WIPs and stuff

First, comes Storm. I started a gauge swatch eons ago and stopped. Colinette Parisienne isn't the easiest thing to knit with. I bought it with the intent of making a fern lace scarf just like they had at the shop. The more I think about it though, that is not what I want to do with this yarn. I want to make a stole, and I have no idea what the pattern should be. Yes, I already said it was difficult to knit with and I don't have enough to make a stole. So, should I buy two or three more skeins? Should I find a pattern first? I've noticed that when people knit with this or Kidsilk Haze they don't really do too many different stitches. Should I put it in my stash and let it sit for a while? Should I just make the fern lace scarf and call it good? I was even thinking of making one of these (okay, I can't find the link now, but basically it is a cabled neck warmer with some buttons) with it just to do something. I just don't know.


A friend gave me the book, Knitting for Peace, for my birthday. I had been talking to her about all of the amazing charity knitting I was reading about online. I have also wanted to knit a pair of mittens for Fiona. This book has a nice, simple pattern in it. Fiona picked out the yarn color. I would have expected her to pick a bright color, but she always came back to the natural colors. I also picked up the packet pictured below of Brittany US3 dpn. I've become more fond of metal needles lately, but I thought I would give these a try. They seem much smoother than bamboo. I really like them. The yarn I'm using is Lamb's Pride. I should have plenty left over to make a pair of mittens to donate.
This is also my first time ever knitting in the round. I had no idea that it would be so floppy at first with needles going every which way. I almost poked myself in the eye twice! Here is Fiona modeling her first partially complete homemade mitten.
From a different angle...

You can't tell that I am rather proud can you? I just never thought I would be able to do something so cool and useful! I did change the pattern a bit from the book. The pattern says to use US7 needles with worsted weight to get a tension of 4.25 stitches to the inch. I knit up a gauge swatch and it was way too loose for what I thought a mitten should be. I measured Fiona's hand and realized that her hand was smaller than the instructions for the smallest mitten. I kept trying needles until I got the gauge I wanted, 5 stitches/inch and then, decided to follow the pattern. I did stop the ribbing early because it didn't seem quite right, but now looking at the photograph it looks a little odd, but it seems to fit just right.