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 [↩]