Birthday roundup

Still no sign of the giant water pistol, although I'm checking the post here at work on a regular basis and I brought my bungee's in special today, so I can tote it home on the back of the bike. I hope it turns up soon as the weekend is looming and Ginger is bound to be out and about at the same time as my cats, so having a deterrent to hand would be nice.

Yesterday was my birthday and Dave (wonderful person that he is) took my heavy hints (I sent him links) and I am now the proud owner of a set of Knit Picks Harmony Options. He is now officially an enabler and is feeding my habit. :)

He now says that having got me the perfect birthday present, he is stuck on what to get me for Christmas. He is very happy with battery heated socks that Richard gave me to combat the evil that is my toes in winter. To me though, my frozen toes are obviously a sign that I need to knit more socks... And this time, for *me*.

Ahem.

Currently on the needles is a stole knitted in a thick chunky yarn and as the first time I've worked with such big needles/yarn it is growing remarkably quickly. I am having problems with the yarn though, which is very underspun - as a beginnings spinner, I actually know what that means now - and pulls apart very easily. It is very soft though and the stole, when sitting in my lap at least, is very warm. All of which means it should be a good gift, I hope.

When this one is done, I intend to make another, again not for me. I really, really do need to start knitting for me (and Dave of course).

I finally castoff the knitted bits for the cotton bag I started back in July. Here is, just off the needles...
I gave it a good steaming a little while after I took these pictures, so it's looking more regular and is ready to be sewn together. I searched my stash and I think I've a suitable piece of pink cotton that will do the trick, but it needs to be washed and ironed before I'll be ready to work on that, which is my excuse why I haven't started sewing up the bag.

I did make a nice flower though to go on the front...

This is from Crochet Inspiration and is a complete deviation from the original patterm which I abandonned half way through knitting the bag and haven't looked at since.

At some point soon, there will be some sewing up, honest!

And finally, I've been reading here all about the antics my brother is up to in China where he's been sent as part of a school exchange thing... Except the Chinese teachers aren't allowed to return the visit so I guess it's more about the cultural exchange of teaching ideas. While it is all very serious of course, Robert does seem to be enjoying sampling the local food. It's enough to make you very hungry!