On the needles...

And a couple of tiny things recently off the needles as well. I've been working on two large projects, and while I don't knit painfully slow by some definitions of the word, I definitely knit slowly enough to be painful to myself sometimes.

First up, a sweater that I've started for my husband. It is for his birthday, which was today, so obviously I haven't gotten it finished in time. My new goal is to finish it by the end of February- but we'll see. At least then would be finished in the same month as his birthday.

It's got cables and... see that stripe? It is the first stripe in a three color fibonacci sequence.  (more on that here)  The third color, you ask? Well, here is another picture with a ball of the third color in it:

Brown, grey, and blue. Manly colors, if I do say so, and in very beautiful yarn. It's Artesanal from Aslan Trends - a blend of alpaca, cotton and nylon, with a wonderful heathered texture.

The second big project that I've been working on is a test knit/shop sample of a pattern for LynnH of colorjoy.com (The pattern is still in progress- for now, you can read about it on her blog here and here. I'll be sure to let you know when it is published.) Words can't say how much I love this pattern. There is so much room to play with color. The stitch pattern itself is fairly simple, making it accessible to pretty much all knitters with a project or two of experience. I am not purple's biggest fan by any stretch of the imagination, but when I'm working this pattern, I am hardly aware of the fact that I'm working with purple yarn. A quick sneak peak:

Just you wait till I get it off the needles and blocked out.

When I work on these big projects, I get itchy to just get something finished. I ordered yarn samples from a company so that I could choose a couple new lines of yarn for my etsy shop. I finally got to dyeing my favorites over the weekend, and managed to knit up a few and come to final decisions. Because of the minimal yardage when it comes to sample skeins, I was able to crank out 4 FO in 24 hours. (Even if they're really not that functional.)

The first new line that I will be carrying is untreated BFL worsted weight yarn. This is a wonderfully soft & lofty yarn that will be perfect for soakers & longies (used in cloth diapering) I hope to come up with some beautiful baby worthy colors that moms will be proud to put on their baby's bottoms.

The second line that I will be introducing by the end of February, if all goes well, is this:

Merino, Cashmere & nylon sock yarn. The sample they sent me was in sport weight, but you get the idea. It is as soft as a day-old chick, and strong to boot. It will be perfect for that pair of luxury socks you've been wanting to make, or perhaps a pair of gloves, or a hat.

I know I said that I cranked out 4 finished objects- but the other two will have to wait. They belong to lines of yarn that I will be introducing to my shop in a month or two- so I'll save showing you those samples for another day.

What's on your needles? Or what's recently found its way off?