Warty Bobbles

South Sound Yarn Crawl

My dear friend Joyce and I set out on the South Sound Yarn Crawl about 9:00 Sunday morning (it was a rainly morning followed by a rainy afternoon!) and hit 4 shops up the Olympic Peninsula, starting with A Good Yarn Shop (which is local author Debbie Macomber's shop) in Port Orchard, moving on to Linda's Knit N Stitch in Silverdale, then to Amanda's Art Yarn in Poulsbo (where Viking Fest was still going on) finishing at Churchmouse Yarns and Teas on Bainbridge Island (which was not actually part of the SSYC, but was part of the LYS Tour which was going on that weekend too!) and heading home again via Starbucks, pulling into my driveway about 6:00 pm.

That was a very long sentence, but, then, it was a very long day!

It was a great opportunity to visit shops that are either new to me (the first two) or that I have only been to once or twice before (the second two).  And, of course, we bought yarn!  It was a lot of fun -- and sharing the experience with Joyce was a treat! Spending the whole day bouncing around yarn shops & hobnobbing with other local knitters & generally getting a real good yarn fix...delightful.

So, here are my treasures.

From A Good Yarn Shop: Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street Collection "Gerbera Print" and Eco Duo "Zebra" from Cascade Yarns (note the zebra-ish bit in the "Gerbera Print") -- destined for the oh-so-popular "Wingspan" shawlette.

Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in "Mare" bought at Churchmouse.  Destined for the lace shawl "Shipwreck"

Gathered along the way (at the last 3 shops) were "Manos Silk Blend" (both the multi and the gold) from Manos del Uruguay and "Luna" from S. Charles (mohair, silk & lurex!) in a sort of celery color.  Destined for the also-oh-so-so-so-popular "Color Affection" shawl.

I had "summer knitting" with "autumn wearing" in mind!

The Inversion Cardigan

I seem to be knitting a spring/summer wardrobe!  My palette is pale blue, gray, taupe, a deeper ocean blue, and shale (which is the browny-gray color of wet rocks).  I have a couple of wraps going, a short sleeved sweater, a cardigan (which is technically hibernating, but as it peeks at me from its knitting bag in such a come-hither way, I know it will be out and about soon!), a pineapple bag, and now a sort of cocoon/jacket thing: Jared Flood's Inversion Cardigan (on his blogsite, check out the March 29th entry).

I really had not intended to start up another garment, but then I saw the Inversion Cardigan....and I bought the pattern download and printed it out, admired it, recommended it to a friend, and put it in my drawer of "patterns bought online and printed out to be used at a future date."  And still, I was not going to knit it up just now. I just played with it my mind. 

And then I found out that JJill was out of the drape-front linen blend cardigan that I had been planning to order -- it was going to be my go-with-everything layering piece.  Rats.  But, oh!  I have a pattern for an artsy cardigan that would probably do very nicely in its place.  And it would have the added virtue of being handknit, right?  All I would need is some nice solid colored yarn.

But although I was ready to plunk down money for a JJill cardigan, I found myself balking at buying more yarn.  It was not the money, exactly.  It was the fact that I have a number of projects going right now and so buying yarn for yet another project seemed crazy.

So, I went stash-diving.  With the rather superstitious idea that if I found the right yarn, then the Inversion Cardigan was "meant to be."  Really, I had little hope since I seldom (practically never) buy a cardigan amount of yarn unless I have an actual cardigan in mind.  Most of my stash is "ferocity" yarn: several skeins of different yarns chosen to go together in a garment-to-be-designed-later.  So, I have sets of coordinating yarns, not sets of matching yarns.  The chance of locating 1155 yds of worsted weight yarn in a single shade of my spring/summer palette was miniscule.  But a game is a game, so stash-dving I went!

And Shazam!

 

 

Back From The Beach

Not only back from 2 ½ weeks at the Beach, but back from a weekend in Pullman (visiting our daughter Sasha – and bringing her cat Samson, who had spent the summer at our house, back to her).  Lots of car knitting – and not a whole lot of other time spent knitting.  Well, I probably knit a little everyday, but less than I usually do. 

