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Stalking the mailman

has taken on a whole new meaning for me. (And has given me the inspiration to blog after a quite lengthy hiatus.) I called my son to tell him to watch for a package I had sent, since it had gifts in it, including a couple of checks that he would want. He told me that he had lost a key to the mailbox, and one roommate who had already gone home for break had the other one. So his plan is to watch out the window for the mailman and run out and ask for the mail when he arrives. Sounds good to me, and definitely much easier than looking through the house for the key! I hope he can see the mailbox from inside, since it's supposed to snow today. This is one item that's in the box (modeled by the lovely and talented DH). Scott asked for convertible fingerless mitts, and Mom was happy to comply. Especially after hearing that he doesn't wear the hat I made for him last year, because wearing a "matching hat and scarf that your mom made" is not cool. Oh well, who was to know?

The problem with not blogging for awhile is that now I obsessively want to list everything I've done for the last month, and that would certainly not be interesting. I did want to thank my ISE5 pal, Kina, for the wonderful scarf and gifts she sent me all the way from Taiwan. I did thank her on the ISE5 blog, but she was such a pleasure to have as a pal, I want to do it again! I received a beautiful blue lace scarf and other goodies, including a cute kitty coin purse and a pretty fabric bag. The most fun was getting the letter from her written in Chinese characters and then translated to English.

I finished a blanket, hat, and booties for a baby born to one of DH's co-workers, and then managed a couple of pairs of mittens for the Soaring Eagles project. I didn't find out about it in time to do more and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Rachel will receive enough mittens and slippers. I try to do as much charity knitting as I can, even though it saddens me to think about the great need that exists, which won't be much helped by the items I can make.

I'm finishing a hat and mittens I decided to make for a friend's little girl, and then I plan to put aside everything else and at least begin a shawl with this fabulous alpaca yarn I bought from The Loopy Ewe. It's Baby Twist from Alpaca with a Twist (see it here).

The color I got is a deep plum or grape and it's about the softest yarn I've ever felt. (Sheri doesn't have any more of this exact color left if you go to look.) I haven't really had this happen before - feeling an irresistible urge to immediately knit a yarn I've bought - but this one's been sitting on my desk and enticing me for days! I have a sweater in progress, I signed up for a Peace Fleece Everyday Cardigan knitalong at my LYS, and am also planning to join the group knitting the Kauni Cardigan (the two latter projects will begin in January.) So I'm determined to start the alpaca shawl now.

My Dishrag Tag buddies, Sarah-Hope and Cathy-Cate, have recently posted beautiful shawl photos, so I'm determined not to be left behind. I'm planning to start a simple lace pattern (when I decide on one) and just see how it goes.

In the meantime, I finally wore my Mystery Stole, and here it is.

Comments

Anonymous said…
That mystery shawl is just gorgeous! It makes me itch to get going on mine once again.

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