What is my problem?

Seriously, why I haven't been blogging is a mystery even to me. It's not that I haven't been knitting, it's more that I haven't been knitting anything overly photogenic. I've also been really busy in lab, and since I usually do my blog writing there (oops) I've been slacking. At least it's the blog that's suffering and not the science, right? Anyway...
On Sunday night the Fiberphiles descended on Daisy's house for a book/pattern swap. Daisy made excellent soup and scones, and in exchange we created a mess of books, patterns, and yarn all over her dining room, like so:

You'll have to excuse the face Rachel's making there in the background - this was a candid shot and I think she was in mid-sentence. The hands belong to Daisy, as does the lovely knitting project (Manos!). I believe Daisy was discussing lace patterns with Shibani. In case you're really curious, the other hands (on the right, in Fair Isle) belong to Kristen, who decided at the pattern exchange that she really wants to get her hands on some sock yarn! Another sock-knitting convert!!! Jennifer was also present and accounted for, but managed to avoid the photo by being in the kitchen at the time. Smart girl, as all the excellent food was in there.
If you're wondering why there haven't been any knitting photos to speak of the last few days, this is one reason:
You might have read that here in the Pacific Northwest we have been getting some rain. And by some, I mean it's rained pretty much straight through since last Thursday, with some brief respites to get our hopes up. The first few days of rain were a result of the Pineapple Express, which includes warm air coming up from Hawaii (hence the name), and with the rain comes very warm (60s) temperatures and rain, all the way through the mountains. However, it has now cooled off in the last couple of days and it's snowing in the mountains, so perhaps we can go snowshoeing soon. Now, don't get me wrong about this neverending torrent rain. It rains in Seattle, the rumor is true. But it doesn't usually rain this hard, for this long, and it's getting a bit old. It can stop anytime now.

The rain was so epic last weekend that Dave and I took a trip to the outlet mall north of Seattle (this is what my parents do when the weather is suitably bad in Erie, PA - I guess it's running in the family). The outlet mall may not interest you, but on the way we stopped at a nice little yarn shop in Everett called Great Yarns, where I bought (and here's a shocker) some yarn. I've been coveting Malabrigo merino ever since Jennifer went to Great Yarns (apparently the only shop in the Seattle area that carries it, and Everett is 30+ miles away) and brought some back for show-and-tell. It's SO soft and lovely, and I had to have some, so off we went. I bought two skeins of a rich dark blue, and, due to a severe bout of indecision, some dark green as well. One skein is probably sufficient for a scarf, as Jennifer has shown, but I like long scarves so I opted for two skeins of each. The other yarns you see here (in the ever popular bathroom rug with Oliver parts shot) are Tatamy Tweed, which is a very inexpensive ($5.45 for 250 yards!) cotton/acrylic blend (very soft - dark turquoise), and some beautiful Monarch sock yarn from Fly Dyed. It's (superwash 100% merino), and I love the colors, although I'm not sure which colorway this is (maybe Shades of Teal?). I can dye some lovely yarn myself but I haven't gotten very good at getting dark colors, hence this purchase. This photo really doesn't do justice to any of this yarn, but it's the best I can do, lighting-wise, at least until the sun makes an appearance.

And I've been knitting. I'll not show you the evidence because the photos are awful and frankly useless because the knitted items are dark and tweedy, which frankly doesn't photograph well in any light, not even on my bathroom rug. I've been knitting armwarmers to send to my mother, which she is going to peddle to her fellow teachers. I've made 2.5 pairs so far and will finish the third this weekend. I'll try to get photos before I send them. The first two pairs were simple traveling rib, one in black Rowan Yorkshire Tweed (yeah, you try getting a good photo of that yarn. I dare you.), and the other in dark green/blue Plymouth Tweed. The third pair (one down!) is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, in Hollyberry (dark red), and I got bored with the ribbing so this one has cables down the hand. This is my first experience actually knitting with WotA and I have to say I'm really enjoying it so far. To me it's very similar to Cascade 220 but with perhaps a bit more loft. The jury is still out on it's durability, but I'm about to start knitting a secret gift project with it as well and I'm sure I'll hear about that one if it doesn't hold up!

Daisy lent me her ball winder and swift last night and I've been winding yarn like a mad woman. There will be photos. The yarn looks so lovely there on the side table by the couch. I might leave it there, like an art piece, instead of actually knitting with it...