Mittens and SPINNING!

So, first of all, an FO:

They're xmas mittens for Ben. He also got glittens lined with Thinsulate after I had finished them and before I gave them to him, but he said these are good too.
Yarn is Lion Brand wool, worsted weight, from Micheal's. Cheap! I held the two colors together.
Needles.. size 5 dpns I think? The fabric's pretty freakin' dense.
The pattern was from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd. I changed the decreases on the end of the thumb though, because it ended up too pointy the first time.

And now, my xmas present! I got a gift certificate from my parents to the yarn store.

It's a Louet Drop Spindle kit! Ben got me Craftivity, which has sort of brief instructions on drop spinning. I had sort of been thinking of it, but was hesitating because I have enough knitting stuff going on already. But then I started reading about it more online, and one thing lead to another, and now I'm spinning! The kit came with roving dyed in colors I like a lot, a spindle, directions, and wool wash. The wool wash is patchouli-scented, so I guess I'll be smelling like hippie. Oh well. The pictures show a single that I've made already with the brown and purple together, and I'm going to ply it with a solid single of the red. I want to make enough for a hat. I'm really excited to be adding the step of actually making the yarn to my knitting. I think the finished product will be so much richer because I'm involved in a lot more of the process. I'd like to get into dying also.
I think I'm doing pretty well with it so far. It might be too twisty, but I don't know that i'll really be able to tell until it's plied. I'm also spinning counterclockwise, which isn't really the traditionally 'right' way to do it. I don't really care about that, but I wonder if it's easier that way.

Oh, one more thing:

Noro Silk Garden! SO excited. This is also a gift certificate purchase. It's definitely more expensive than anything I'd buy with my own money. I'm thinking it'll make a nice big drapey scarf. I have this problem with scarves where I don't have enough yarn, and then spend the whole time I'm knitting it trying to maximize what yarn I have. I think this is enough to safely avoid that. Now I just need a pattern..