FOG again and more surprises by mail!

Here it is in all it's ribbed glory - the finished Luc's Toque! It's a simple black watch cap from an About.com pattern, knit up in Patons Decor black (though the picture looks brown on my screen...) Luc loved it. Yay! And, in finishing it last night, I had my first experience with DPN's. I won't go into detail, but they're tricky little buggers! Almost had a meltdown when I dropped three stitches (in the midst of a Habs power play) and had to pick them up with a darning needle. I've decided I don't much like knitting with plain black, but will probably do black socks once I get socks figured out. I need them for work.

If you're wondering, the Toque is "posing" on the yarn for DM's scarf-to-be. She was coveting my Bohemian Dessert Scarf (in progress, a few more evenings at the keyboard I think), and I told her to go buy the yarn and I'd make her one the same - but insisted on different colours. She picked a nice blue/black/white variegated... have I mentioned this already? I may be repeating myself. Meh.

It's been miserable cold wet and gray for days now, so imagine my JOY! when I arrived home to find my package from Freshisle Fibers had arrived. 3 skeins of Suffolk sheep wool hand-dyed with plants native to Manitoulin Island - just gorgeous colours, and a nice spicy smell from the plants (or maybe the sheep, who knows what they feed them!). It's gorgeous but I've no idea what I'll make of it. Something will present itself, I'm sure. Before that, I had to make a stop at Yarn Forward to pick up two skeins of my beloved Shetland Chunky - one in a blue-toned variegated, one in a jewel-toned. These will become Tim Horton's Toques for two friends who have been coveting mine, but in colours that suit them better than mine does. That's a quick hat, so will probably do one on the weekend and the other next week. It's definitely hat weather now - so windy and the forecast is for -1 overnight. BRR!

Tonight I'd love to be at the downtown Stitch'n'Bitch I am at home with my sick parents. Dad actually took a sick day from work (practically unheard of) and Mom's oogy too, so I'm staying close at hand to fetch drinks and snacks so they don't have to run the stairs. I'm a Good Person. :) So I'm working away at the BDS and will shortly switch over to the Ravenclaw scarf, which got bumped by Luc's Toque. I want to play with the new yarn but will be good and not start swatching just yet. Might wind a skein into a ball though, just to get the feel of it...