I think I like it.

This is the start of the next Zen project. Specifically, the hexagon jacket by Norah Gaughan in Vogue Knitting's 2007 Holiday issue. (Yes, yes, I'm knitting something from VK. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.) The yarns are hand dyed Knit Picks Bare for the sort-of-solid dark blue, and a hand-dyed and hand spun for the tweedy stuff. It's the tweed I'm not too sure about. I like that the striping effect is there but not really screamingly obvious, but I'm not wild about the speckling. The plan is to knit the jacket and judge the effect on a whole garment; generally these things look darker in big swathes. If I'm still iffy, I might chuck the whole jacket back into the dye pot with more blue dye to further tone down the tweed.

At the least, I'm enjoying it and wondering if I need to knit my way through everything Norah G. has designed that involves hexagons. And wondering if I need to buy her Berrocco books (to knit with other yarns... I confess I'm a snob about Berrocco.)

My father-in-law's Christmas sweater is still in progress, or at least the swatch is. This time, I think I've got it. (Famous last words.) The swatch is actually going to be finished and washed this time. (Then I'll babble at you guys about what to do with it.)

As for the loom, and other knitting and spinning projects, well... I'm really on fire with the knitting right now, and I'm not going to fight it. And until the Christmas knitting is done (at least, the two sweaters and shawl I want to do; I'm not counting hats and scarves), I'm not going to start any new knitting or spinning projects. I'd like to vow no new knitting projects, for the rest of the year, but come on. It's me. It'll never happen. I do intend to play with the loom on breaks, but I'm gonna cling to this knitting mojo for as long as it lasts.

So I'm gonna go knit.