FO: Opera-length Mermaid Fingerless Gloves

I didn't get fingerless gloves at first. What was the point of keeping your wrists warm while your fingers froze, I wondered. Then a couple of bloggers adapted the Pomatomus pattern for a few pair and they seemed so pretty, then another blogger pulled her mitts over her leather gloves for extra warmth and I was sold.

ETA:  Nail polish is Chanel Duo Platinum "Silver."

They really are warm even without the leather gloves.

The Specs:
Pattern: Pomatomus adaption, EZ sewn bind off make the thumb more comfortable.
Yarn: Sundara Sock Yarn, "Black over Plum;" I used less than one skein. Knitting these seemed endless, so I'm done with the Pomatomus pattern for a while.

They've been finished forever, but it's hard to take a photo of your own arm in opera-length gloves. I haven't mastered posing in front of the camera before the timer goes off - frankly, I haven't tried. Styling it just right seems daunting and time consuming though I know many of y'all do it all the time, and well.

My laptop also went on the blink for a while. I borrowed one from work, but wasn't the same (my pix, my music, my aps, my bookmarks - you know). Dell replaced my monitor, motherboard, and hard drive. I had to buy an external hard drive to back up my data (no, I hadn't been doing that, but I will from now on cuz I had more shit on my computer than I thought!), install the operating system, drivers, and all my aps. Should have been plug and play, but it wasn't of course! Turned out OK: I saved all my data and the laptop works fine. Everything was under warranty except the monitor, but replacing that was far, far less than the cost of a new laptop.

Nancy's posts, cooking Thanksgiving dinner, and Ravelry's foodie group got me into food mode, so I've been reading food blogs. I think there are just as many of them as knitting blogs! And some good ones too. I have too many faves to list them all here. Let's start with Homesick Texan and The Traveler's Lunch Box. Y'all may be seeing some food pix soon.

Merlot Vine Socks, Finished

Finally done, though a little late for Socktoberfest.

Yarn: Twisted Fiber Arts, colorway: Arial
Needles: US 1 DPNs
Pattern: Merlot Vine Socks, Anne Hanson; Yarn4Socks Sock Club, October 2007
Modifications: Added a couple of lace repeats. Had a LOT of yarn left over. Love the lacy rib cuff.

YPF: Habu "Shosenshi" Paper (A-60)

100% linen, 280 yds, color #116

I have two skeins of it. I bought the first skein at 50% off at Purl Soho about 3 years ago. It was lying in a pile of sale yarn like trash. This was my first encounter with Habu and I had no idea this purchase was the beginning of a Habu obsession. And I had no idea what I'd make with it. People were making handbags out of it, which didn't quite fit the bill for me at the time, so it sat in stash. Olga recently double stranded it with some lavender Habu Tsumugi silk to make Setsuko Torii's coat and I realized this slightly heathered pairing would make the perfect skirt for a similarly colored jacket I bought this summer at Babette in San Francisco. Olga has warned that this may not make the best fabric for a skirt since neither linen nor silk has any memory, but I will give it a shot anyway. So she suggested sewing a lining slightly smaller than the skirt. When I was working on the linen stitch skirt, both Sahara and Olga suggested knitting very large swatch to abuse (stretching, pulling, throwing it in the handbag, then washing) to see how it will hold up. I'll do the same this time. I also have some pink Harrisville New England Shetland that might knit up will with it.