I just finished the Droplet Hat from Knitting Nature. I knit this with Mountain Colors hand-painted yarns in Mountain Goat. I used the recommend size 6 and 8 needles from the pattern and didn't check my gauge (I know, I know, I'm a terrible knitter). I was a bit worried for a while that the hat would be too small and that the knitting was way too loose on the size 8s, but once I sewed it up and popped it on my head, it was perfect. Oh wait, I just noticed that Lupine is written on the label. Maybe that's the color and not Mountain Goat. Well, it doesn't matter, I have a large portion of the ball leftover. It might be enough to squeak out another hat or maybe some matching wristlets (although the mohair in the yarn makes it a bit scratchy).

Click here to see an up-close picture of one of the droplets.

In the mail today, I got a box of yarn from Joann's that contained this...

I got 6 skeins of Moonlight Mohair and 4 balls of Trellis to make the Northern Lights Wrap for my mom. She saw the kit for this shawl in a woman's magazine and asked me if I'd make it. The magazine was selling the kit (yarn, needles, pattern) for $80 plus $16 shipping. When I looked up the prices of the yarn separately and saw that I could get it 1) on sale at Joann's and 2) with free shipping, we ordered it from there. The pattern description on Lion Brand stupidly (well, stupidly for them if they want you to buy the kit) tells you the amount of yarn and the pattern: "Rows of stockinette bordered with garter stitch; use a strand each of Moonlight Mohair and Trellis and finish with lush fringe. Finished size 12 inches by 70 inches." And, the magazine description went farther and mentioned that without fringe the length is 60 inches. So there's no need for wasting money on the pattern. A simple gauge swatch and I can figure out how many stitches to cast on for 12 inches. In the end, we saved about $30 (well, mom saved that much). I might start on this soon, but I don't know how quickly it will progress if it gets hot again.