After Hiatus

I took a little hiatus from writing, both this blog and another one I maintain. It's been a good rest, but I feel the need to get back to writing, writing about knitting, and writing about buying more yarn. I have not stopped knitting, however.

So much has been going on. One of my favourite stores, Mind's Eye Yarns, closed, was sold, and has re-opened under a new owner. The feel of the store is very different, and I like it. I've shopped there once, and look forward to going back. Wild and Wooly, another store I liked, has closed. I only found out about the closing a week after it shut its doors, and I'm sad I didn't get a chance to walk in and say good-bye.

I completed a sweater that I'd been working on for a long time. Well, actually, it was put aside for a long time. I began it about five or six years ago, got involved in grad school, moved, and only rediscovered the pieces of the sweater in a bag while unpacking. The front panel, back panel, and sleeves were all done, it only needed to be sewn together. With the help of my friend Claudia, the disparate pieces of knitting became a sweater. Of course, this was in June, during a heat wave, so I haven't actually had a chance to wear it, but it's done!

Above are the disparate pieces of the sweater, before Claudia worked her magic.

Apersett, knit in Rowan British Sheep Breeds yarn, blue face Leicester.

At Claudia's suggestion, we did the collar in the round, rather than on straight needles as suggested by the pattern. If I were to make this sweater again, I would re-write the details about the shoulders, collar and make the sleeves shorter.

The pattern came from this book

There is other knitting going on, I've got a bulky sweater in blue on the needles (Cascade 112), and the front and back are done, joined, and the collar in process. The arms need to be added, and  it needs to be blocked. I don't have a picture of it yet, but it's coming along swimmingly. But we have been in the midst of a heat wave, and I don't have an air conditioner.

Other projects include more scarves than I can manage, a baby sweater, the plans for Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Sweater, and some hats. I've got two cowls going, and they're going to be the death of me. Why are yarn overs so hard? Okay, they're not, but sometimes I don't count right. A mathematician I am not.

I'm heading to Seattle in nine days. I am planning on some major yarn carnage. The friends with whom I am traveling are unsure how I'll get there, but if I have to, I'll rent a damn car and buy YAAAARRRNNN!!

Worse things have happened to nicer people.

New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival

Yesterday I went to the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival, along with Lucy and Hugh and two younger folk. This was my first time to this particular festival, and I was really excited. Not only would I get to see sheep and goats and alpacas, but I'd get to spend some time with folk I like a lot.

I paced myself, and didn't buy the first yarn I saw (you knew there would be some yarn carnage, right? I mean, I am a yarn whore), but judiciously checked out the merchandise at various vendors. The only thing I absolutely had to have was undyed black alpaca.

I got more than just undyed black alpaca, though. But I didn't spend all my money, and thought I did quite well.

A hand dyed wool from Jan Marek Raczkowski Studio. There were five of these (all from different dye lots) the first time I walked past, and only three left when I returned at the end of our day. I bought two of them. I am thinking a sweater or a vest.

A skein each of undyed black and silver alpaca yarn, from Big Red Acres. So soft, so sleek. I am thinking a hat or a scarf, with alternating stripes. The picture doesn't do justice to the silver yarn.

 

This gorgeous yarn from Decadent Fibers LLC, is 90% wool and 10% nylon, for making socks. Hugh has said that he will teach me how to make socks with this awesome blue yarn. I have long avoided learning how to make socks, since I know that I will suffer from second sock syndrome.

 



 

This is a terrific purple made of wool, from Zwool. It's a heavy wool, a bit scratchy, but so beautiful that I couldn't leave it behind.

 

 

This black and white twist is alpaca, about 300 yards, from A Touch of Twist. A scarf? A shawlette? It's so beautiful and soft, I couldn't resist.

 

These two skeins come from Sweet Maple Alpacas, the top a marled brown and cream that just called my name. The lower one of the skeins of undyed black alpaca. Interestingly, both this one and the other skein of undyed black are different shades, coming as they did from different animals on different farms. Still, both are really beautiful and lustrous.

 

This was the loot I brought back with me. I can't wait to knit it up.

 

While at the NHS&WF, Hugh and I met a delightful lesbian couple whilst in line to buy lunch. We sat together and exposed ourselves to some delightful conversation (one of them was at Simmons GSLIS when I was there, though we were in different tracks), and got to feel the raw wool that they had just bought. Soooo soft. Sooo sensuous. It makes me want to become much more serious about spinning.

