Compare and Contrast

This weekend has been nothing short of miraculously mild for this time of year -- riding outside in shirtsleeves in November? Yes, really. Everyone is talking about it. What I keep thinking about is a year ago this very weekend, when not only was Dr. Denney bird hunting in South Dakota, as he is now, but it was considerably less lovely.

Speaking of less lovely ...


This is what it looks like the third time a Christmas ornament gets frogged. Why? Because the knitter hadn't read fair isle charts with increases/decreases for ... longer than she realized, clearly! After making probably all of the mistakes that can be made on a small globe-like object, it finally got sorted out. Among the five or six of us who chipped in to help get the shop ready for the holidays, this was the result (The hapless tangle is now the rocking horse, just left of center):


Then there's this little odd bit,


which grew up to be this sweater, a shop sample.


Cordial, a cropped little number from Rowan's 50th anniversary magazine. It isn't my favorite color, but it isn't my sweater, either. It's a large, which fits more people than the teensy sweaters that Rowan sends around! It's a Big Wool special, so it knit up quickly, all that seed stitch notwithstanding. I gotta say, though, that several skeins of the Big Wool had a knot in them, one had four! Let's hope it was a fluke bad batch and not an indication of larger problems. I want to keep loving this yarn.

Today's parting shot is, you guessed it, more yarn. Rowan Colourscape, in bracken, found fabulously on sale here on Saturday. Its spotty reputation precedes it, but four skeins came home anyway, which means a return visit for three more. My first impulse is to make this, but I'm open to suggestions!