Hellooo out there...

That was me, hollering out into the great echoing void of my blog. Who stole January? How did I miss posting even once? I wish I had a really good excuse, like I was in Paris or doing Nobel prize research or cleaning my house (which would take more than a month, I think). All I can say is, there are just not enough hours in the day. Added to that is the fact that the kids use this computer for most of their game playing, since it is faster and has more memory. Well, that is why all the current photos are here instead of on the other one (slower, with a dangerously full hard drive). So this is where I need to post from, and I can tell you it is really hard to get a turn around here!

Enough excuses - time for photos (and maybe some explanations). First, the last photos I promised from Rhinebeck, however many eons ago that was. This is the alligator scarf kit (is it certain it is not a crocodile?) from Morehouse Merino:


I have never seen a purple alligator - it must be the special harmless species.
Then we have a needlefelting kit - the idea being to enclose a bar of soap in its own scrubby cocoon:


Once one has enclosed the soap, then one is directed to put a lovely little flower design on it. I gave this one to a friend who had been wanting to try this project and just needed some directions.

And lastly a few patterns:


One can never have enough patterns (you need them to go with the "never enough" yarn, of course). I was particularly pleased to find the little booklet of Sidna Farley's designs, as I had recently tried to order it and failed.

So enough about fall. On to winter - and some FO!
Let's start with a sideways view of a shawl. Okay, I confess I have no idea how to rotate the photo so it conforms to the laws of gravity.


This shawl is from a pattern by Anne Hanson of Knitspot (that's www.knitspot.com - someday I need to learn to make live links in the text!). She is a wonderful designer, and I have lots more of her designs in my queue. The yarn is James Brett's Marble - an easy care synthetic that comes in wonderful colorways and is very soft. Knit on a large enough needle it makes creditable lace, just the thing for a prayer shawl that might suffer rough washing in the future. The name of the pattern is "Obstacles", and I thought it was just the thing to give to someone who might have obstacles to overcome.

More gravity defying stunts by knitted objects - this time a felted bag. This is another one of Anne's patterns (yes, this makes me an official fan, I think). I wanted my lobsters to look alive so I made them blue. Aren't they convincing?


And lastly, a knitted object that seems to know which way is up:


This is the lacy top edge of a felted bag from a pattern by Y2Knit. I really like how the lacy bits come out (you have to thread something non-felting through the holes before you toss it in the washing machine).

And just one more thing, in this post that never ends (yes, it is a somewhat blurry PKO - partially knitted object!):



Okay, so this one is not finished. It probably is finished by now, just not by me! I joined the latest round of "Death by Socks". I don't know what I was thinking. I am not a terribly slow knitter - I just don't have a lot of knitting time most days. So this is a photo of the two-thirds finished sock I was holding when I "died". However, said dying was accompanied by the receiving of a lovely pair of navy and white cotton blend socks and a matching hat! I just hope the person I started the socks for eventually receives them. She said she wanted pink, and it would be a shame to waste such great pink yarn (Sock Hop in "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", I think - the label went along with the yarn) on someone who doesn't like pink.

I had better stop. It is the middle of the night (o-dark thirty, as some folks say) and even though there is more to say (did I hear someone mention a meme that I owe you all, and maybe some yarn information for the other Rhinebeck acquisitions?) even intrepid bloggers need to sleep sometime.

Maybe I could post again this month?