{Noro Update and... MAIL!}

Oo! Guys! I am so excited to tell you about my Noro hat!  So, I took your guys' advice and I gave it a good hefty wet block, meaning I submerged it in some water with a bit of dish detergent for about 20 minutes or so.  Then I squeezed it carefully under some running water to get the soap out and let it sit up on one of my blocking mats in the bathroom.  And... the result....

Super a LOT softer!  It's not Merino wool or anything, but definitely a ton more comfortable against my forehead when I'm wearing it.  I'm kind of smitten with this hat. :D

My kinda blurry bathroom shot:

Just as an aside for anyone who plans on blocking Noro in the future:  this took a LONG time to dry.  Maybe it was because I totally submerged it, but even after I stepped on it in a towel it took just about a whole day to dry on the inside.  I think that means that this hat is going to be super water resistant during the winter, which I totally dig!

I Got Mail!!

Like some kind of knitting Super Hero, my lovely, beautiful, generous friend Hope, upon hearing of my Malabrigo Woes, immediately sprung in to action!  She happened to have an "extra" umbrella swift just laying around the house!   She packed it up and sent it before I would need to ball up the second skein!

I left Popeye in the photo for scale.  This is one huge box!! LOL 

Isn't she pretty?? I'll be putting this to good use today since I ran out of yarn at the very end of the chart 1 of my Icarus.  Yes! You heard that right! I'm done chart 1!!

She also sent along this little gem!

So far I've just flipped through this book, but it looks incredibly fascinating!  I'm looking forward to learning more about knitwear construction.  Maybe start designing my own? Hmmm... ;)

Thank you SO MUCH Hope!  You really are my knitting-guarding angel!