A good day to write a blog post....

....because this is the view out my front door:

I apologize for the photo quality - I am having issues with my camera.

For example, even after consulting my photographer daughter I couldn't figure out how to deal with all the whiteness of snow.

The next two photos were taken with my camera phone because that day I couldn't get the digital camera to work at all and I needed to get these gifts wrapped.

Katie's Scarves
Two scarves for Katie (son's very sweet girlfriend):
First is another pompom ( Gnocchi by Lana Grossa) scarf in turqoise;

Second is a scarf knit in fisherman's rib with a ruffle at the edge. The yarn is Kollage's Glisten (although you can't see the 'glisten' in this photo) purchased at Kirkwood Knittery.

During my last blog photoshoot I managed to break the tripod, so the rest of these photos are not as clear as they could have been and obviously it's too snowy and cold outside to shoot in natural light.

Isager's "The Fan"
This is Marianne Isager's "Viften [the Fan]" from Japanese Inspired Knits

This sweater is knit in Southwest Trading Company's "Optimum DK"purchased from Flying Fingers. Other than the sleeves being way too long it was a satisfying project and a sweater that I might actually wear.

Rona Lace Shawl
Next up is "Rona Lace Shawl" by Anna Marie Jensen, knit in Jade Sapphire Lacey Lamb from Kirkwood Knittery.
I really like knitting with this yarn although I had to take care not to snag it, especially withe tiny crochet hook that I used for beading.

The yarn is really fine and I'm a loose knitter so I used a Size 4 needle even though the pattern called for Size 5 for a 52" diameter shawl. I admit that I didn't swatch. It was a fun knit and the first shawl I have done that I added beads. It is gorgeous; however - it seems too small even though it blocked to 56" before I unpinned it, which is larger than noted in the pattern. I plan to undo the bind off and enlarge it somehow, there is plenty of yarn left on the second skein.

A gift for me...

I received a lovely pair of hand knit mittens from Fran and she even knit them in my favorite color: Pink. Luckily she takes better photos than I do (photo swiped from Fran's blog).

Barb and I modelling our new mittens: