Can you say......

"Pretty"?  Or, "Gorgeous"?  (Wish my photos were better.)

  I think I'm in love with this yarn!  It's a 50/50 Merino/Silk blend.  Decadent!  See the little pops of color on the basically charcoal background?  It's from MarigoldJen on Etsy.  Colorway is "Rhythm".

The color is off in this photo, in that it is not "blue" - it reads more charcoal - at least to my eyes.  Trust me in that it's soft, drapey, lovely stuff!  The pattern is Summer Wind by Irishgirlieknits , a pattern that I have knit before.  Fun.  It hangs down into a nice scarf, but can be double or even triple wrapped for a tighter cowl effect. Very nice pattern. 

Another pretty, I received in the mail this week, a surprise from my DIL.  (Thanks Ellen)  As  one of the gals in my knitting group said, "She sure knows your colors!"  I love it!

She had asked me if I would knit a jewelry kit that she found, so she sent that to me also.

It's proving to be a little more challenging that it should be.  The lace wt yarn had a join in it, so I could not string all of the beads onto the entire length of yarn in the kit.  I am hoping that I will have enough yarn.  I may be in the market for green laceweight if I have a failure.  I am also a little concerned that the wear and tear of the sliding beads will just be too much for the delicate yarn.  It's an alpaca blend.  I'm forging along and hoping for the best.

I'm (finally) finishing my "Sock The Vote" socks for SingleHandedKnitter's KAL.  It's been a real struggle for me, in that we were supposed to do small segments of the socks each week - taking 5 weeks to complete a pair of socks.  My brain cannot remember what I did on sock #1 when it's been that long!!!  So, my matching of stripes is a bit off on these, I fear.  I actually placed my afterthought heel mark a tad too soon on sock #2.  Hopefully, I will leave it.....I do sometimes try to fight the OCD tendencies that I have.....sometimes.  :)

I have had a couple of folks ask for photos of the Christmas Cacti in bud stage, so here you go.....

Now, I know this is not a big deal to many of you.  Me.....I'm thrilled!  :)

Oh, and another green thumb question.  I normally do not try to hold over geraniums, but I had an uncommonly strong and beautiful one this year.  It's actually still going strong, even in our new cold weather.  The hubs dumped the planter, so it's now on it's way to the compost pile, but as I remember.....my grandmother used to take the bare-rooted plant and hang it down in the basement over the winter.  I think she somehow planted it in the spring, and it came up from the root???  Any help out there?  I'm going to take it downstairs and hang it on a rafter and see what happens.  Let me know if anyone has any experience with this....... Or perhaps my memory has failed me this time.  Perhaps I will ask my mom.  Her short term memory is pretty much nonexistent, but remembering things from many years past......she' pretty good at that.  And if not, she'll still enjoy the challenge. 

I'm looking forward to Tuesday, and the end of this political mayhem.  Even if we don't have final results for days, the constant phone calls, mailings, and political TV adds will be ending.  Sigh....  for that I will be grateful.

And, speaking of being grateful.  I've been just that this last week.  Grateful for a warm, dry, safe home.  With power, and phone service.  Gas stations with available fuel, and no lines.  A yard with no debris, and neighbors in the same situation.  My heart goes out to all on the East Coast. 

Take care - knit a bit for me, or spin a twirl or two.  Talk to you later.....
k