A less jovial post than planned

I’m rather cheesed off – I wrote a beautiful post singing the joys of some not too recent knits and how wonderful Kim Hargreaves and my Sockret Pal Gwen are. But stupid internet connection lost it all, so here is an annotated version…
First of all, hope you all had a lovely Christmas, and a better holiday than I’m having at the mo (with, amongst other things, a cold that refuses to go away). Here is how I feel after losing all my post and hacking my way through typing up a replacement…

😀 Just kidding 😀 Actually, that’s how I felt after queuing at the post office to pick it up behind 30 other people, out the office and round the corner of the building… But it was worth it for the laugh it gave me when I opened it 😀

A sheep that poos jellybeans 😀 Thanks Gwen 😀 I love it! Cheered me up no end!
Next up, the lovely Kim Hargreaves Soul hat:

Yeah the photo is bad. Today it was dark at 2.45 when I left Sainsburys, so don’t expect good photo quality from me at all ever (well, till a few weeks down the road when we finally have some day). The kit is good, excellent value, especially in the sale, and the fit and the pattern work really well (please don’t judge the fit by the Kim photo – the model is wearing it more like a tam, while it works perfectly as a slouchy beret for me). The yarn is Kid Classic in Battle, but you can’t really see that too well in the pic. Sorry. Here is some detail.

I’ve ordered another kit from Kim which hopefully will arrive soonish – a gorgeous cardi, purchased with my Christmas money 🙂 Yay!
Here is a pic of a work in progress too. My 50% completed Sweet Georgia Speed Demon sock in Honey Fig, a gorgeous range of purples with flashes of honey gold in there too. This yarn is way too nice to put in a patterned sock, so I just did a quick job of knitting it magic loop. I can’t wait for it to get a partner…

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
What else? oooooo! I ordered myself a Namaste knitting bag from my mum too! And I’ll probably order a swift too soon, but not till I’ve got my other goodies probably. I also got, knitting related, for Christmas, the Knitting to Go cards which are FAB, Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Almanac (my first taste of her writing, and I don’t think it will be the last – she’s ACE), and Stitchy McYarnpants’ little whimsy book, so yay!
Oh, and I bought a dress today from Monsoon that will probably be the wedding bash dress (I can’t put wedding dress as that sounds obviously incorrect!). I bought it full price too 🙁 Believe me, I tried to find a good dress on sale EVERYWHERE in town. No luck. I have 28 days to return it if I find anything cheaper/better in the new year sales, but given that I tried so many things on, and the fit was always wrong apart from on this one dress, I don’t hold out much hope. It is lovely though, and even though I tried to avoid it, it is black. But it has white flowers embroidered on it, and is a linen silk blend so drapes beautifully – something the lacy dresses I tried did not have (some, for how expensive they were, just looked like I’d been pinned into a sack and some lace off the market). And it is a little tight (although DB seemed to think it looked ok), but as predicted I have post Christmas gain so I think it should be a perfect fit for early Feb, and as it fits ish now, the pressure isn’t too great to lose too much. I might post a pic later, as I’m thinking of knitting a lace wrap to go with it, but I’m not sure what colour to make it in. I’ll think about it and order the yarn with the swift. But it would be very good to get your opinions on what kind of colour to choose for a February wedding, when white wouldn’t look good on me in winter, even with the white in the flowers, but off white might look silly against said flowers. I have that beautiful mouse brown cashmere cobweb from Posh Yarn – do you think that kind of colour would work for a winter wedding in the countryside? A flash of colour, but not too bright or washing for my skin tone? But there might not be enough to make a wrap sized wrap, just a scarf size. Anyway, I witter, but I know I’d have to start knitting soon to be finished for the 10th of Feb…
Ok I’ll shut up now. I wish you all a wonderful rest of holiday season. There will be more soon in a review of Colinette Jitterbug now the gift socks are done 🙂
[edited to add] Ooooh! What about making Cobweb from Rowan 40 in Kidsilk Haze? That could be instead of or as well as a lace wrap/scarf… It would mean spending money though again.