Ready for the home stretch!

This morning I finished spinning the last 12 ounces (of 2.75 POUNDS) of white alpaca singles. YAY! (And look at that Louet bobbin. I could easily get another two ounces on there.) Not that I'm done with the alpaca; it still needs to be plied into three four-ounce skeins, washed and dried – but the end is in sight! Then I lift my self-imposed ban and get to play with my miniSpinner. Perhaps the mS will convince me to take on other spinning commissions, but for now I'm thinking the alpaca will be my first - and last.

There has been knitting, too. Finished gift-knit (Ravelry pattern link):
I think this, paired with a striking silver-tone horse pin, will be my contribution to my dressage chapter's Christmas party.

Another gift-knit at least halfway complete:
This is a cotton hat for my Nebraska nephew who can't wear acrylic, polyester or animal fibers. I made him a stocking cap out of really heavy cotton yarn a few years ago, and his mother says he wears it a lot. Figured it was time for a new, more stylish one to keep his ears warm on his distance runs (he's into cross-country and now triathlons). This is also from Ravelry. The instructions didn't make sense until I read the comments, and even then I didn't start the pattern when I was supposed to, but I still like it a lot.

Now if I would get busy sewing on buttons, I would have three other gift knits ready to wrap!

That's it for now from . . .