Yarn in the Mail

Is there anything better than getting yarn in the mail? How about getting purple merino laceweight and 7 ounces of dark chocolate in the mail? I'm pretty sure my secret pal must have a hidden camera trained on my stash 'cause she sent me this:I'm thrilled by the Knit Picks Shadow. 100% merino wool in a color they call Grape Jelly which does not do its beautiful heathered purpleness justice. Neither does my picture. It's a wonderful subtle color, and so soft and light. My sp suggests Eunny Jang's Print O' the Wave Stole, and I think she's right. As for the chocolate, well, let's just say the Green and Black's Maya Gold is already half-consumed as I post this! Yum, yum, yum!





Here's my mom's two-color brioche hat finished! Westozcaat suggested I call it the Galah, after a pink and gray Australian bird. So I looked that bird up (gotta love Google!) Here it is:

I think the name fits! But don't tell Mom her hat is named after a bird. She'll freak, because she's severly bird-a-phobic.

And finally, I have been knitting like a fiend on this (excuse the crappy pic):


I'm calling it my Red Velvet Waffle. It's a seemless, bottom-up raglan, out of Knit Pick's Main Line, in (of course) Red Velvet Cake color. I'm going to make it a high v-neck. The stitch is a waffle stitch which is basically 3 rows of K3 P1 and then a row of all purl. I'm already done with the sleeves--did those first as a gauge check. I put a few short rows in the back and the pattern got a little wonky at the side because of it, but it's not too noticeable. I am loving the Main Line. My stitches are even and consistent, and it seems to need no blocking. But it's killing my hands! They are dried out and my thumb is aching. This is the first time I've had any hand problem with a yarn. I'm actually inclined to blame all the shovelling I've had to do the past two weeks, and not the Friday I had off work and knit all day long!