Charmed by this ball of yarn

Just received my ball of yarn from England -- bought on eBay, used PayPal, and it was here in less than a week. And get this -- it was still cheaper (incl. postage) than ordering from anyplace I could find in the U.S. Let's just hope there were no European swine flu germs on the package. It's called Zauberball. Babel Fish tells me that zauber in German means "charm." So. . . "charm ball"??

Look at the crazy way it's wound. Also, click the photo to see the gradations close up. It's way softer than Noro. I'll use it to knit my Mom's birthday socks. Haven't decided on a pattern yet and am happy to take suggestions. Maybe the Circle Socks on Ravelry? http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/circle-socks

Or the Show-Off Stranded Socks? http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/show-off-stranded-socks

Or something lacey, like the Magic-Mirror Socks? http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Dasma/magic-mirror

I dunno. But I certainly am charmed by this ball of yarn.

MD Sheep & Wool!

(We did not wear our vests around the festival. We are way to shy for that!)

The most amazing thing happened. It rained the whole way as we drove to MD. When we got there it stopped and not another drop! Such luck! Who went? Jennifer, Angela, Wendy, John, and Dana...and thousands of other people. No evidence of a deep recession or swine flu worries there! It was a very fun day. Here is a link to a slide show.

Look what I made on my days off...

Double pointed needle organizers made from felted sweaters. I know some Birthday Girls who get first dibs.

We did it!

Before

After

It felt like a crazy thing to be doing...but it looks like it came out ok. Phew.
Check out the video!

Me Too! Me Too!

Can't wait to take the scissors to it!

Pre-steek

I can't quite call this finished yet. Simply the beginning of the end. This is the vest pre-steeking, from the front. You can see the long rows of steek stitches that will form the v-neck once cut. There are small holes at top where the neck and armholes will be after their steeks are cut. What look like pointy ears are actually where I've done the three-needle bind-off at the shoulders.

It looks doubly strange since I have it over a trash can. I wanted to be able to show where the armpit holes are, too. This is a strange piece of knitting.

A detail of the innards.
Another shot of the insides.

I guess these can be considered the "before" shots.

SnB