Out of hiding

Ok, so I wasn’t really hiding, but I’ve not had motivation or time to post anything the past couple of weeks. I figured I’d hold back and wait until I actually had something to show you. Thanks for the input on blanket sizes by the way! It hasn’t moved on very much, although some ends have been woven in (which is a big deal, let me tell you).
So what have I been up to the past two weeks? Well, last weekend was spent at an Oktoberfest beer festival. We only planned to go for an hour, and ended up stopping out for 6 hours (including the inevitable post drinking meal). We had the chance to taste all kinds of perries and ciders, but the weakest ones had sold out so it was strooooong stuff, so we moved on to the beers yum yum. I’ve also been out shopping in Manchester, looking for that elusive autumn to winter work clothing (freezing at the bus stop in the morning, hot in the office, lovely temperature when I leave work – how on earth do I prepare for such variance apart from layers, layers, layers?).
And I’ve been knitting socks. I’ve mentioned it before, but on Ravelry there is a big sock knitters group, and they are currently having a sock kal, with each month dedicated to particular techniques or pattern designers. This month is cables or Nancy Bush, and I’m working on Laila’s Socks from Folk Knitting in Estonia. The secret stranded knitting prepared me quite well for this and built up my confidence, and it is a fantastic beginners pattern because much of it is stripes and there is only a relatively small amount of stranding in comparison to other stuff 😀 I’m loving this pattern, and it is zipping along in spite of things keeping me busy enough to not knit. Looksie here:

The pink isn’t quite as pink as I was hoping (although the camera and winter light has bleached the pink for this photo. I’ve doctored it in PSP to add the warmth a bit more, but can’t make it pinker) – against the brown it is a little dirty instead of the rose shade it has when you look at it alone. It has kind of turned into a strawberry filled chocolate, a little bit sickly if I look too much. BUT, I’m pleased with the way it defines the pattern against the dark brown, and there will be plenty of yarn left over for other socks. Just to confirm, I’m using Opal Uni on this.
I seem to have lost my mojo a bit recently though. Inspiration has left me. I see patterns in my queue which are beautiful, look fab on other people, and yet I have no desire to start them at all 🙁 Maybe it is because I’m on a yarn diet – I’ve restricted what yarn is coming in, and so my brain subconsciously wants me to restrict what I’m using 😉 Or maybe it is because, even though I’m at the end of the list of things to make for everyone else, I’m still busy dealing with their requirements and so my own list is purely the socks. I don’t know. I’m sure it will come back though – my passion for yarn hasn’t decreased, and the love of the stash is still there. I think I’ve just lost direction. It will return 🙂
[edited to add] Ok, yarn diet over – I just succumbed to Dream in Color Smooshy in Gothic Rose and some 3.25mm rosewood dpns… A minor blip?