I used to fall under the spell of silly quizzes routinely whilst a regular on LiveJournal. Lately I've shown enormous restrain, until this one spoke to me. You have to tally the results yourself, but it's only 5 knitting related questions.

I'm Mohair, which fiber are you?

 Mohair – A smooth, polished surface

“Mohair is warmer than wool, with larger, flatter scales that contribute to an overall silky-smooth appearance. The fiber absorbs dye readily and, thanks to that smooth surface, reflects it back brilliantly.” –The Knitter’s Book of Yarn

 Mohairs are positive and confident. You always strive to make a good first impression because you are a proud person, and you care a good deal about what people think of you. You are careful with your words and are always tactful. You enjoy having a broad base of support and respect from those whom you come in contact. You attract this with your warm, sunny, and inquisitive personality.

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I've been checking out ball winders for some time now, and while they aren't insanely expensive (not all of them anyway) I haven't been able to settle on a model. I don't remember exactly where, but I read somewhere about a nostepinne (nostepinde) and that it was used for ball winding. This is possibly common knowledge to seasoned knitters, but I'm self-taught & still relatively wet behind the ears -- what's a nostepinne?!  Thus I started snooping around online to find out what this thing was. It's basically a little wooden baton that you wrap yarn around -- nothing more, nothing less.

Check it out...

How to Use a Nostepinne

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A baby hat ...

Baby beanie

... made from the same yarn as the ol' Calorimetry. Super soft! Knit in the round on size 8 DPNs, 2x2 rib. I cast on 64 stitches and knit rather loosely until it looked to be a good size for a little guy. I love this yarn -- it both hugs & gives.

And now, back to the cardigan.

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Easy V-neck Raglan

Oh have I ever been slacking. I've been working my way through all the Sudoku puzzles in Brain Age on the DS, so I've really been just too, too busy.

I started a sweater on New Year's (eve I think?) and I really should have finished it by now. It's the Easy V-neck Raglan by Stephanie Japel (glampyreknits.com). A friend helped me pick out a color that wasn't green or brown, and I am really excited about wearing something so poppy-like and bold. From the pic you can see I'm nearly half finished with the first sleeve. I've actually grown quite fond of working with DPNs, but I recently got some short-length Addi Turbos that I'm sort of itching to try out. I'll wait for the next project so that the sleeves have the same gauge. I'm thinking about lengthening the waistband ribbing by a couple of inches so it's nice and long -- and fashionable ;)

I also made a lightnin' fast Calorimetry on a snow day while working from home -- 2 hours. Exhibit A:

Calorimetry

OK that's my only exhibit ... the buttons are what you want to see, right? I asked both my sisters if they wanted one. They both himmed and hawwed for about the 2 seconds it took for me to turn my head 'round, and then they got a load of the super cuteness of this pattern.

I chose two buttons instead of one since the pattern when followed to the letter turns out pretty big (as many blogging knitters have noted). I have a big round head, so it works fine for me. My sisters will require at least 10 or 20 stitches fewer at the cast on.

The yarn I used here is some I ordered from Uruguay (handpaintedyarn.com), and it is really soft to the touch. I love the colors, too -- greens and browns, of course.

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