The weather at the Beach was fabulous!  Really, really glorious almost every minute of our entire stay.  Gorgeous.  As a result, I only had one opportunity to wear my Otter Rock Sweater (it was just too warm for alpaca sweaters!).  I probably could have worn my Gull Pi Shawl if I had had it done…well, next time, right?

 

(Me knitting the Gull Pi Shawl with a gull!)

I finished swatching and doing all the figuring for my “fun vacation knitting project” – only to realize that I had brought only the one ball of yarn (the one I was swatching with!).  Nuts.  Oh, well, next time, right?

Actually, I did manage to bring the rest of the yarn to Pullman and made a good start on it there and on the car ride home.  Tho I am little nervous about how quickly the ball is reducing – wondering if I have enough.  It was kind of a guess at to amounts – the yarn is the Isager Bomuld I scooped up from the bargain bin at Churchmouse Yarns & Teas in July.  Not sure there was any more.  The piece is a drapey vest-type garment made in a rectangle and I am calling it Glacier (because of the colors).

Oh, speaking of yarn purchases, there have been a few on my travels.  A quick stop at A Yarn for All Seasons in Newport for “baby pod” yarn (from Welcoming Home Baby the Handcrafted Way by Tricia Drake) – the yarns I chose are reds, blues, dark grays and there is a sort of Lumberjack feel to it all! 

 

I also bought some Jamieson Shetland Spindrift to make a traditional Fair Isle tam.

In Moscow (near Pullman), we went to the Farmers’ Market and I came away from the JerryLee Farm booth with two skeins of natural colored Lopi-style yarn (one brown, one black), two balls of “heathered bracken” colored wool (one chunky, one worsted 2-ply), and a chunky “heathered bronze.”  We found The Yarn Underground shop (which is, indeed, underground) and I picked up 2 skeins of locally dyed Stones Throw fingering weight wool – one in golds & bronzes with pinky-orange accents for me and one in a pretty range of pinks for Sarah (not pictured as Sarah has already taken it home, of course).  No plans for any of these yarns yet – just glad to get some lovely local yarn!

A Summer Q'mitl

It is dreary and rainy and cold today.  And I quite truly and genuinely wish I could wave a magic wand (or an enchanted knitting needle, perhaps?) over the pile of fabulous blue-ish and purple-y yarns on my desk and transform them into a spring/summer q’mitl.  I would even forgo the pleasure of knitting them up into the q’mitl in order to have the spring/summer q’mitl now!

 

I love my Owl Q’mitl – it is cozy and drape-y and I wear it a lot.  It is my favorite “sweatshirt.”  But it is sooo autumnal.  I try to think of it as forest-y, but it is really more suited (visually) to October than to April. 

And I have these gorgeous yarns that would make a gorgeous q’mitl.

Wolf Creek Wools Deschutes (60% merino/40% silk) in a stunning azure blue.  Malabrigo’s Twist (merino) in purple-y fading to blue-jeans blue brightening to so very a nearly spring-like pale green.  Rainy Days & Wooly Dogs “Gilded Gothling” (63% merino/15% nylon/2% silver) which looks like a summer twilight sky with the first stars peeping out.

 

They really want to be a q’mitl.  I would call it the Butterfly Q’mitl. 

 

The truth is that I am topped out on current projects at the moment – really and truly.  I have no business even considering starting something new – however desperate I am to wear it.  I am chanting my Litany of Current Projects even as I write: baby sweater, baby blanket, baby blanket, lace stole, lace stole, crochet turtle, turtle sweater, mermaid shell, vegetables, socks.

 

Yep, better keep that yarn cocooned for the present.  Yep.

 I wish I could wear yarn!

 

 

Mohair

Mohair is not suited to winter knitting. Sigh. It is so fine! Hands rough from the cold snag it.  It is hard to see in the dim afternoons and dark nights.  It is not what you want to be knitting when a heat-seeking cat jumps into your lap!

