October

Even here in California, October feels a little like a turning point. School is in full swing, and rain becomes a possibility. The urge to knit grows stronger.

Here's what I've been knitting:

The yarn is fingering weight, 100% mink! Yes, mink. It is lovely and soft, and is somehow sheared from the minks without harming them, and spun into a beautiful yarn. The pattern is Herringbone, and it is the simplest of lace, with only 2 rows to the instructions. But it has all the qualities that tend to drive me crazy--simply a rectangle, so once you cast on and start, every inch is exactly the same as every previous inch, and a scarf is a lot of inches! Plus, although the pattern is very simple, it's not completely mindless, so i kept making mistakes and having to frog it. I finally put stitch markers in, and although I had to move them on every other row, since the stitch count changes, that was still faster than mistakes!

It turned out lovely, and I will be giving it to a person who did me a big favor.

I also made these beauties:

This was my first time trying mosaic knitting, which is a kind of magic whereby you create detailed patterns while only ever using one yarn at a time. They're called Ugly Duckling Socks, since they turn ugly yarn into something much prettier.

On the needles at the moment are two shawls: Skywave and Garter Love. Pictures to follow.