Early Finishes

I seem to be on a knitting roll.  This is my newest accomplishment, a hat made without a pattern.  I had just finished the cable socks, see previous post, and still wanted to do a little cabling so I started this hat to match the scarf I completed last month.  And not a moment too soon.  When I got up to go to the lab (blood letting for the oncology doctor) the temp outside was 39F.  I really needed a hat this morning.  This one I did flat, not in the round, so I had to seam it but interestingly the seam doesn't show.

These are slippers that I finished this past week.  I saw the pattern in a YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfbacnhhjmQ&t=101s) and thought they would be great for wearing in the studio this winter (no central heat or air conditioning in there).  I don't usually wear shoes over there so having nice warm socks/slippers is a really good idea.  These are really easy and she also has a written pattern, both in English and French.

Anyone who has been following me for a while knows that I celebrate Birthday Month every November and that last year my husband gave me a gift every day in November.  He already informed me that that isn't happening this year but he has gifted me a few small things as the month has gone on: cookies and the above coffee cup.  It is in remembrance of the orange and cream VW van we had about 45 years ago and that we loved.  We had originally had a VW camper that we wore out on a 2 month camping trip to the West Coast, with a 5 year old, a 2.5 year old, and 6 month old twins.  The orange and cream one was more like a bus and we loved it until it broke down on an interstate in Mobile, AL and we couldn't get it fixed.  But we still look back on it with fondness.

I am including this picture because I am confused about the light green leaf.  It is growing on the same stem as the other leaves but it obviously doesn't belong to the same family.  I found myself singing the "Ugly Duckling" song while checking it out.  Does anyone know what plant this leaf belongs to?

And last but certainly not least, I present our resident Daddy Longlegs.  He was running from plant to plant looking for bugs to eat but unfortunately we had had rain the night before (first in over 2 months) and all of the plants had gotten a good wash.  I apologized as he ran off: this is the only spider that I welcome on our deck.  We also have chameleons and it is fun to watch them catch bugs, too. 

And now I am off to continue my search for the perfect cable cardigan and possibly fingerless gloves for wearing while sewing.  I find my fingers stay warm when I am knitting but not when I am holding fabric for sewing.  Wish me luck and have a great week.  Gari