Thanks for all your nice words regarding The Half-Blood Poncho! My sister is awesome -- she received it on a Friday, and wore it to work Monday (she's in the overcast Pacific Northwest). Needless to say, she's getting a hand-knit gift next year, too!

I've been divvying up my time lately between various crafts and endeavors, so overall progress has been slow, but I do have some FOs to show for my efforts! To begin with, I finished two gift scarfs, both in Barbara Walker's Roman Stripe pattern:

I didn't mean to be so repetitive in my projects, but both times, I found myself wanting a "fail-safe" project -- one that I knew would look pretty, and could be accomplished with a given amount of yarn. The red scarf is made from one(!) skein of Cascade 220 superwash, and the blue scarf from two skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Classic AL (VERY NICE STUFF) in North Sea. This scarf is easy, easy, easy, but the final result looks so elegant (and it's reversible, too!). Here's the stitch pattern, if you're interested:

ROMAN STRIPE

Cast on any even number.

Row 1: K1, *yo, k1; rep from * across to last st, end k1

Row 2: K1, purl across to last st, end k1

Row 3: K1, *k2 tog; rep from * across to last st, end k1

Rows 4: K1, *yo, k2 tog; rep from * across to last st, end k1

Rows 5: K1, *yo, k2 tog; rep from * across to last st, end k1

Rows 6: Knit

Rows 7: Knit

I cast on 18 stitches when using a worsted weight yarn, knit 3 or 4 row in garter, then begin! The scarf will lengthen and open up considerably when blocked.

Here are some close-ups of the stitch pattern:

Also off the needles is an Amanda's Squatty Sidekick, also a gift. To be honest, I was a little grumpy toward this little bag while I was knitting it. It required a little more concentration than the Sophie, which is pretty mindless knitting to me by now. And when it was finished, it just looked like a lumpy jumble. But my first words post-felting were, "Oh, it's cute!" And it is! I think I'd like to try a larger version of this one at a future date:

I've got a few WIPSs and drool-worthy patterns to talk about, but they'll have to wait until later (me sleepy now). Happy knitting!