Lady E update, and a covert project

My Lady E is growing up so fast! I've just started the 8th skein and expect to have her done in a couple of weeks.

I'm a bit concerned she won't be long enough, but I think I can block her into submission...

I've also been working on this hat covertly. It's for Dave. I told him I would make him a Manos hat (SO hard to part with the Manos stash!), but I'm trying to keep it a secret, so it's going slowly since I can only work on it when he's well out of sight. It's a simple stockinette, with some random purling thrown in, as well as some stripes from a lighter blue skein of Manos left over from one of the Christmas hats I made for my coworkers. It also has a basketweave border instead of ribbing at the bottom, which I hope will be stretchy enough.

I'm planning on having a yarn dyeing party with the Fiberphiles (my lunchtime kniting crew) sometime in the near future, so last night I bought this great book at Barnes and Noble. It has great instructions for dyeing wool (yarn and roving), and some good tips for sock patterns as well, although I'm already well-stocked for sock books. I bought it mainly for the dyeing tips. I made my first attempt at Kool-Aid dyeing some Knitpicks Wool of the Andes today as an experiment (before sucking my friends into this I wanted to make sure it was really feasible). More on that tomorrow, with a photo journal of the event...needless to say, I have some learning to do...