Brrr…

in-cen-tive, noun.  
something that incites…to action or greater effort 
   From dictionary.com

This was the thermometer when I left for work this morning:

And when I got home tonight:

The upper number is the temperature outside, the lower number inside. It’s also really wet outdoors this week. Why mention this on a knitting and spinning blog? Well, two reasons.

Reason #1: That lower number is great incentive for working on a bulky sweater, simply so I can have something warm to wear around the house. I picked up the long-term WIP Icelandic yoke sweater again this past weekend and knit the last 3/4 of the yoke. 

Then I tried it on and the yoke is several inches too big around in its upper half and a little too long, coming up to almost my chin already. This means I cannot wear the sweater yet. Pout. I plan to knit a few rounds of neck ribbing to see if that holds the yoke in and makes it lie properly, then I’ll have to shorten it. If it doesn’t lie flat after ribbing, out come even more inches and I’ll have to re-figure where to put my decrease rounds. How about a blurry close up?

Reason #2: While the black and pink linen scarf is finished, you will need to wait to see it. I have a higher standard for photos of finished items than for WIPs and this standard requires bright-ish natural light. This time of year there is not enough daylight by the time I get home from work on weekdays and the rain makes it harder to luck out with a dry and bright day on weekends. In the interest of attempting to show you the first finished item of 2008, I took the scarf to work with me today (and I have to say it got nothing done at all) and took some photos of it on a deep windowsill, but today was grey and gloomy and there wasn’t enough light to make it look pretty even by the windows, so you’ll just have to wait.

Huh, I just thought of a reason #3: it’s too cold to spin, so no spinning content for a while. Knitting is better because I can cuddle up a little under my WIP.

In sock news, #5 is done and I am cranking out the last one to finish the three pairs for my mom. Whew!

My second yarn purchase of 2008 arrived yesterday: 9 skeins of Black Water Abbey 2-ply worsted in the Jacob colorway. I bought it from someone who is de-stashing and got a great deal. Now that I have it, though, what am I going to do with it? If it were a brighter color, it could be a sweater for Mr. MmmYarn who is currently working out of our refrigerated residence. But it’s not bright, so it needs to be something else someday. I haven’t swatched with it yet but looking at how it’s spun I wonder if cabling will show up well. If anyone still reading this after all this rambling has used this yarn before, I’d appreciate any tips.