Salmon Llama and a helpful Possum

I am still going strong in my finishing spree!  In the next couple weeks you can expect to see a finished pair of socks (sport weight so it's not that big of a project), a doily, a fair-isle cowl, and finally- the mermaid.  I'm actually having a little completion anxiety with the mermaid- she's been in my brain or on my needles for a couple years now and I'm a little worried to see her leave my hands as a finished project.

I'm sure  I'll get over it.

But for now, a little tiny finished project, some handspun.  It's around 72 yards, a smidge over 2 ounces in some lovely salmon-colored llama.  It's got a little wool, a little silk, a little glitz, a little everything.  Love it, still not sure what to do with it.  I have so much handspun in about this weight, I might just have to do a fantastic handspun striped afghan someday to use some of it up. So here is the yarn...

And this is the reason that it takes me absolutely forever to get any spinning done... (if this goes right, the third picture is actually a video- click the arrow to play) 

And I did start a new project last night even though I still have loads of projects that need to be finished.  But Valentine's Day is 2 weeks away, and I was going to make Rob a hat since he dearly loves the first hat I made him. Here it is so far...

It's Sheepytime Knits sock yarn, held doubled.  I've had this color forever and I just thought it was too pretty to put on my feet.  

So the hat...Rob and I were looking briefly at hat patterns a week or so ago and he kept pointing out his favorites, and they were all cabled.  Fine.  I'll suck it up enough for a hat for a guy that spoils me rotten.  I looked through the patterns and I don't have any appropriate yarn for the hat, or I can't get gauge.  So I'll just solve this problem by making up my own darn pattern.  And I like it- it's simple, tidy and this is what I got done in about 3 hours (watching me cable is like watching grass grow).  I was chugging along on it and realized...it's a tad small.  It fits me, and since it's still on a circular needle I can't really tell how far it will stretch.  Oh, and I've miscrossed 2 cables.  Crapola.   So when I see Rob (hopefully tonight but grad school comes first. Gag) I will blindfold him and put the hat on his head.  If he thinks it's too tight, then I'll frog it and start again.  If he doesn't think it's too tight, I'll rip back to the badly crossed cables and start from there.  So I'm panicking a little about it...but that's a bit silly considering how far I got in 1 day and the fact that I still have 13 days left before it needs to be done.  He will understand if it's not done for Valentine's Day,  but this hat WILL be done.  And so will my mom's mermaid (her gift) and my pair of socks (my gift to me!) and a cowl for Good For Ewe and maybe the doily.  And then I'll unearth a few more WIPS to drive myself crazy.