Lavender Scars, Miss Potter and Drops 88-4

I am officially out of Sock Wars. These arrived on Saturday morning, lovely pale lavender Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. They were knitted by Rooknits (three quarters) and wendyswoolies (finished off). My Yarn Forward magazine came last week. It is much glossier and magazine-like now with some good length articles. As I didn't know if I would be knitting more on Sock Wars I decided to start the Miss Potter Mitts from the front cover. Unfortunately the pattern was not well written and I had to work out a couple of bits myself. But this is what they came out like....
They are knitted in Rowan Tapestry which is lovely and soft, using size 4mm DPNs. I think if I made another pair I would go down a needle size as they are quite roomy. I used one ball of the Tapestry and literally had 4 inches of yarn left over!! More pics on flickr (see link on the left).

Also on Saturday I had a delivery from Bruce at Scandinavian Knitting Design. Six balls of Drops Alpaca to make the Drops Cardigan 88-4. The yarn is wonderfully soft, but is very fine (thinner than sock yarn) and the pattern is knitted on 3.5mm needles. It is going to be a longer term project I think. Here is my progress so far........
After doing a couple of rows of cables with a cable needle I decided there had to be a better way, so googled cabling without a needle. I found this method and it is great apart from the scary bit of dropping stitches off the needle. You need to hold them tight so you don't lose them. Mine is only a four stitch twist so only two stitches to drop and pick up.
The bamboo needle I was using however, is rather blunt so I have ordered one of the Addi Lace needles which are more pointy.

While waiting for the Addi I have started a secret project for my mum for Christmas. I was going to do her a cardigan of some sort but as I don't want to over stretch my hands I have scaled down to something smaller. Can't say what because she reads this. All I'll say is that it is in a colour she likes.