WIP Wednesday - week 37

It's been awhile since I did a WIP Wednesday post last, so I have a TON of stuff to show you this time.

Let's start with my finished objects. Only two of those, so may as well get them out of the way right away.

First, the McGonagall Cardigan for Nina. I posted photos of this once before, but have seen then managed to get modeled shots, which is always better :-) Fortunately, though a bit snug, it seems to fit Nina very well :-)

Miriam asked if I'd knit her some "Dragon Gloves" (long fingerless gloves), and after sending a few (okay, a lot) of photos back and forth (I love modern technology!) decided on some lovely soft and colourful yarn. I haven't seen her since finishing them, but hopefully they will fit well :-)
Now WIPs. Somehow I have managed to knit a bit on a TON of different projects. Partly because I'm indecisive, partly because I like switching between obligation knitting and free knitting ;-)

For my travel knitting I'm currently working on some DesertVista Dyeworks socks. I didn't really get the hype about this yarn until I tried it for myself. Oh. Wow! So soft to the touch and awesome colours! If it wasn't for shipping + vat being so prohibitively expensive I'd buy heaps more of this yarn! I've finished the first sock and am about half-way up the foot of the second one. Love it! (left sock in the photo below)
Decided to pick up some old neglected socks as well, and finally finished the first of my Dalarna socks (right sock in the photo above). After having knit with DVD for awhile, Opal comes across as oddly rough on the hands :-P But I know it will wear well, and love the colours :-)

I'm ALMOST done with my niebling socks!!! Just 2 more heels to go! Oh, and then weaving in a billion ends :-P I have come to the conclusion that I am NOT a fan of afterthought heels, and I like true afterthought heels (i.e. where you cut the yarn for the heel instead of putting in waste yarn) even less. First of all, too many ends to weave in! Secondly, I don't think they fit as well as gusset heels or even short-row heels. Ah well - lesson learned. Hopefully the nieblings will like them though :) Miriam saw one of them last she visited, "But I already have a pair of home socks." "Have you seen the cuff?" "OH!!!!!" :-D
After all the recent obligation knitting I was in the mood to crochet and have once again stolen one of my nieblings as the intended recipient. I'm almost done with the traveller's poncho for Nora. Tried it on Rosa to check for length and she promptly asked me to make her one too! ;-) Fortunately I have more yarn left over (just on a different colourway), so I'll get started on that as soon as I've finished this one. Just have to do a bit of maths, as I'm making the largest size for Nora, and it's still too small for Rosa.
This past weekend Lars and I went on a tour around Zealand to go bus spotting. Though getting rather bulky I really wanted to put in some squares on my Cozy Memories blanket, and figured that the only person I'd be inconveniencing was myself, so why not? Why not indeed, and over the course of the day, I managed to get a total of 9 new squares knit! It still has quite a ways to go yet, but after hardly having touched it at all all year, it was great to bring it out again :-)
And finally, I'm working on a true comfort knit. While in Edinburgh I visited Ginger Twist Studio and bought some of the SOFTEST yarn you can imagine. Ginger's Hand Dyed Splendor, a merino/silk blend that is just a delight to work with. I only got the one skein, so had to find a suitable shawlette for it and soon decided on the Hogwarts Express Shawl which I've wanted to knit for ages anyway, and which helpfully comes with percentages of yarn used before starting the boarder, so I can use up as much of this delicious yarn as at all possible :-) Unfortunately (?) it's very potato-chippy, and though I only cast on last Friday, I'm almost done already, having just added the beads last night.

Hope to have at least the niebling socks and the shawl finished by next week's post :-)