Posting Cleanup, Post Fête

In the spirit of cleaning things up ritualistically for the New Year, I will post the photos I took and didn't yet share.

The blocking was done easily enough and in time for me to pack it for travel. Very light, very warm, and to non-knitters it's somewhat unusual. That's fine by me.

Pattern - Color Affection
Yarn - Madelinetosh Tosh Light in Graphite, Tart, and Wicked

(PS. Started this while it was still Eve, 2012. Lost half of it and felt compelled to regroup and clean it up before calling it a night.)(It is of course 2013 and really very early morning.)

(PPS. Dinner parties start late in France. On this New Year's at the fabulous dinner party I was privileged to attend, the welcoming of the New Year fell between courses, just past the fourth of seven stunning courses.)

(PPPS. More on that story in the morning.)

Bonne Anneé!

New Year's Eve Study With Sock

After last night's cozy and lively dinner party at the host home in the French countryside, today has been a gentle day of reading, knitting, dish washing, dish breaking (slow down!), soup and tea and more reading. Studying materials for the weeks ahead IS actually something I have been enjoying. Taking it as it comes.

Tonight I was graciously added to the guest list for a New Year's Eve dinner. Should be delightful!

I will not be taking the sock. However, it does look nice on this table.

Enjoy your New Year's Eve as it finds you.

Fair, Better, Best

Drive from the country into Paris today.
Fair photos. Not a priority!

Good knitting time on hostess socks. Had felt I was slipping behind my self-imposed schedule. Better progress and with the drive back even advanced to the second half of the short row well.

Best? A delightful "meet-up" event of informed and instructive champagne tasting, complete with excellent champagnes and scrumptious hors d'ouevres and pleasant conversations.

Knitting in Chartres

Really. A middling cafe. A glorious cathedral.

Seriously, nothing wrong with being here.

A lovely way to begin an end to a year!

Snow and Fun Paths Ahead

We had a bit of snow this morning. I rather enjoyed taking a walk from church to the home of friends for Christmas dinner. Unshoveled and untrampled sidewalks are a rare treat in cities.

Pardon the grey scale. It was not quite this gloomy!

Happy Christmas! I'm heading out on a bit of a journey over the next weeks.

Have to finish packing - and editing the packing - so I can decide what knitting to pack!

La Vie Boheme

It is with casual disregard that I stay up late upon occasion to finish knits.

Artsy temperament? Rebellion?

La Vie Fixated, more like...

Yarn is Spud & Chloe's Outer, a bulky wool and cotton blend.

Needles were 11 & 15, as prescribed.

Pattern is Boheme, from French Girl Knits Accessories.

Just My Colors, Color Affection

Finished! Blocking tomorrow and some better pictures next week, or at least I hope to do so....

Red, grey, brown.

Knitting just for me, this time.

I Am Rocking the Lists

Finished these late Tuesday night, complete with all two dozen ends woven in and a quick wet blocking.  The drying has not been quick, as these things go.  It's been unseasonably warm here, so it was still cool in my apartment, what with the heating system having had a little vacation.

Knitting details: 
Yarn:  2-ply wool from the Shaker community at Sabbathday Lake, Maine.  Bought that back when I worked in Maine.  This yarn has been in the stash for at LEAST 15 years.
Needles:  size 5 dpns
Pattern: Men's Fingerless Gloves, by. J. Campbell, via Ravelry link. 
Pattern mods: Gauge, natch.  I pared down the cast-on count by four and factored that in along the way.  Also I am learning to ignore the minimal suggestions like the half inch from the top of the thum gusset to the start of the fingers.  That's just WAY too short for the palm of a hand.  I also added the stripe because at one point I worried I would run out of wool.  When I reknit and sized them down, I was still worried.... forgetting that sizing that down would perhaps use less wool.  You know I have leftover.


Need a box.  In fact, I think I'm going to take a walk to the post office RIGHT NOW and see about a couple of boxes.  That task has been on my list at home for a few days, and it needs to get done.

Check!

Five to Two

I have knit nearly five glove bodies to reach these final two. There has been resizing, midsection lengthening, and stripe adding.

Remaining, I have thumbs in progress, all the ends to weave, and a quick bath.