Lots of catching up to do!

Ok, so what have I been doing with myself this last month?

I finished the Darvoset socks.
Plain vanilla, toe up, short row heel. I think they have a bit of a animal print look to them.

I'm knitting a pair of socks with the Conjoined Creation's Flat Feet sock yarn.The yarn came from Jen, so I'm knitting the socks for her. I'm using the Twilight pattern from 2 at A Time Socks, although I'm knitting them one at a time. The yarn is different to work with. As you can see it comes knitted flat and you unravel it as you knit. The kinkiness of the yarn doesn't pose much of a problem. I had to learn to adjust my tension a bit and kitchenering the toe shut was very difficult, but otherwise it's pretty much like knitting with any other yarn.

Today we went to the yarn shop. Edna talked me into this kit.
Yes, it's a kit. Cotton Kisses from Plymouth. It looks like a ball of yarn, but it includes all the yarn, pattern and buttons needed to make a baby sweater. There's actually 2 different patterns included, a cardigan and a pullover. I may skip both, though and make a baby surprise jacket. Since I don't know anyone with babies, this will probably end up being for the library auction next spring.

I also snagged another skein of Araucania Ranco sock yarn.
When I went to put it away, I discovered it was deceptively close in color to the other skein of Ranco I have. This is color 301, the other was 306. Regardless, both beautiful.

I hennaed my hair again.Hopefully this picture isn't too horrific, but it shows the color fabulously. With henna, the color is so gorgeous. It's deep and multi-tonal and my hair is soft and shiny.

And I've discovered a new obsession. Perfume oil. My collection is still quite small compared to some (this picture still makes me drool, oh to hit the lottery!) I've got just 5 full size bottles so far and about 40 sample size. Perfume oils are much stronger smelling than spray perfumes. They seem to last longer (at least on me) and don't seem to annoy my husband (which is a pretty darn good thing!) The fragrance is much purer since it's not diluted down with alcohol. I've actually cleared all my spray perfume's out, I never want to go back! I've only come across 2 scents, so far, that I've absolutely hated. Most I like very well, some I just want to bathe in. High Tea from Possets is one. Tintagel from BPAL is another. Possets seems to be the best place to start if you want to get into this type of thing. Her site is easy to navigate, she has excellent descriptions of all of her fragrances, and she ships lightening fast. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is the ultimate source for scent. It doesn't say how many different scents they offer, but I'm guessing at least 100-200. Their offerings are much more diverse too. If you want to smell like a grave or a flower, they've got you covered. Their biggest drawback for me, other than trying to navigate the huge site, is that their wait time for orders is 2-3 weeks, yikes! All the BPAL I've got I got from individuals on their forum (another great way to get started). The last company I ordered from is Midsummer Muse. Again, I just got samples for now, but think I'll be getting a bottle of Guinevere for sure! I'm also considering getting some fragrance oils from my soap suppliers and trying to blend my own oils. It sounds pretty easy to do and then I could get exactly what I want for WAY cheaper. I'll keep you posted.