 

But it is so lovely!  Delicate as ice crystals, but cozy and warming.  It makes colors glow.  If there is Enchanted Fairy Yarn, it is mohair – whether blended with merino or silk (or both).  Even less expensive blends with a significant amount of nylon are exquisite. 

 

Although I am hard at work at my Christmas knitting, I make little time (most days) for my Christmas Candy mohair tam.  Just because.  It is my indulgence – like a peppermint mocha or gingerbread cookies.  It makes me merry.

Better Photos

Yesterday and today , I went outside and took better photos of my yarn and swatches (I admit Sarah and George took some of the pictures -- but I uploaded most of them all by myself).

Here is a new swatch -- I wanted to do part of the cowl capelet in an off-set brick-like pattern, so Iconverted the rib to a block pattern (kind of tricky!).  The lower part shows the pattern with 4 rows of the regular pattern followed by 4 rows of the shifted off-set part.  The upper part is 6 rows of each -- which, I think, looks better.

I will probably try an 8 rows/8 rows repeat too -- just to see if it shows the pattern better (I did not hold the mohair with the wool in this swatch -- so the real piece will be fuzzier).

I trid out the Channel Island Cast-On (featured in Knitting Daily -- the email newsletter Friday or Saturday, I think it was Friday?).  It is one good-looking cast-on for 1x1 ribs! 

The Wrong Side is interesting too:

And yesterday on my walk I passed the Dollar Store and noticed that they had some really nice-looking skulls and skeletons.  I didn't have any money on me -- but spent  the rest of the walk with visions of knitting little woolen caps and scarves for them! I went back later and bought some -- altho I do not know if I will actually do any skeleton knitting.  Just a fun thought!  But I like the idea of doing some theme decorating for the fall and was pleased to find I could get a bunch of rather realistic bone-colored skeletons and skulls so cheaply!

Brick And Petunia Cowl

I am so gosh darn proud of myself!  I took these pictures all by myself and loaded them into the computer all by myself!  I was home alone last night and wanted to photograph the “Brick And Petunia” Cowl yarn – particularly the swatch, as I was going to rip it out and re-do it on different sized needles – and thought, hey, I can probably take the pictures myself.  And I did!  (I have actually used the camera before, but it has been a while and there are so many tiny buttons and things…)

Then, this morning, after I (ahem) whipped out the camera and took a few shots of the new swatch (like it’s nothing, like I do it all the time), I called Sarah and had her talk me through loading them into the computer.  And I did it!  (okay, some might quibble over that fact that I was getting tech support during the entire process, but I was the one actually tapping in the directions – and I had to plug the cord into both the camera and the computer – well, it was all very hands-on and now I think I could even do it again without step-by-step instructions).

Since I already know how to find my photos and load them up onto my blog page, I am now totally independent, as far as blog photos go.  Pretty cool.

And here are the photos.

The yarn (since I took the photos indoors – even though I know better, but it was raining and getting dark – the colors look a little orange-ier than they really are):

 

The first swatch:

I held the two brick-colored yarns together (alpaca/wool “braided” yarn and mohair/wool) for the first section (sz. 10 ½ needles), the brick “braid” and mauve Kid Silk Aura for the middle section (sz. 9 needles), and the mauve with the wool/cotton hot pink yarn for the last section (sz. 7 needles).

I was happy with the yarn combinations, but wanted more difference in stitch size.  So I re-swatched with sz. 11, 9, 6 needles. 

 

I think these gauge differences will be enough to shape the garment – and I love how the first section looks done larger.  It feels wonderful, too (you will have to take my word for that!).

(And, okay, I admit they are not fabulous photos -- and Sarah, who usually does my photography is certainly not our of a job, but, hey, I still did it myself! )

Counting Down

The Gold Leaf Shrug (which is the bright yellow knitting appearing in several blog posts over the past couple of months) is nearly done.  Nearly, oh so nearly!

 

I purchased the yarn from Butternut Woolens – gorgeous sunshine-y wool/silk called “Silkie” – and thought the 2 hefty skeins would be enough for a summery shrug.  And at $25.00 a skein (a very fair price for such luxurious hand-dyed yarn, I hasten to say), I hoped it would be!  That is, I was hesitant to buy what would probably be an extra-just-in-case skein.  So, I didn’t.  Even though it was a design project and the yardage required was pretty much an educated (or shot in the dark!) guess.

