I've been so good. Really, I have. I've had a pile of yarns for the next book for ages now, and I haven't pestered you with them hardly at all. But I'm all out of will power. Because you see, yesterday I spent the morning grubbing around on the rocks with yarn and shells and seaweed and the barnacles (look...I know it sounds weird, and I am normally very much a 'don't touch that, it looks sticky' sort of person, but there's a certain kind of beach filth I can really get behind). So I'm going to indulge myself and [...]

And, with that, it's done! That's my first proper brioche project, and I couldn't be more smitten.  I mean it is perfect for me because it's orange (automatic ten bonus points) and super stretchy (have I mentioned I have a big head?).  But I'm absolutely tickled with it even beyond that. Now, I need to block it (I blocked my swatch of course, but I've read that blocking brioche sometimes comes with...uh...surprises) and give it some proper photos.  But soon...soon I will show it off in all its glory!

You knew it was coming!  Sundry is out today on ravelry, and it's 10% off with the code STRIPES (or you can get Various and Sundry together for a special discount too, details of that on each pattern's ravelry page). So all the stuff I said about the hat?  The stuff about how I don't like proper colorwork (because it, through no fault of its own, makes me feel clumsy and like I have extra thumbs)?  But how I do like colors?  And how damn it all I'm not letting my clumsiness keep me away from the color...I'll just do [...]

Yup, I'm smitten. I mean I'll fully admit that I'm easily smitten.  It's part of the reason I can do this job, I'm easily infatuated with whatever is on my needles at the moment. But this is really rather delightful!   [pextestim pex_attr_set="looking-for-this-pattern" pex_attr_autoplay="false"][/pextestim]

Yeah, so I got some yarn.  I told you I've been stress buying yarn. I was down in Portland last month and stopped into KnitWit and found three amazing (and new-to-me) yarns that had to follow me home. That purple bit of lovely on the left is Knerd String's DK Weight Superwash Merino in the color Alpine Daisy. The glowing delight in the middle is Little Fox Yarn's Bōsa in Lakehouse. And the speckled delight on the right is Magpie Fibers' Swanky Sock in Lite Brite. And discoveries like these are one of the many reasons yarn shops are magic [...]

I mean...I fear there's not that much to say... Yup, still pretty.  Still madly in love with that thumb. Yup, still digging the gradients (Freia Handpaint's Sport Ombre in the color Flare...nifty nifty NIFTY stuff). Still all on track to have this show up on ravelry on the 21st!  And if you want to start on the hat now, that's already out (and don't worry...ravelry lets me do cool things with the set where if you've already bought the hat, and then want the mitts down the line, whatever you spent on the mitts will be counted toward the price [...]