It's been a while...

Greetings and Dear Cynthia,

Thank you all so much for the wonderful feedback regarding the Saporro! I really love the sweater, and every time I wear it, I'm motivated to make another Dale pattern. Then I consider what else is going on in my life right now, including other yarn in my stash, and I return to reality...

It's been TOO LONG since my last post, and I've missed you! Things will be winding down in two weeks, but in the meantime, I have a big test tomorrow (which explains why I decided to post today, instead of studying...), and a final exam in two weeks (watch for **even more** knitting activity). Things are going well, though continue to be very busy. I may be pathetic, because I love this chem2 class. My professor is great, the material is interesting, and when you put those two things together, I don't mind the huge amount of work it is.

...sort of like knitting that way..... Here's a huge amount of stockinette:Yes -- The Alpaca Vee, Christmas gift for my dh, finished circumference of 48", is finished except for three things:
Knitting the vee-neck band
Sewing the underarm holes
Weaving in the ends

I have it blocking now, and will probably finish it this week. I am hoping that the upper arms aren't too snug, though I blocked it out to a dimension which should be fine, but I always worry a little bit until the moment of truth when dh is actually wearing it. It's plain by my standards, but I think he'll like it that way...

That's the major Christmas knitting, and I must say that finishing it early in December is so much better than last year, when the big gift sweater wasn't finished until December 24th, the same day it was given away...

Secondary Christmas knitting is a pair of socks, though those are on the home stretch, too. Apparently, what it really takes to get my knitting mojo going is having homework lurking in the background, so it becomes more than just knitting. It is **procrastination**....

Anyway, I also made a pair of Subway Mittens (from the Winter 2007 Interweave), but I gave them away without taking a picture of them. I've started another pair, however, for myself, using a merino/cotton blend. I'm playing around with some different yarns to see if I can find anything that has wool in it which doesn't make my hands itch. This particular yarn shows some promise. More on these as they progress...

In other news, I took my five year old to his swimming lesson this morning, and while I was sitting on a bench knitting, I noticed a man on the other side of the pool who looked just like my Physiology professor from two years ago. After my son's lesson was over, I walked right by the man, and he was looking at me as though he might know me, too, so I called him by name, and it was him! Never in my life was I more glad that **I wasn't** wearing a swim suit... In any case, always fun to chat with former teachers.

I hope this finds you well, and I know it finds you busy -- you're a knitter, after all, and Christmas is only 21 days away!

Warm regards,
Laura (YarnThrower)