of chocolate and gems

The last finished project of 2008. Omega it was. The knitting year of 2008 has ended with a Monkey Sock in an STR Rare Gem. During the arctic blast of 2008 this color reminded me of fire and ice...of course, there was a lot of snow and ice around to inspire me. Anne mentioned chocolate and Tiffany's, and I thought the correlation was brilliant!

Thank you so much for coming by the neighborhood to check out what's happening and leaving comments when you can! I so appreciate all your kind words!

Happy New Year!

Counting down

Progress is being made on the Omega Monkeys of the year.

The first sock is finished, and I'm past the gusset decreases on the second sock. I have a couple of other projects on the needles that aren't for public consumption just yet, so the push is on to finish everything by the Janus hour...I just made that up...Oy.

Clearly, more coffee is needed and there's no time to spare.

Back to knitting. Happy Monday!

p.s. the linen stitch makes an interesting heel flap...what do you think?

Omega plus a wee bit

Hanukkah goodies from Linda via Woolgirl!! Clockwise from the left are Fannie's Fingering from Farmhouse Yarns in Paprika, and Matvey the Cat and Anniversary from Dashing Dachs. These lovelies arrived just before the arctic blast. They are all so beautiful. When Cockeyed threw down the gauntlet and dared me that I could knit just one more pair of socks by the end of the year, and Linda (Ravelry: Biochemkitty) mentioned a mini holiday KAL with Jackie (Ravelry: ScarpeGrosse), well I knew exactly what to do.

I wound up the Paprika yarn from above, and voilà:

The pattern is Mad Color Weave socks by Tina Lorin.

I'm not promising that I can finish these by year's end, hence the "wee bit" in the post title. But I can't resist a challenge...If I have egg on my face, well....we'll just scramble it and have breakfast!

Happy Sunday!

White Christmas

From our neighborhood to yours

We wish you a magical holiday season!

Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here,
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer,
To stop without a farmhouse near,
Between the woods and frozen lake,
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake,
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep,
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
~Robert Frost

The big reveal

“O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?”
~Percy Bysshe Shelley

Can you see me now?

Ahhh...that's much better!

I am so transparent...I need to work on that in 2009! Yes, you all guessed it!! Yay! The last, or perhaps penultimate (if Cockeyed's forecast is correct), pair of socks of 2008 are Monkey socks.

However, just to mix it up a bit, I'm trying a linen stitch heel flap that I surfed across here.

Sunday's Icing

Nature has hers;

I have mine.

Happy Winter Solstice!

Wishing you a warm and safe winter, with plenty of knitterly escapades (and chocolate!) to keep you content!

Saturday Snowscapes

What are we up to this fine, snowy Saturday...we're following the idea of the little guy below...we are hunkering down at home, knitting, gently battling over which movie to watch (him: Europa, Europa; me: Pride and Prejudice...I'm losing), and thawing out the camera and ourselves after our little jaunt around the neighborhood! Brrr. I'd show you the brilliant picture I took of the cup of hot tea and cookies, but they were safely nestled in my tummy before the shutter released!

I hope you're all safe and warm, and enjoying your Saturday!

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.
~Edith Sitwel

Omega

The yarn is an STR Rare Gem that I picked up earlier this fall at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. I'm dubbing it 'Fire and Ice'. Apropos for the weather we've been having...particularly the ice part!

I think we have the beginning of a picot cuff. Hmmm. Which pattern do you think the last pair of socks knit in 2008 will become?

Forecast

1. One Holidazed is finished; a completed pair is offshore and making its way inland followed by high pressure cast-on warnings for the weekend.

2. More snow, followed by freezing rain, followed by snow throughout the week and into the weekend, with more potential freezing rain. Joy!

3. A winter knitting storm is swirling around my zip code, sure to hit our home within hours. I need to make sure my emergency knitting kit is ready and chairside! (I already have one in the car!).

p.s. can you tell I've been glued to the local weather forecasts!?

First Snow

The snow finally arrived yesterday morning. We bundled up and went to the local cafe for breakfast. Usually I knit through breakfast...but the scenery was too good...

I pulled out the camera and played!

And look...a buried Rare Gem!! There must be some finished Tesseraes near by...probably buried in a snow drift! We'll revisit them after they thaw out!

Encore

I don't think I've formally introduced this pair of socks~~meet STR Muddy Autumn Rainbow. This is the actual yarn that came with the final RSC kit in November. You've already seen the Holidazed pattern in "The Cookie Next Door"!! These socks will be for Mr. NK...he deserves the very best!

Snow is in the forecast for us this weekend! I better get crackin' on these socks so we can keep our toes toasty warm!!

Double Yum

Look what came in the mail the other day!

Can you guess the name of this kit from Woolgirl?

Yep! Peppermint Patty! Not only did it have a cute pattern and the signature chocolate goodies from Jen, but it was loaded with a darling bag, soap, lip balm, a peppermint striped pencil and tape measure, a stitch marker, AND a package of Peppermint Patty hot cocoa mix! I'm ready for some winter knitting!!

Hee-hee...I got to the chocolates before Gibson this time!