Though this one is the coolest, since it's mine and it's made of an incredibly soft single-ply wool. The other two were Plymouth Encore, which is perfectly good for a gift, but this one is just super warm and perfect for sleeping in. (Pattern: Scotty's Hat. It's from Star Trek, so you know it's good.)
I also have these crazy things.
Aren't thumbs weird-looking all by themselves like that? These are Winter Twilight Mitts, though mine are decidedly more psychedelic... I had a skein of JL Vinca leftover from the June Sock Debacle--this one was actually plied correctly, so it made a nearly perfect rainbow. There was an unfortunate knot in the very beginning of the skein, so the blue section on one of the gloves is shorter than the other (and notice I cut out almost all of the yellow!), but I still think these are pretty cool. However, they're already starting to get a little fuzzy--just like the socks I made. This yarn is really not good.
That is what I can show you now. There are some presents in the mail, but I don't want to give anything away. Otherwise, I'm working on a cute cardigan--Drapey Neck Silky Tweed Cardigan (Rav link--I can't find it anywhere else)--with the yarn from my ill-fated Drops 103-1 of Spring 2008. And I'm making Fourth Doctor socks!! (Season Twelve, since you asked.) After a lot of arithmetic, I settled on dividing all the row numbers by three (alternately rounding up and down to the next whole number), which makes the perfect length plain vanilla socks for me (348 rows total). I'm doing the heels in the adjacent colors, so one will be brown and the other green. I had four of the seven colors in bits in my stash, so I bought brown, grey and cream yarn; when I finish the socks, I'll overdye them with tea so the cream will become tan and the really bright lime green will be muted. I'm near the cuff of the first sock, and they look really awesome already--though there will be many, many ends to sew in. :(
What else is up? Hmm. Well, we've been busy with social obligations and the holidays, of course. Two weeks ago I took a quick trip to New York for a late-notice audition and a coaching, plus I got to spend some time with my aunt and grandparents. (Incidentally, my grandmother took two hours to do her grocery shopping. And not because she has senility, or any trouble getting around. To think Mark thinks I am easily distracted...) The audition went pretty well--though these things are never predictable. I'm singing at the city's First Night celebration on Thursday, and in about two weeks I'll have the opportunity to make up the audition I had to cancel last month. The auditions are actually for The Magic Flute, which has exactly one role for me, but it's a fun one (Third Lady) and it's a relatively decent size in a show that has like, forty soloists and only three female principals (all light sopranos!). I will get to pull out the Wagner for this one, since they say they want to hear German. I'm always a bit hesitant, since I don't want people to get the wrong idea (damn the Wagner stereotypes), but I think this is a good opportunity for it.
In non-singing news, I'm thinking about composting. We may start this weekend. I don't really want to shell out all the money for one of those plastic barrel-types where you just turn the handle to aerate it--we do have shovels and rakes--but I'm not sure what the best option is yet. We definitely have a lot of mulch laying around, which will be a perfect starter. More on that as it develops...
