Not dead yet

I'm not dead.  My computer, on the other hand...R.I.P. little laptop.  You served me faithfully for six years, needing only a hard drive and CD drive change three years ago.  But alas, it is cheaper to replace you with a desktop than to kit you out again.

My new computer should be here today (!!!!!!), and boy, do I have some fun new toys to show all  three or so of you who read this!

In which I learn some things

Lessons from knitting:
1. Negative ease can be my friend. Being 5'3" means even size small sweaters sometimes swamp me. (Alliteration is, apparently, also my friend.)
2. Short-row bust shaping is also my friend, even if it means putting a mauve stripe where I would just as soon not have a mauve stripe. (If I had to do it again, I'd start the short rows as soon as I took off the stitches for the sleeves and use two balls of yarn to avoid the giant mauve stripe.)
Pattern: Wicked (although I misplaced the pattern halfway through, hence the not-quite-matching sleeve widths that I need to redo)
Yarn: Patons Soy Wool Stripes in Natural Earth - about 770 yards (!)
Needles: US 7
3. Entrelac is a little bit like magic, especially with striping yarn.
Pattern: Quant
Yarn: a partial ball of Noro Silk Garden, color 226 (I think) that I got in a guild swap
Needles: US 5, because this pattern makes a pretty big headband

4. Yarn makes a great Christmas present; so do gift cards to purchase yarn.
From the top: 5 skeins of Malabrigo worsted in black, 5 skeins of Malabrigo worsted in apple green (thank you, Uncle D and Aunt S for the gift card!), 2 skeins of Plymouth Happy Feet in a red/brown multi that will be great for non-stockinette socks, 1 (of 2) skeins of Plymouth Happy Feet in a blue/green/red multi that is more muted than the colors suggest (thank you, Grandmother!)

5. If you give your sister a coupon for hand-knit socks for Christmas, she will pick out a) your favorite yarn from your stash, b) the lightest-weight (and therefore longest-to-knit) sock yarn, and c) a pattern prone to dropping stitches and yarn that, when dropped, will run approximately 1 inch per second. Oh well. It'll be an adventure. Fearless Knitting, right?
Yarn: Actual Size Creations in Rorschach
Pattern: Conwy, from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road (at least I've made these before, so it's going pretty quickly)