 

When the yarn arrived, I cast on and began knitting.  The first skein made up the body and most of the first sleeve.  It looked promising.  I attached the second skein and finished the sleeves and the edging on the sleeves. The second ball was still goodly-sized and I began the lace edging.  The edging is a rather large dramatic “Willow Leaf” pattern and goes all the way around the shrug.  So, there I was:  picking-up-and-knitting to attach the edging as I knit it.  And the ball of yarn was (understandably) getting smaller and smaller.  But not too quickly and I still felt optimistic.  Besides, I could always break down and order more yarn, right?

 

And then Sarah found out that Butternut Woolens was shutting down production and that all of the Silkie was pulled from the website for inventory and subsequent discount pricing!  Well, okay, maybe I really did have enough to finish the edging. 

 

Knit, knit, knit.  Squeeze the yarn ball and wonder.  Knit, knit, knit.  Eye the yarn ball suspiciously, hopefully, pleadingly.  Knit, knit, knit.  It was kind of like that scene in The Abyss where the water is filling up in the submarine-thing and it looks like maybe the main characters are going to drown (but maybe not).  Or those Arctic exploration diaries where supplies are running low.  Maybe they will make it, maybe not.

 

Except, of course, this was not a life-or-death situation.  Really.

 

Sunday afternoon I passed the half-way point on the bottom edge – pretty much into the home stretch.  The ball looked puny.  Sickly.  Buy, hey, maybe… Knit, knit, knit – and then I saw it:  the tail of yarn hanging from my needles.  The ball was gone.  The yarn was gone.   And I had 7 inches of shrug edge to go.  Crap.

 

Followed by a rather desperate email to Shelley at Butternut Woolens and, the next morning, a kind and soothing reply.  Yes, there was still plenty of Mango Silkie.  Yes, she would be putting it up on the website again this week.  So, it looks like a happy ending after all.  But a cautionary tale:  ALWAYS buy extra yarn (especially when it is a design project and you don’t really know how much you will need).

Spring Fair 2010

Yesterday, George and I accompanied our daughter Sonja and her husband Jordan to the Spring Fair in Puyallup.  We go to the huge Western Washington State Fair there every September without fail, but had never been to the Spring Fair. 

It had pretty much all the attributes of its autumnal counterpart – just on a smaller scale.  There were some seasonal differences, of course -- instead of the Grange harvest displays there were garden ideas and booths.  But there were Krusty Pups and scones and elephant ears and onion burgers and carmel apples and …all the good stuff!

We visited cows and pigs, watched the dancing horses, listened to the bagpipe band, checked out the pottery and woven rugs.  The weather was even fairly (pardon the pun) cooperative – it only rained once and only for a short while (the skies opened up and it poured the minute we got in the car for the drive home!).

One location of particular interest (to me – not so much to the rest of the group) was the “Shepherd’s Extravaganza” which housed spinners, wool for spinning, some lovely sheep, woolen products, annnnd YARN!  There were several delightful booths of mostly handspun yarn and I had a delightful time visiting and petting the skeins. 

Although I was not in the market for any yarn (or new projects!), I did find my self drawn back to the Garden Party Fibers booth with unquestioned intent to purchase!  

Juaquetta’s “art yarn” is made from the wool and mohair of Spokane-area sheep, goats, and alpaca.  She washes, cards, and dyes the fibers herself – and concocts some stunning color combinations in her bulky thick-thin yarn (there are fluffs and puffs and mohair locks – mmmmm, just my style!).  I bought a skein of “November 310” (a riot of color with a strong forest green anchor thread holding it all together) and “Tabby 410” (browns, grays, whites) with the vague idea of knitting a capelet of some sort.

In the “Artists In Action” section of the Fair, I found more yarn and bought a skein of baby camel/tussah blend in “Desert Rose” from Hood Canal Yarns, Inc.  I reasoned that it would make a luxurious collar for the capelet-of-some-sort.

