I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, we definitely did! After a marathon knitting session on Christmas Eve-eve, I was able to take JP's last sock from six inches of leg (no heel flap! no foot!) to completed, wrapped, and proudly presented. I never thought I could have knit 75% of a sock in one day, and I'm not planning on trying it again any time soon. Then on Christmas Eve we drove to Kentucky (with Russells in tow) and spent four days with my family. 
I didn't get anywhere NEAR as much knitting done as I thought I would, in between making sure the Russells were behaving and making sure the husband wasn't bored, but now we're home and I don't have to be back at work 'til Tuesday, so I'm hoping to knit peacefully until then. Especially since before we left, I gifted myself a little pre-Christmas treat with Victorian Lace Today and A Gathering of Lace. I cast on for the Shoulder Shawl with Syrian Pattern from VLT with the 100% silk Schaffer yarn I scored at Gifted's 20% off sale, and discovered it had to be the easiest shawl pattern in the book. I didn't even need the pattern, the repeats were so easy! SO easy, that I didn't put in a lifeline, and of course last night the knitting gods had to slap me down. I was knitting along on my non-slippery bamboo straights when I looked back and discovered that somehow, a stitch or three had silently jumped off the needles. I still don't know how, I genuinely don't. Fighting nausea and an overwhelming sense of deja-vu (Fino Birch, anyone?) I desperately tried repairing it, but the enormous hole was beyond repair. So I tossed the whole thing, unfrogged, into a deep dark knitting bag and cast on for the Alpine Knit Scarf in a beautiful plum-colored AWAT Fino. I seem to have gone from the easiest pattern in the book to one of the most difficult, since this wrap is "true knitted lace," meaning there's no safe purling WS rows...both RS and WS have charted lace. And I'm hoping to have it finished before my brother's wedding on February 2nd. Just remember, fortune smiles on the foolish!
I also got a few licks in on the Nantucket Jacket, specific details are over at the new KAL blog. I spent an hour indicating all the modifications I'm making in the pattern, so hopefully all I'll have to do is follow my own directions. This is such a great pattern, and the Andean Silk is an absolute pleasure to work with...I can't wait to have the back finished so I can block it!
I need to get spinning, tout de suite, since I got a sweet e-mail from my downstream Spin-to-Knit pal, and I've got some ideas bopping around in my head for her...hopefully I'll have pics of that soon!
Everyone...have a wonderful safe Happy New Year! Next blog post...my 2007 Knitting New Year Resolutions!
