Knitting Updates Galore, and a non-knit video at the end

Time to update the state of the knitting around here! Don't you think? Yes, me too. Away we go.

The purse sock is not much farther along, but I will show it to you anyway. Because I can.

The bike sock is making more noticeable progress, and yes, I am proud of that. Stupid hateful bike riding is producing this pretty:

Not exactly much to look at, perhaps, but it feels soft and lovely, and will be a good option to have in the drawer for the days which require a less flashy foot.

So there's that. I've finished one thing, a piece of random knitting for a little yarn-bombing project my knitting friends and I are doing. I can't wait to get pictures of it in place, but here it is Before. For now, you'll have to imagine it wrapped around a tree trunk.

This is Bernat Scandia yarn that my mother got for me last year at the charity place she volunteers. A whole bag of skeins and balls, and I discovered as I was knitting that at least in that ball, it was not all one piece. Whoops! Totally not a problem in this project (I didn't even work the ends of the knots in, because the wrong side will be against a tree trunk), but it wouldn't have been a welcome surprise if I had been knitting something else. Now I know. The yarn is thick-and-thin, cream colored with blue and green and teal parts. Turned out nice, eh?

And I made a quick catnip mouse, so though you've seen them before, here's another.

Did I ever show you the finished wedding present blanket? I know I showed it almost done, but here it is done and drying, last weekend.

Looking at the picture, I see it looks as though there are holes at the bottoms of the X parts. They're shadows, for the record.

Finally, the shawl I'm making for my aunt is moving along nicely. The way the pattern works, you do the set-up bit, then repeat chart A twice (or more, if you want), then do chart B. Here it is after one go at chart A.

I'm quite pleased with how it's going. Once I got over my early self-inflicted problems, the pattern has moved well, and I like how it's looking.

The yarn also feels nice, which is pleasant to work with.

And that is your knitting update, all the news that's fit to print.

In closing, let me say that this video (via a friend on Facebook, from here) broke through a bad mood and made me smile very much today. I highly recommend it.