After a frustrating go at my cowl with the wrong yarn, I trod down to Linda's Craftique, my LYS and discovered the lovely Swedish "ull", Eco Wool. It knits up beautifully. I must have had the Canadian House & Home bowls (last post) in my head when I chose the colour (it's the one sitting on top in the photo below). It has a nice milky effect.

I'm just knitting up the sample now and will post the whole design process with pattern soon!

Two done - one to go. The crochet page is up. Just a few small patterns, but it's a start! 
Hot Yoga this morning and then a nice reward of lunch with my buddies Linda, Angela (along with Angela's friend, Anne). These are the gals who right the world for me, when I need it; who always have my back. They are very dear friends. It will fun to sit down, catch up and have a giggle with them.
On another exciting note, Marlene (my agent) has submitted my second book proposal to Random House - Potter Craft. They have "first refusal" as defined by my first deal, but I am hoping it is second acceptance!
I found out a Fleece Artist yarn I was using for one project is discontinued - Silk Wool 2 ply, so off I go to Linda's Craftique and found 3 suitable replacements. Two from Handmaiden: Maiden Hair and Ottawa (and another Ottawa for my new scarf!) and the new Manos (one of my favorite Brands): Silk Blend. Can't wait to dive into those. And Linda gave me a handy new knitting bag with these cute sheep on it.

Now and then, a package arrives from a nice yarn company, filled with new yarns for me to play with. Some such package arrived last week from Spinrite, filled with the latest from Bernat and Patons. Thank you Spinrite!!!!

Also, packed are the new shadecards with delicious new colours.

The most interesting in the group was the new Silk Bamboo and the Angora Bamboo. Both feel silky soft but the acid test for me, other than washing, is to rub the top of the ball for piling. The Silk Bamboo already showed signs of wear, but the Angora Bamboo was more resistant. So now to swatch.... 5mm, nice thick needles...let's try a crochet hook instead .....

OK, so maybe crochet wasn't such a great idea. It is quite a chunky yarn and feels wonderful, but I would love to see this in a KW weight. The colours are perfect for a new launch yarn; I can envision a design in each one. The one below is Laurel Leaf - great name.

The Silk Bamboo is KW and feels slippery. When I removed the ball band, it was elasticized. My guess of slippery may prove true.

Not much of a photo, I know, and the Orchid is too dark to pick up. The Silk was, well, silky. Quite easy to work with, though, slightly stringy. The colours are OK (not as good as the Angora Bamboo) and a little shiny. I probably wouldn't use this one in a design, but the Chunky Angora Bamboo has trigged my interest.

They also sent a kid's Bernat Baby Stretch (interesting) and Patons Pure (among others) - very reminiscent of Mission Falls Cotton - a gorgeous 100% Organic cotton chunky. But that's for another day's swatching.