Long-Winded, Overdue Update

So, I've been back from my parents' house for several days now, and still haven't unpacked, because I was met at the door by my sock of the month kit from Sundara Yarns! My hands and arms were so loaded down with packages that I had to kick the box down the hall and into my apartment, but luckily I knew it was yarn and was not fragile! Anyhoo, Ms. Sundara Murphy makes some very beautiful sock yarn, and creates unique hand dyed colors that go along with gorgeous flowers, and the sock club is called the Petals Collection. This particular kit was based on the Lenten Rose, and the pattern is nice and lacy and I managed to memorize the repeats after a few inches or so! I was immediately obsessed with knitting these socks, so here is the result:

Project Specs:
Pattern: Lenten Rose sock kit by Sundara Murphy of Sundara Yarns
Yarn: Lenten Rose colorway, 100% superwash merino sock yarn by Sundara Yarns
Needles: Size 0 double pointed sock needles (eek- skinny!)
Comments: I found one minor error, and one completely insignificant typo. The error stated that you turn the heel round until there are 11 stitches left, but then tells you to split them in half for a total of 21 on each needle (along with the picked up gusset stitches, 16 per side) which lead me to believe that you are really supposed to work until 10 stitches are left, rather than 11. I guess it still annoys me a little that a pattern people are paying for haven't been test knit- maybe I should get a job test knitting patterns- ha!
Anyway, I really, really liked the yarn. It is a little more grey than it appears in the picture, and as a matter of fact, Cece is in the same sock club, and HER yarn is a little more purpley than mine. I am test wearing the socks, and they are totally not itchy at all, even though they're wool. I am happy as a clam!

So, I did some knitting on Starsky while I was at my parents' house over Christmas, but dropped poor little Starsky like a hot potato as soon as the Sundara kit came in! Anyway, here is the progress so far:
The pieces are not yet blocked, so will look a LOT better in the final project! That damned belt took me a better part of two evenings of double knitted HELL to finish, and I am glad I didn't wait until the end to do it, because I probably would have run out of steam! I'm enjoying the pattern other than that particular aspect... However, that brings me to the next point:

I AM A BAD DAUGHTER.

Now, I have had the yarn for Starsky since possibly 1995, and have been waiting for JUST the right aran sweater pattern to fall across my path... now, that particular pattern has just never materialized, so I chose Starsky. By my calculations, I would have PLENTY of yarn left over to knit my mom a super fabulous new Christmas stocking, as shown here- yes, it's a Christmas surprise photo I've been dying to post:


Ain't it cute? However, here comes the 'bad daughter' part... it appears that I might run out of yarn for Starsky! I needed to break the news to my mom, who faked a fit- she pulled down the stocking, threw it at me, and then stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her! I apologized profusely afterwards, and then asked her if she had any color preferences in the event that I had to dismantle the gift I had worked so hard on. SHE SAID RED! So, I had some fake ammo against her... every time she moaned about me taking her present back ("So, you mean that all I REALLY got was a roll of tape?!?", I had a response: "OHHH, so you don't even really LIKE the stocking... you want a different color!" A good chuckle was had by all!

So, I must say that my most favorite gift that I received was the book Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby. The patterns are all delicious, the photographs of the shawls and scarves are gorgeous, and there are sections on technique and lots of pointers about knitting lace. Additionally, there is a lot of info about the history of victorian lace and patterns and so on. I have spent hours reading it and poring over the patterns... have I ever mentioned that I read knitting patterns for fun? Frequently just before bed, even!

Anyway, my final Christmas "gift" was a trip out to the Webs annual sale. That place is great- there is so much yarn to choose from, and the sale is great. I managed to get a bunch of yarn, including a few colors of lace weight yarn on cones: The one in the middle is more of a true gray... who can say why my apartment changes the colors of gray so drastically! Anyway, this yarn is Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk, and is sold by the half pound... I am quite certain that there is enough yarn for several decent sized shawls on each cone, so if anyone reading this wants to wager some sort of trade (for instance, if you have other colors of lace weight yarn and want to make a swap), let me know! I have chosen several patterns that I cannot wait to knit, but I realize that these might be long term goals... lace knitting can be tough going!
Next, I found some great yarn for the Weekend Pullover by Veronik Avery, from the Fall 2006 Interweave Knits. It's Valley Yarns Deerfield, which is again an alpaca/silk blend. It is a little less orangey and a little more chestnut in real life:

Next, was the new Regia Bamboo yarn:

I am curious to see how it knits up.
And finally, I bought a super cheap deal, at $1 a ball... I just couldn't pass it up! It's Vaudeville by Artful Yarns, and I'm guessing they're not making it any more, because the google search found a LOT of closeout deals! I am probably going to zip over to the Classic Elite store soon, and see if I can find a pattern, because I can recall that they had some of this yarn (or something similar), and maybe they'll have some pattern ideas. I guess another Google search might help...
You might not be able to tell, but it's a very cool tape yarn, and I am dying to see what I'll be able to do with it!

Okay, that is the last of the updating that I can think of for now. I am a few rows into my first lace pattern from the Victorian Lace book, and will show progress when there is something to see!