I'm doing fine, but my base station computer is lying on the dining room table, completely gutted. A new motherboard, new power supply, and a new video card are arrayed nearby. But you didn't come here to read about my digital woes.

I'm working up a follow-on to the charting articles - a set of thumbnail reviews of the knitting pattern books on my shelves. I've got most of the standards, plus a couple of the harder to find items. But that's much easier to do when I'm working in the same room the books are.

In the mean time, I've been working on various small projects - mostly holiday related. I've finished off several more pairs of booties (there must be something in the water, as there appears to be spike up in the local numbers of the gravid). Socks march on, with the latest pair being toe-ups in a very conservative gray, possibly with an inverted flap heel and the placement of a spot motif on the ankle. Those bits may yield something of interest to write about. Plus a quick stitched piece that is destined to be given to an unsung hero at work. More on that tomorrow.

In the mean time, I present with a bit of sadness, the knit fake chain mail coif and hauberk I made for Older Daughter when she was five:



Apologies for the even lousier than normal picture quality. I don't have access to the photo editing tools I normally use.

This is the knight costume that was featured in the note I wrote that ended up in the first volume of KnitLit. I made it for Elder Daughter in 1996, when she was in Kindergarten. The sadness creeps in because Younger Daughter just wore it for Halloween, and it was clear that this is the last year that she will be able to do so. The coif will still figure in fantasy play for or a while, but the mail shirt is ready for The Box of Knitting That No Longer Fits.

In the mean time, if you want to knit up some play armor for your own miniature warrior, the method description is on wiseNeedle.