Feeling good

Snowdrop cloth for DH's aunt

I spreead the cloth out as much as I could on my parents' dining room table last night to show them how it was coming along. My mother's expression upon seeing it was extremely gratifying. She thinks it looks great. I have to agree with her. The pattern really is absolutely gorgeous. I remember when I had finished the main square and had it laid out all nicely on our floor, that DH and I were commenting about how I could probably just give it like that, it was so nice that it didn't need the edging. But now that a lot of the edging is finished, we have totally changed our tune. The edging really brings the piece into a higher realm of awesomeness. :) That Stephanie girl really knew what she was about when she designed it! Anyway, I remain ahead of schedule - after my lunch break I had finished 48 points.

Socks for DH

I really want DH to have handknit socks. But I also really don't want to buy more yarn to do it. Firstly, we have very little money, and secondly, we have even less space to store it. The socks need to be made from something in my existing stash. Further, since I've never done socks before, I'm not keen on using super-nice yarn, so I'd prefer to use some of my acrylic (another advantage of this is that I avoid running the risk of unusable socks if it turns out that wool makes DH's feet itch - he has sensitive skin, so this is a real concern). Since the majority of my acrylic is baby-project-oriented (I'm guessing DH wouldn't really go for mint, baby blue or canary socks), the available selection is small. However, I do have some nice dark blue acrylic in a light worsted weight that would probably make very cushy and cosy socks. Happily, I have found a pattern online that fits the gauge. It's the Amazing Feets pattern from Canadian Living. With any luck, I will be finished the Snowdrop cloth way ahead of schedule and can work sneakily on the socks while DH is on course in Ottawa so that he has no idea they're coming. Oooh...if I work fast, maybe they could be his birthday present. Hm.