I also have to mention that I bought a set of “Elijah’s Custom Made Stitch Markers” from Elijah himself – a 4-ft. salesman of the first order! 

As I walked by his mother’s booth he said, politely, “Do you knit?

I smiled and said, “Why, yes, I do.”

“Would you be interested in stitch markers?”

I looked at the half-dozen or so packages he had displayed – each had an assortment of about 5 beaded wire stitch markers.

He explained that they were all hand-made (by himself) and that they were mostly glass, but that a few had plastic pieces.  He pointed out that “they are almost all gone.”

They were $2.00 a package.

I said, “I’ll take this one.”  And as he took my money, he modestly pointed out that they also sold bath salts and scented soap, in case I was interested.

Elijah, I think you will go far!

Unabashed Yarn Delight

It has been a pretty exciting week here with the arrival of both my Butternut Woolens Silkie (Mango):

 

 

And my Knit Picks Tonal Shadow Lace Yarn (Canopy):

 

Thank Heaven, they did not arrive on the same day – I might have cried!  Seriously!

They are both sooooo beautiful!

The Silkie (besides feeling thick and creamy and luxurious) looked like pure sunlight pouring out of the shipping bag.  Worked up, it has an elegant stitch definition and the subtle color gradations give it such life!  I am making it up into a spring-summer shrug in stockinette with some leafy lace pattern in the back and as edgings – and I am calling it my Gold Leaf Shrug.

The Canopy Tonal Shadow absolutely rocks with green hues!  Like the jungle canopy for which it is named – or like our own Pacific Northwest forests.  Or a salad of seaweeds!  Or a parade of reptiles and amphibians!  (note:  I am a huge fan of seaweed, reptiles, and amphibians – so this really is high praise) 

When I was a little girl, I adored the big 64-color box of crayons.  Adored it, really and truly.  And this yarn makes me think of laying every shade of green crayon from that box side-by-side in one glorious Ode to Green.

Okay, I gotta catch my breath.  Hooo!

The Canopy yarn is for the Triangular Summer Shawl in Nancy Bush’s Knitted Lace of Estonia (a lily-of-the-valley pattern).  I rather hope the finished piece will look like a mermaid’s seaweedy wrap.  Though with the bumps –nupps – one cannot rule out the possibility that it might conjure thoughts of all things froggy and lizard-ish…which is fine by me as well!

I have begun work on the Gold Leaf Shrug, but have declared my Canopy shawl to be a birthday gift to myself – in that I get to start it on my birthday next month (since I have few other projects in process at the moment…including the Gull Pi Lace Shawl!).  You will note that the yarn is still chastely twisted in its skeins. 

Autumnal Projects

It is officially and unquestionably autumn here.  Sunday evening, we ate dinner outside on the back deck (lamb bbq – mmmm!) and lingered well after dark.  The rains are coming and we will not have much opportunity to eat dinner outside until next summer.

(poignant pause)

BUT my autumn knitting is in full swing:  my Zany Zauberball Zcarf

And my Humble Cardigan (which kind of looks creepy – like a sweater body part – hanging off my needles!)

We ordered yarn for our class kits from KnitPicks and also chose some yarn for a cabled sweater for Max (deep green) and 3 shades of purply-pink for the prototype for our cabled quechquemitl.  And while we were doing so, I shamelessly ogled the lace yarn (they were having their lace yarn sale at the time).  Sarah let me ooh and ahh for a while, but told me sternly that I did not need any lace yarn (true), that I had plenty of lace knitting on the needles (also true), and that, in case I had not heard the first time, I did not need any lace yarn (sigh).

But, bless her heart, she secretly ordered me some anyway!  As a surprise.  It is just for petting at the moment – I have been carrying it around with me so I can admire it.  I am not even letting myself envision what it might become.  Just yarn for yarn's sake (at the moment).

KnitPicks Shimmer (70% Baby Alpaca/30% Silk) in Eucalyptus.  It even smells good.

