out (it looked pretty, but really - way too warm, and the horizontal stripes were not a good look for me), and the yarn has been waiting for inspiration to strike ever since.

I had a flash, finally, of what I want this yarn to become - and I'm enjoying the process of creating this sweater so much.  The colors change in the light, brighten and get richer; knitting in the evenings at home, the subtle, deep tones are soothing.  I love it.  If it continues to go as planned, I hope to sell the pattern here on my blog.  I'd like to finish this in plenty of time to wear up home for Christmas - cosy, cheerful, warm.  In between the gifts I'm working on, this project is soothing me.

Oh, our little knitting time was great .  At the cafe, I finished the Ribbed Lace Bolero - and am really happy with this quick, cute project.  The color is so cheerful, the yarn (Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece) is soft and cozy, and I love the look.  I think I'm going to make at least one more of these!  Julia was kind enough to pop outside with me to take some photos (thanks so much!) - we started laughing when we saw this sign:

Gotta love it.  I really need to check out the Healing Oasis - I'm not sure what it is, but it's pretty exciting to have one so close to my house!

Anyway.  Pattern notes/modifications: really nothing - my gauge was smaller than the gauge that Kelly specified, but since she wrote the pattern as a blueprint, it can easily be adapted to any gauge or size.  My shoulders are wider than hers (not surprising... um, I will never need shoulderpads); still, I used less than 1 1/2 skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (215 yards/skein).   This pattern was pure Ravelry inspiration, and was a great little appetizer knit.  I am tossing around some sweater design ideas in my head, and while I work them out, it was great to have the bolero whet my appetize for fall knits.

This makes two finished knitting projects within the last two weeks - made for myself - that I love and will actually wear.  I don't know how to act.