A Very Special Message

This one’s for you, Linda. The Scarlet Macaw Hand Puppet is in testing as of this morning.

I realize that’s a giant picture, but I love the colors of that thing so much. As soon as a few people go over the pattern and make sure it won’t explode on you, it’ll be available to buy over at Inner Child Crochet. That’s this morning’s big announcement. In other news, I finally decided what to make with that Misti Alpaca Chunky I bought at Yarnivore –

It’s a cowl! I can’t get a good picture of this color, either. This one is better, but it’s this deep, midnight blue shot with subtle streaks of iridescent purple. (The colorway is peacock and it shows.) I used the Quickie Cowl pattern by Fawn Pea, on 15s instead of 10 1/2s because that’s what I had on hand. It only took me a few hours from start to finish and it is fabulous. Very warm, too – I was sewing it up on my knees with one hand inside and started to get warm. Of course, that could be because it was unreasonably warm yesterday – the shot of it here with the jacket is totally staged. It was 70 degrees outside…when we woke up…before dawn. I’m not trying to deny that it was gorgeous outside and everything, but I resent being forced to contemplate the use of my air conditioner in January. It’s indecent. (We went without it, purely on moral grounds.) It’s all right, though, because I have been promised that when we get to Japan next month (!) there will be snow.

Anyway, I made the cowl to take a break from Max’s Vestee –

which is really going very well indeed. I just need to sew up the arms (they look sort of seamed in this picture, but they just rolled up) and add the collar. I even tried it on him yesterday, and it’s a little large but in a proportional way, which is exactly what I was shooting for. I’m really excited about this sweater because it looks so darn gorgeous. Now if I can just finish it nicely, we’ll be set!