 

I got home late in the afternoon, exhausted, happy, and weighted down with some very fine yarns. And brochures and cards from some of the vendors whose wares I wanted to buy, but didn't. I think I might be contacting them in the next few weeks to add some of their fine yarns to my stash.

 

 

 



 

 







And So It Goes

While not having internet at home makes it difficult to write a blog, being away for almost two months is not good. Bad blogger! No biscuit. Or worse, bad knitter, no yarn!

A lot has been on here. Windsor Button Shop, a favourite yarn store, closed after more than 75 years of business. Today is the last day of Mind's Eye Yarns, another favourite, closing after 16 years. Fortunately, someone has bought Mind's Eye, and it will reopen in June, though I'm not sure under what name. But it's still sad to be losing a local institution, so close after losing another local institution. Now where will I learn to use my spinning wheel?

I've been busy knitting, at least, if  not blogging. I've got a bunch of projects on the needles, a cowl for my god-daughter, in Milanese loop, using Madeleine Tosh DK. A sweater for myself, using Cascade 128 chunky. Several Noro striped scarves, in Silk Garden and in Kureyon. I've been working on finishing a sweater I started five years ago, using Rowan's British Breeds yarn (blueface Leicester). I've had some help with that, since I've never had to sew sleeves on before (all my other sweaters have knit the sleeves from the body of the sweater). That should done just in time for summer! Oh well, at least I'll have it for next year.

Tomorrow I'm going to the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival with some friends. I will try to bring home only pictures, but I have a sense that I'll be bringing home some yarn. At least I won't be bringing home a sheep or an alpaca.

New Bins

I know I said that I was going on a yarn diet this year, but the well laid plans of mice and men oft gang awry. And man, have my plans gone totally awry.

I have had to buy some new bins to hold my yarn.

Three of these four bins are now filled with yarny goodness. One of them actually is holding my projects-in-process, two hold yarn, and one holds, well, nothing quite yet. But I thought it might be a good idea to get an extra bin, in case I need it.

In other news, I finished another Noro striped Scarf, for my friend Carlene.

This is done in Kama, probably the softest Noro I've ever knitted with, and is:
26% wool
25% alpaca
25% silk
12% cashmere
12% angora.

The colours are muted, but I like it. However, even though this is four skeins, there are only 75 metres on each, so the scarf is just about four feet long. Now I need to get it to her!

Red Line Yarn Crawl

I haven't had much time to blog recently, because I've been knitting so damn much!

Right. And if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you.

I've had some set backs in the Ameeta scarves I'm making in Malabrigo Rios. The purple one is coming along quite nicely, but the teal one, well, I think I skipped a row about six inches back, and I've turned the RS into the WS and the WS into the RS. Not good. Not good, at all. So I need to frog that. I've put them aside for the nonce, since I do not like contemplating ripping out six inches of knitting. I might need a glass of wine for that one. I have finished a striped scarf in Noro Kama, and I like it. After I've sewn in the ends I'll post a picture of it. Plus, the fibres can't be beat: 26% wool, 25% alpaca, 25% silk, 12% cashmere, and 12% angora. It really is the softest Noro I've ever encountered, and there were only two knots in four skeins! I think that might be something of a record for Noro.

I made it to the Red Line Yarn Crawl yesterday, and hit Mind's Eye Yarns and Stitch House. Windsor Button Shop wasn't sure if they'd still be open for the Crawl, since they will soon be closing their doors, apparently forever. Which really sucks. But I made it to the two stores that were participating and got some yarn at both of them. More Noro Silk Garden to make yet another striped scarf (I know, I keep saying I am not going to make any more of them, but the colours are so enticing!), and some Rowan Pure Life yarn, in Black Welsh, which is a brilliant coffee brown. I'm thinking a sweater.

I have been perusing Ravelry and looking at shawl patterns. With the Neighborhood Fiber yarns I got in Pennsylvania, I am thinking stripy shawls.  I will need to get one more skein in order to make thre shawls, but I will probably call Forever Yarn and see if Yan has the colour I need, or if she can get it.

This is the shawl I'd like to make with the Neighborhood Fiber.

Ravelry information can be found here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/trilinear

I've got some busy times ahead of me, what with knitting, frogging, re-knitting. It's a wonder a body has time to go shopping for yarn!

I Ain't Askin' For Much

Today's post is made with apologies to ZZ Top.

