Winter knitting

So, I remember the days of holiday break being numbered. I wish that I had been a knittter at that time! I did go home to visit family and that was sort of like Christmas break, so here's what I accomplished. My mom and I finished the entrelac bag that I completed the knitting on this summer. I wanted to line it and sew on these really cool green leather straps.

Here's a veiw of the liner:

I wanted to wait to go home to finish the bag because I don't have a sewing machine. I really dislike hand sewing, but I think I mostly dislike it so much because I'm really bad at it. It was a fun thing to work on with my Mom. I'm not sure I'm finished with it quite yet, because I've carried it a few days and I don't like the fact that there is no way to close it. A zipper is out of the question due to the shape of the bag. I may do a hook-and-eye closure or even a button....I'm not sure....any ideas?

We've been trying to get back to our usual routine since coming back to NV on Tuesday. We did get some skiing in yesterday and I'm probably going to head out for a few runs today. I have worked a bit on the KAL II sweater. I'm not crazy about the yarn I chose, it's really sticky because it has silk in it. It is also full of slubs, which makes the gauge off a little (it is labeled worsted, but I'm not sure about that!). But, I have a lot of it, and I'm trying to stay on my "yarn diet" until the bulk of my stash is used up. Here's what I have completed so far:



It's hard to see because the stitches are all bunched up on the needle, but I think that I'm about 3/4 of the way done with the garter stitch on the yoke. I sat by this elderly gentleman on the plane ride back to NV who was just obsessed with my knitting. His main concern was why the sweater was called the "tree jacket". I told him that I had no idea. He seriously spent the majority of the flight coming up with reasons for the name. He was really entertaining and cute. He finally decided that the eyelets looked like leaves and that the "jacket" part of the name was a typo.

I also wanted to share with you one of my favorite Christmas gifts from my mom (I had lots of favorites this year.....the pottery mug made by my friend Melissa, WV wooden spoons, a scarf made by Jill....)



It's wool yarn spun from sheep who live in my hometown! The yarn is undyed, and the picture does the actual color no justice. It's a deep chocolate brown with natural color variation flecks. It's way too scratchy to make a garment out of it (those sheep must have had a really high-protein diet), but I'm thinking of blanket made from squares of complimentary colors. The owners of the sheep make old-style felted blankets out of the wool (think military blankets). I may end up lining the back with a soft fabric to ease the itchiness, but I'm very excited about the yarn and the fact that the sheep live in West Virginia. Go Mountaineer sheep!
I hope you both are doing well. Jill, good luck with the writing, keep making good progress. Molly, good luck with the new semester, it will be midterm before you know it! And Molly, I have some geology questions to ask you, but I'll send them via email. Cheers!