Little knits are so fun!  Every once in a while, it’s nice to have almost all small projects on the needles.  I finished Pinky’s bed socks and Hippo’s hat.  I got both the hat and the pair of socks each out of one skein.  I really can’t believe it…especially the socks.  A real bargain since I got the Louisa Harding Kimono Angora on sale for 10 dollars.  A pair of size 8 women’s socks for 10 dollars.  Rockin’!  Final stats:  38 st sock on US size 4 DPNs, foot length 8.5″, legs 7″ and gauge of 6 spi.  For Hippo’s hat, I actually used just a smidgen of the second skein.  If I would have planned a little better though it really could have been just one.  Hippo is pretty picky about this hats, so I didn’t block it.  I figured he’d probably like to shape it himself.  I’m going to try to eek out another beanie from the rest of the second skein.  Bingo Chine, US size 8 needles, cast on of 68 and gauge of 4.5 spi.  The resulting fabric is really attractive and manly.  Now that those are on the way to Virginia, I can focus on finishing Erica’s birthday sweater before my new wheel gets here.  Oops!

Yes, I ordered a new wheel.  In Arizona.  I’m going to be depressed to have to leave it here when I go back to Ohio, but it will be just one more thing for me to look forward to when we move here permanently. 1  It’s the Kromski Symphony I’ve been coveting for over a year now.  Since I’m here for a few weeks this time with no other real responsibilities (except for the new podcast, of course ) I’m sure I’ll have plenty of time to play with it.  Now I’m wishing I had shipped myself some fiber out here too.  However, it does give me a chance to review some etsy vendors for the podcast.  YAY!  I have a couple of different hand painted fibers on the way, all in the name of research, of course.   If I love the new wheel so much that I can’t possibly part with it, I’m sure I’ll find a way to get it home.  Plus, I’ve also considered selling my Ashford Traveller so maybe I can just get a different wheel for Ohio too.  I’ll let y’all know if I make a decision on that so you can have first dibs on the Ashford.

1. Still no ETA on that.  So.  Many.  Factors.  Like Jim’s work   For now we’ll just try to enjoy it as much as possible [↩]