I been up, I been down.
Take my word, my way around.
I ain't askin' for much.
I said, Lord, take me downtown,
I'm just lookin' for some Tosh.

With the immanent closing of the Windsor Button Shop in Boston, I've been buying some yarn. Madeleine Tosh, to be exact. Well, some other stuff, too, but the Tosh works with the song, see? In fact, I did my very best to clear out their collection of Tosh, and add it to my stash. In fact, I totally blew my yarn diet. Which brings me to the next verse.

I been bad, I been good,
Dallas, Texas, Hollywood.
I ain't askin' for much.
I said, Lord, take me downtown,
I'm just lookin' for some Tosh.

While I didn't go to Dallas or Hollywood, I was bad, and barely good, and I did make a couple of trips to Windsor Button "just lookin' for some Tosh."

At least four hanks of Moorland, in DK weight.

Only showing two here, but four hanks of Ink, in DK weight.

Two hanks of Lolita, in DK weight. I'm  not even sure what I'll do with this, but whatever it is, it'll be good.

Three hanks of Huechera in DK weight. I'm thinking this will make an awesome shawl.

One hank of Cousteau, in DK weight. I might combine it with. . .

. . .The one hank of Manor (in DK weight). I think these two will look good together. And if not, well, there's plenty more Tosh out there.

There were other purchases at Windsor. Some alpaca, some Malabrigo Rios, and a few other things. But this is a post about Tosh. Madeleine Tosh.

Take me back, way back home,
Not by myself, not alone.
I ain't askin' for much.
I said, Lord, take me downtown,
I'm just lookin' for some Tosh.



The lyrics to Tush were written by Frank Beard, Bill Gibbons, and Dusty Hill.

Forever Yarn, Neighborhood Fiber, and Yarn Harlotry

Every year my friends Libby and John host a bunch of us from our Div School days at their house for a weekend of relaxing, singing, eating, and general relaxation. One of the things we like to do is trek into Doylestown and visit the shops. One of the shops where I tend to spend the most money is the yarn store, Forever Yarn, really wonderful yarn store that carries things that I can't find in my local yarn stores in Boston. Yan, the owner of Forever Yarn, is solicitous, knowledgeable, and very welcoming. When I walked in, while she couldn't remember my name, she remembered who I was, knew that I was in town for an unofficial school reunion, and recommended several very beautiful yarns for me to peruse. I bought the following yarns, most of it Neighborhood Fiber, which is apparently a local Boston yarn, but which I've never seen in any of my LYSs back home in Boston.

This colour is Del Rey, a fabulous yarn with an amazing patina. I have no idea what I will make with 475 yards of this superwash merino, but it's soooo gorgeous!

This is Georgetown, and while it looks more blue in this photo, it is really more of a purple. I'm thinking a fine lace shawl for someone. It's one of my favourite colours.

Fells Point reminds me of Madeleine Tosh's Malachite, and this photo is a bit washed out (but is the best of the ones I took), and I will pair it with the next yarn.

This is Truxten Circle. It really is a gorgeous yarn, and will be paired with the Fells Point.

Won't that make a kick-ass shawl? I need to ask my friend Valaree to help me find a pattern that will work well with these colours.

Olde Towne East (I wonder why East doesn't have a final e?) and if you don't understand that blue is my favourite colour, then you don't know me very well. I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do with this, but damn, look at that colour!

This is a Noro I've never seen before, Kama. 26% wool, 25% silk, 25% alpaca, 12% kid mohair, and 12% angora, it's really soft and the colours are intense, in that way that only Noro colours can be. I will make a Brooklyn Striped Scarf with these, for Carlene, and think the colours will work wonderfully together.

This is a yarn I've not seen before, Terra Natural Inspiration, 40% baby alpaca, 40% wool, and 20% silk. It could make a pair of fingerless mitts (which I've never made before), and Yan at Forever Yarn gave me a pattern for such. Might be fun.

Yan very kindly gave me this skein of yarn after buying everything I bought, Frolicking Feet, in dungaree blue, it's 100% superwash merino, and it's a sock yarn. But with this much, I can make a shawlette or some such.

What an awesome collection of yarn I was able to gather. And working with Yan at Forever Yarn was just a delightful experience. Now I've got a lot of cool stuff to knit (read: add to my stash). And the colours of the Neighborhood Fiber yarns really rocks my stripy socks!