Santa came early this year!

I got this lovely surprise on Saturday morning

It's from the UK Secret Santa swap that's going on in Ravelry. The rule is to send 100g of yarn from your stash, I signed up for the sock yarn category (cos we all know I don't have enough sock yarn!). My swap pal, Alice, sent me this lovely skein of PoshYarn Lucia in a lovely deep burgundy/brown colour. She also included some pretty stitchmarkers and a cute card.
Thanks again Alice, it totally made my weekend!

Anyway, the back, and fronts of Audrey are all done. The pieces are blocking on my home-made blocking board (duvet and towels) and when they're dry all that's left is the ribbing! Can't say I'm looking forward to it...
On other news I just got my Schengen visa for Christmas holiday! Yay! I'll be going to Vienna, Prague and Brussels. Anyone know of good yarn shops there?

Anybody got tired of my FO posts yet?


Anastasia Socks
Pattern source: Pepperknit
Yarn: BFL Superwash sockyarn in "Sophia" from Radiant Twist
Needles: 2.5mm Addi Turbo 80cm
Comments: I found the pattern on Ravelry, and thought it's perfect for hand-dyed yarn. It's knitted toe-up, and I'm simply smitten by the construction of the short-row toes. Not so much with the heels though, I have to pull real hard to put it on.
Here's my sad attempt to capture the gorgeous colours

Anyway, I'm convinced now that I have sensitive ankles, if such thing exist. After taking these socks off, my ankles itch like crazy! When I went to Ally Pally I was wearing my Monkey socks that's knitted out of Trekking ProNatura, who knew that bamboo could be so itchy?

Peekaboo
Pattern source: here(link to pattern)
Yarn: I'm pretty sure it Malabrigo worsted merino, bought at Ally Pally last year
Needle: 4.5mm Addi Turbo
Comments: When I was wearing my Fetching, I found my fingers curling inside because they're freezing. So, while I love my Fetching for spring, it just won't be enough for the coming winter. I can't be bothered to knit all 10 fingers (imagine the horror of all those yarn ends!gasp!), too lazy to knit a convertible mittens, so this pattern is the perfect solution for my lazy a**. Anyway, after I was done with the first one, I found it waaay too short for me, so I knitted the second one longer and ripped the first one from cuff-down, and added a few rows. They fit quite perfectly now. Let's just pray that I don't have sensitive wrists.
They are cute, but not exactly fashionable or elegant. And since I sometimes like to pretend to be both of the latters, I foresee a pair of pretty gloves in the future, if I get motivated enough. Or I might have to just buy a pair.

And here's my latest WIPs

This is Audrey. I think she's going to be pretty. I've been working on her somewhat faithfully over the last 3 days that my hands hurt. I'm using the green Jaeger Matchmaker Merino Dk that I got from Ally Pally with my trusty 4.00mm Addi Turbo. She's such a pleasure to knit.
However, I'll be taking a short break from her since I'm going to my friend's house and I've promised to teach them how to knit. So naturally I have to cast on for something myself, no?

Am I the only one who can't believe it's already another weekend? That it's already halfway through November? That Christmas is only 6 weeks away? I wish it would slow down as I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.