Oregon Coast Yarn Shops

I am re-united with my yarn!  And can (as promised) give an account of our Oregon Coast yarn shopping exploits.

Sarah and I hit A Yarn For All Seasons in Newport within a few days of hitting the coast.  It is set in a playfully designed “pirate village” and I am pretty sure we had “plunder” in mind.  We actually did need a particular circular needle.  What we did not realize until we were in the shop purring and petting the yarn was that we needed sweater yarn for Gwen.  I bought chunky alpaca in mint green (with a cable sweater in mind) and Sarah bought DK CashSoft  DK in dark teal (they had a sample of the EZ February Baby Sweater displayed). 

And for the second time this summer, I have been seduced by Araucania!  This time it is variegated blues -- the Mediterranean Sea and Alaskan glaciers….  I bought some icy blue Kid Seta (twist my arm!) and Frog Tree alpaca to go with the Araucania.  I envision a scanty winter wraplet (not quite sure what that is yet….).

Several days later we headed north – to Lincoln City and Nestucca Bay Yarns and Fibers.  Frankly, I cannot recall the justification – but maybe visiting a good yarn shop while one is “in the neighborhood” does not require justification.   I did bring along my blue winter wraplet yarns – in case I found a “go with” yarn.  And (surprise, surprise) I did:  Rowan Wool Cotton (in what used to be called Colonial Blue) and a mouse-gray Kidsilk Haze. 

Sarah had another sweater for Gwen in mind when she found some lovely creamy-pinkie-greenie yarn – but then located some chunkier “go with” yarn and the project transmogrified into a sweater for herself! 

Meanwhile, I fell for a Crazy Zauberball – a riot of autumn colors in sock-weight.   Without anything specific in mind.  Though later, I decided it would make a charming lace scarf for fall – and a good travel project for my up-coming car-and-plane California trip.

And I must have been up for a challenge that day because I found myself roaming the shop with a ball of  Crystal Palace Mini Mochi (mostly merino) in forest-y greens and browns in one hand and Panda Silk (bamboo/wool/silk) in Feldspar – imagine a dramatic variegated ranging from black to olive to silver to ecru – in the other!  I knew they could go together – provided they found a couple of single-hued companion yarns.  Bingo!  Manos silk Blend – one in coffee, one in olive.  Finally, a couple of Kidsilk Haze in drab brown and apple green. 

Veni, vidi, vici.

 

 

 

Pink Yarn

I went shopping for pink yarn. Kimonos, sacques, booties, hats:

Cradle blanket:

Sweet!
Need I say more?!

WIP'ed!

(Note:  in knit-speak WIP stands for Work In Progress)

You can pronounce it with a long “i” or a short “i”  -- I am feeling both wiped and whipped by my works in progress tonight! 

It is the fact that knitting only progresses one stitch at a time.  And the fact that I am knitting with rather fine yarns on rather fine needles.  It makes for slow going.  Even the baby booties are not so much inching along as millimeter-ing along.  Sigh.

Whatever else goes into knitting – money for yarn, creativity, skill – the plain old time spent on any project should give it some solid value.  I am knitting my life into a baby blanket, minute by minute.  When I think of what a finished piece costs, I think of the time spent more than I consider the money spent.

Actually, I don’t think of money as spent on yarn at all – it is gambled on yarn!  At a yarn shop, I might gamble $150 on yarn and hope to “win” a gorgeous wool cabled sweater.  If I am being totally straight with myself, that is how I look at it because life is uncertain and there are no guarantees.  And I can be a bit fickle.  Maybe I will lose all desire to knit cables.  Or I will get side-tracked with a capelet or lace shawl.  Or maybe I will come to the conclusion that I would really never wear a wool cabled sweater. 

There are “heat of the moment” yarn purchases in most knitters’ lives.  You wake up the next day beside a pile of angora and wonder :  what was I thinking?  But there are good bets, too.  At the moment, I am betting about $35 of poppy-colored wool on a lovie blanket for my new grandbaby!

