Thank you all for your lovely comments about the Hobo sweater, the new haircut and birthday wishes. I’ve already worn my sweater twice and after the second wearing it reinforced the idea of it being a special occasion sweater. It’s already starting to pill slightly under the arms. It’s such a luxiurious feeling sweater that I want to wear it more, so I’m sure I’ll wear it out to dinner when we go to a nice place.

My birthday was a lovely birthday, low-key which was perfect. We went to dinner at a really nice place in town and then went to see The Queen with Helen Mirren. The film was wonderful and I highly recommend it. The only thing I knew about it before seeing it was that Roger Ebert said it was one of the best films he’d seen all year. It has made me think about how we deal with celebrity deaths and people close them grieving.

It’s been a busy week, besides my birthday we went to two holiday parties last weekend. SK, the sock machine knitter, had a housewarming on Saturday and then Sunday was a party at the library. Monday evening, SK and I got together. She worked on Christmas gifts on her machine and I started a long-overdue scarf KidSilk Haze scarf in black. Yesterday, SK and FQ came over for a little knitting and chatting. The Monday night scarf has grown from a mere 6 inches at the end of the night to over 44 inches as of last night.

I’ve also been working on Bryan’s vest but it’s mostly on the armbands for Bryan’s vest (photos to come soon), which aren’t too exciting. They’re 13 stitches with a slip stitch in the middle for 20 inches on size 3 needles. The first one and the second armband is about 1/3 finished, then there is the 60-inch piece for the button band that still needs to be completed. I knew these would take me longer than knitting the vest did.
I keep thinking about starting a new sweater (the Bianca jacket) but the idea of starting another sweater before Bryan’s vest is finished is giving me the willies. That seems sort of funny to me considering that two years ago I didn’t have a problem having more than eight projects going at once. Now more than two or three makes me feel a bit overwhelmed. Yes, there are the projects that I’m modifying/reknitting to fit better, but those don’t count in the total works-in-progress count.

As far as spinning, last Sunday morning, I woke up and decided that I had this massive bobbin of light pink yarn and I was going to ply it. The one goal I had for myself this week was to ply that yarn. I ended up with 300 yards of plied yarn just from that one bobbin. It may be another scarf in lovely merino and tencel scarf. I’ve received so many compliments on the scarves that I’ve made for myself recently that I’m thinking of many more for myself.

This coming Saturday, we’re heading to Kansas for Christmas. Our first Christmas with my parents since we’ve been married. I can’t believe I haven’t been home for Christmas in three years.

Though she is a sister, daughter, daughter-in-law, friend, and wife (all in one), she is first and foremost a singular woman, fully grown and beautiful to all who know her: Erica, whose delicate way with needles can result in a universe-tipping pair of socks, is one year older today. Happy birthday, E. You are loved by so many.

It’s taken a while. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the Hobo sweater.

(updated photo with new hair cut- Dec 5)

pattern: Hobo from Jaeger Magazine 5 (JM05)
yarn: Lane Borgosesia Bollicina
knitted: October 8, 2005-October 6, 2006
finishing: October 6 - November 23, 2006

I love this sweater. It’s definitely a special occasion sweater. We’re going to a holiday/housewarming party on Saturday and I can’t wait to wear it.

The first photo taken wasn’t the best photo, I was tired and wanted to get a photo up. I’ll probably have Bryan take a better one tomorrow after I get my hair cut.