While I was in Halifax, I did have a lot of knitting time. And a lot of knitting time translates into new finished objects, and progress on WIPs.

First up, the Anemoi Mittens. I actually finished these before I left for Halifax, but didn't have a chance to take some photos. I absolutely love these mittens. I've been wearing them the last couple of days, and they're warm and cozy and oh, so pretty.

I used about 60% of each skein. I had thought about making fingerless gloves with remaining yarn, but instead I went back to Wool-Tyme to pick up another skein of each colour, and I'm going to make a matching hat. Stay tuned.

Before I left, I had started on a scarf for my mother. Back in August, I had picked up 2 balls of Inca Gold Baby Alpaca in a yummy shade of red, with the thought of making something for Mom. When we went to Paris in September, I took the yarn with me to show her. We discussed what it should be. She told me she had an off-white leather jacket that she didn't wear very much because she didn't like it zipped completely up, so she would like something that she could wear with that jacket, to fill in the gap when it was partially unzipped. So I thought a lacy, triangular scarf would do the trick, and that this yarn was a good weight for that (fingering weight).

When I was looking for a lace project to start in October, I pulled out the yarn and my Barbara Walker books, and started swatching. I tried a few things, but couldn't find anything that really excited me. I then realized that what the yarn really wanted to be was a Swallowtail Shawl, even though I had already made one. 

I was working on it when I got the call from my Mom, so I took it with me when I went to Halifax. I also took my blocking wires (only the short ones, the long ones were too long for my suitcase) and my pins, thinking that I would likely finish it while I was there, and could block it and give it to her right away.

It turned out great. It really is a lovely pattern, and the nupps gave me less grief than the first time. They did slow me down a bit during that section, but I love the look of them, so I kept them in.

And here's a picture of my Mom wearing it with her leather jacket. (I did make her smile more for one of the pictures, but it was a bit blurry, so here's one of her semi-smiling)

Once I had the scarf finished, I turned my attention to the socks I had on the go, and made some progress on those.

I'm using the stitch pattern from the Diagonal Rib Socks, which you can find for free at Knitting Daily. I started these in early October, but they were too small. I could get them on, but the pattern was really stretched over my foot. So I ripped it back, and started over. I added 2 stitches to each diagonal bit, so instead of it being a 13-stitch repeat, it is now a 15-stitch repeat. I now have one sock finished, and I'm past the heel on the second sock.

I'm also still working on the Lacy Waves Top. I have the top of the body finished, and I've sewn in the inset. It fits perfectly. 

I'm now working on the sleeves. I was planning to do lacy sleeves, as in the pattern. I swatched them, and calculated out the numbers, but then decided that lace sleeves really aren't my style, and I would be better off with plain 3/4 sleeves. So that's what I'm doing.  But I'm not working on them much, because stockinette is boring, and the yarn is in a cone, so it's not very portable. What I need to do is get a couple of good movies and rip through those sleeves. And then I need to do the bottom (I did a provisional cast on at the waist), and do an applied i-cord around the neckline.

I also did a bit of yarn shopping while in Halifax. Mom, my cousin Bonnie and I headed down to Wolfville one day to go to Gaspereau Valley Fibres. I'm sure it's usually a beautiful drive there, but it was a cold, rainy day, so it wasn't the most pleasant of drives. The store is lovely, with a nice cozy fire and lots of fibery goodness, but I wasn't terribly impressed with the staff in the store. I bought a couple of skeins of their own yarn, made of Nova Scotia Cotswold wool and kid mohair.

When we got back into Halifax, we also stopped at LK Yarn Shop in the Hydrastone area of Halifax, where I picked up 2 skeins of Mirasol Sulka.

This stuff is so incredibly soft. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but I think it is just calling out to go around my neck.