yarn and books

My squid is over half-way done! He's rather adorable. I'll have to take a picture. I still haven't figured out how to do the last half, though.

In other works-in-progress, my Shipwreck shawl is coming along nicely. I have about 30 more rounds to finish in one section, and then the last section, which should be fairly simple.
This picture was taken a couple days ago. It's hard to see much detail because it's still on the needles. I can hardly wait to see it when it's finished and blocked. I do love the colours of this yarn. I chose the yarn because the grey, blue and lavender, with the occasional streaks of purple and green, reminded me of the ocean. It seemed in keeping with the name of the shawl. It was the first time I'd ever bought so much yarn for a single project.

My next knitting adventure will be socks. I'll make a pair for myself and then a pair for my father-in-law for Christmas. If they knit up quickly enough, I'll make more for other people. I'm excited. My in-laws always give really great Christmas presents, so while I like giving people presents, I'm not always very good at choosing gifts. Nice handknit socks sound like a good start. This Christmas, maybe I'll even learn to like coffee more (not that I hate coffee, I just prefer tea, and my father-in-law loves coffee the way I love loose-leaf tea and good alpaca yarn).

Well, in addition to being a yarnaholic and a tea addict, I'm also a bibliophile. I just started Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. It's quite an enjoyable read. I've read Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, re-read Persuasion (my favourite Jane Austen), and tried to struggle through Emma (she gets on my nerves so I have to stop reading). I have the Complete Works out from the library right now. Northanger Abbey reads like a satire of Gothic novels. I like it. Knowing very little of the story is nice because I enjoy surprises in books (although less so in reality).