Oh boy oh boy, have I been busy. In fact I hadn't realised just how long it had been since I last posted. So a quick recap to start with, the gentleman sock: still soldiering on, just about to start the heel on the second sock. Not cable socks: managed the rib and two pattern repeats before frogging, it just didn't look right, so instead it's become my first toe up sock in the shape of the pablo blue sock which, when I have time and peace and quiet to do it isn't coming along too badly. Not only is it my first attempt at a toe up sock, it's also my first attempt at a lace sock, and the first foray into lace knitting since the disaster with the forest canopy shawl. 

Aside from the knitting I've been extremely busy on placement having managed to obtain my own caseload, spend the entirety of yesterday in lots of very important meetings and today get to find out first hand all the bits of the mental health act I'd only read about. And that's only in the past couple of days, so excuse me while I pause for breath and try not to keel over

Despite the best efforts of my rather awkward camera I've finally managed to take a picture of my latest sock project the gentleman socks, it's a very simple but very effective pattern that comes courtesy of designedlykristi and although I've done very little on them already I absolutely adore them, and so does everyone who sees them. Lsb has already decided he wants a pair when I've finished these and my mother just had to print off a copy of the pattern for herself. 

The yarn is a Lana Grossa cotton that feels so nice to work with, and obviously being purple just had to be made for me.

Some pictures of Marco my alpaca when he was sheared last week. In the past I've said that he's a rather moody creature, but I was very surprised at how well behaved he really was - especially as the shearing process isn't particularly nice for the animals. Marco trotted out of his stall quite happily (in fact prior to him coming out for his haircut you could see him poking his head through the gap in the bars to see what was going on and just what the other alpacas were making such a fuss about), walked over to the shearers and stood quietly while they put him in the restraints and brought him to the floor and he was very quiet and well behaved throughout. In fact I wasn't even sure that I'd got the right alpaca until the shearers confirmed it for me. And there in the after picture you can see Marco looking very smart, and quite happy with his new haircut. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to stick around on the farm and get to find out all about what happens with the fleece once it's been bagged up but I was amazed at how much fleece came off each alpaca.

My gentleman socks are coming along quite nicely, but due to being so busy at work I haven't even had the chance to whip the camera out and take a photo yet. But I plan to have one up sometime over the weekend if not today. So should I not, feel free to slap me silly with a wet fish, or similar.