Back on track

Greetings! Lost the narrative thread a bit last week, which may be for the best, because I was also firmly stuck in the Doldrums. I just did not want to knit, or cross-stitch, or crochet, or anything, uggghh. El Fuego kept feeling my forehead and asking if I was all right.

But on Friday I found a cure for the Doldrums: being set loose in a fabulous yarn shop. "You'll feel better after you visit Temptations," El Fuego said. "And then we'll all go to Jeni's."

I'm pretty sure Jeni's was everyone else's reason for wanting to go to Dublin. If you've ever had Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, this will come as no surprise.

Still, awfully nice of them to wait patiently while I wandered around Temptations and touched everything. Here's what I bought ...

There's some Malabrigo Rastita in Volcan, and some Malabrigo Sock in Ochre (Horatio picked that, and requested a pair of socks, which I'm always happy to provide). There are two balls of silvery-grey Austermann Royal, and a ball of Noro Ayatori which is already being turned into a skinny scarf. Ayatori is newish, a wool/silk blend, and so soft and lovely that I must wear it around my neck.

I also bought a ball of Noro Koromo, and over the weekend it became a pair of Camp Out Fingerless Mitts. I absolutely adore them, just look at these colors. And how have I missed this pattern for so long?? Three years it's been out there, and I only just found it. It's so much fun, and perfect for Noro yarns. Knitting these, that's when my knitting mojo really came back. So long Doldrums, see you next year.

This morning, I finished my Sparkly Socklets. How cute are they? This is Knitpicks Stroll Glimmer in Parrot, plain vanilla socks knit on 2.75mm double points. I should probably wait for all this snow to melt before I attempt to wear them out of the house, though.

As for the Stuff I Want to Finish in March ... well, two out of three ain't bad. Unless something akin to a miracle occurs, I won't finish the Wedding Shawl before Easter, though I still hope to have it done by April 10 or so. But I finished a pair of socks, and I am definitely going to finish Periodic Tales before the week is out. I would have finished it already, only it was briefly dropped like a hot rock so I could read The Bridge of San Luis Rey, a beautiful little morsel of a novel that I devoured in fewer than 48 hours. I recommend dropping everything and going to the library, or the bookstore, or your nearest e-reader, to procure a copy. My brain is still sort of lingering in 18th-century Peru. (I do love a novel that sticks with you for a while.)