Quick and not so quick

Oy, I'm still recovering from the Thanksgiving gluttony. I don't think we ate that much compared to the average American, but it was certainly orders of magnitude more than we usually eat. Cooking Thanksgiving dinner for two is really the same amount of work as cooking for six or eight, but at least I'll get to eat pumpkin pie all weekend.

On with the knitting: first, the quick. This is a pair of worsted weight slipper socks I made in practically the blink of an eye. Look, I finally accomplished matching green socks!

Pattern: Improvised
Yarn: Lisa Souza Superwash Merino worsted, "Olive Tones," 60 grams (leftover from this scarf)
Needles: US size 4 (3.50 mm)

Three years ago I gave my mom two pairs of crocheted slipper socks for Christmas. She liked them so much that she decreed that she would like slipper socks every Christmas in perpetuity. Now, of course, she gets knitted ones. This is pair #1. Pair #2 (in a different color and pattern, natch) is already half finished. I love how quickly these go!

This quick project makes up for one that took me two months to complete: the Chevron Scarf.

Pattern: Chevron Scarf, from Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock mediumweight in "Farmhouse" and "Watermelon Tourmaline"
Needles: US size 4 (3.50 mm)

I love this scarf. Love it! So why did it take me two months to complete it? Because it bored me to tears, that's why. It's a nice, mindless knit, perfect for taking to knit night. The problem was that knit nights were the only times I could bring myself to work on it. This is probably why I've knit so few scarves.

In light of that confession, I hope you can appreciate the irony of the fact that I am knitting another Chevron Scarf. In the same colors. The scarf I just finished is 67 inches long, and I calculate that I can get another 60 inch scarf out of the yarn leftovers. Sixty inches should be long enough for my younger niece, so she'll be getting a scarf too.

Just for giggles I thought I would mix things up and reverse the color sequence. Bad idea. I'm here to tell you that the color sequence matters.

The second scarf looks muddy compared to the first. In fact, I disliked it so much that I have since frogged it and restarted. So this is my public service announcement for the day: Farmhouse should be color A, and Watermelon Tourmaline should be color B.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who sent me such nice birthday wishes. I couldn't have had a better day. It was full of fibery goodness, including some rovings, knitting books, and this.

That would be the WooLee Winder that the Professor gave me. In the weeks before my birthday, I told him several times that my wheel was to be my birthday present. He just nodded vaguely each time. Naturally, I was floored when I opened this. I had once mentioned to him that I would eventually buy one of these (a year or so down the line), and the clever man actually made note of it. Even more amazingly, it arrived in time for my birthday. Since there's a waiting list for these things, that meant he had ordered it more than a month before. How was I ever lucky enough to find this man?

The only bad thing about new spinning toys is that I have all this Christmas knitting to do. As a result, I'm neglecting my spinning somewhat. Still, I'll manage to sneak in some play time here and there.