Heavy Worsted Weight Yarn

Preparing for Madrona classes means more than knitting up some show-and-tell.  There is some advance homework and supplies gathering to be done as well.  In our case, just supplies gathering (a good thing as the show-and-tell knitting up is taking up my evenings). 

Our supplies list looks pretty basic: size 4 double-pointed needles and a few generic yarns.  One in particular being a “heavy worsted weight wool yarn in a light color.”  Since Sarah was over at my house today, we decided to gather up our supplies -- raiding our stash for the requisite yarns, of course.  But we were foiled.

No heavy worsted weight yarn in anything like a light color.  None.  It took us much longer to reach this conclusion than it takes to state it, of course.  Digging through boxes of yarn, comparing thicknesses (an extended philosophical discussion about heaviness and girth and body and twist and ply…), estimating yardage, and guessing fiber content.  Nothing suitable.  In the process, we discovered that we would also need to obtain 4 colors (1 oz. each skein) of sport weight yarn, 2 other partial skeins of the elusive heavy worsted weight wool yarn, and something woolish in a light color suited to cabling.  We had come up short all around!

An emergency run to the local yarn shop was required.

We went in thinking it would be a grab-and-go deal.  Find the heavy worsted weight, the sport weight, the woolish cabling yarn and be off home again.  Instead, we spent 45 minutes pacing the shop in a heavy and not-too-fruitful debate over which yarns were heavy worsted and which were outright bulky or chunky and which worsted yarns seemed thick-ish, but might only be heavy-ish and not actually heavy.  Worse, the whole single-ply issue arose.  Would the instructor accept a single-ply yarn?  The thick-ish single-ply we found came in attractive colors and had an attractive price – but what if the instructor (a knitting rock star, by the way)had not , in her wildest dreams, imagined that one might bring a single-ply to a class devoted to Baltic braids and bobbles?  We toured the store a few more times.  Perhaps the gigantic eco-yarn would be best after all.  Four times as much yarn as we needed and while the cream color was nice, the others were rather dark (remember we needed 2 companion colors). 

Obviously, we were over-thinking the whole thing – and we told each other so.  We sat down cross-legged on the floor like 5-year-olds and calmly discussed the dozen or so yarn characteristics that had come to figure in the decision.  I sent Sarah to the front of the shop to ask the owner her opinion.  She trotted around the shop pulling out the same yarns we had considered. 

It came down to two yarns.  But which to choose?  Even as I said “it probably doesn’t matter – either will work” I was thinking: what if we choose wrong?  What if we show up with an entirely unsuitable yarn? 

(I will probably have a nice long anxiety dream tonight -- getting lost on the way to class, being late, having only a single size 3 and a single size 10 in way of needles, knitting wee tangled cables with jet-black lace-weight mohair…)

In the end, we decided on the large eco-wool in cream and the single-ply in blue and a friendly mocha color.  Finding suitable cabling yarn was easier, of course.  And we chose our 4 colors of sport weight (after a few laps around the store and a bit of label comparison, just for good measure) from the selection of Baby Ull.  We had to pull out most of the colors and shuffle them around a bit, of course, before we settled on the final combination, but we put everything back carefully and headed to the counter.  Fortunately, I had a store credit!

As got into the car, Sarah glanced at the shop door and said “I thought so.” 

“What?”

“The store closed half an hour ago.”

Yellow Yarn And Sunshine

A giant box filled with giant skeins of giant yellow yarn arrived today!

 

It sounds like the beginning of a fairy tale.   In fact, as I unpacked the yarn, I was reminded of Rapunzel’s legendary tresses and the Miller’s daughter who was reputed to spin straw into gold. 

 

The yarn is Cascade’s Magnum and the color (9463B) is the golden yellow of growing things:  daffodils and corn and summer roses.  It is destined for the cropped cable turtleneck in the new winter issue of Vogue Knitting (where it is featured in this exact color of this exact yarn) which is similarly destined for Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat – that is, I hope to wear it there.  Maybe that is the fairy tale part!

 

But today the sun is shining – it is cold-cold-cold, but that is the price of sunshine in winter here.  And whipping up a cozy bright yellow sweater seems like the kind of magic I can manage.