He done good.

Mr. Needles is back from his annual bromance and golf vacation, and as he has done for the last several years, he did bring me something nice back.  

He brought me some big chunky Jarbo Garn one year from which I made a really great vest.  I love this vest and could use a few more with its uncomplicated shaping.

And he brought me some melon coloured Cascade Pacific the next year.  It was used for a couple of different baby projects, but mostly a blanket by Sweet Things mommy. I tease him that this time nothing took because he had baby on his mind.

Wow.  Is that a baby in there?  Now how did that happen? ;)  The melon Pacific is at the edges of the photo.  

All along I had been telling him 'sock yarn' or 'something light' as he headed out the door.  This time, I worked on him all year long.  Whenever I happened to watch golf for a few minutes with him, I would mumble something about laceweight yarn.  Whenever he talked about the upcoming trip, I would say laceweight, laceweight in an over the top hypnotist sort of way.  I thought about trying subliminal messaging but that seemed just the smallest bit over the edge.  Even for me. 

But it worked.  And in spades.  

He told the lady laceweight and she said she didn't keep too much in stock, but would show him what she had.  

She has good stuff which are not easy to find here.  Fiesta Gracie, colourway Cedar Crest.  It is a rich combination of raspberry maroon, green and rich purple toned black.  There are two generous skeins of 870 m, so with about 1750 metres, there is lots for a lovely great shawl.  I am also thinking a sweater.  I have some deep dark rich blue black that might work really really well with this.

There is more.

 Cash Woole from Trendsetter, a very fine yarn with 1500 m in 100 grams.  As you can see, 2.  He told the lady that it should be enough to make a sweater.  Well, it is, if I kept it simple, but oh my, such fine stuff as this is deserves to be something more.  So much more.  This one, with its very generous meterage and its very fine wool, silk and cashmere soul, deserves to be a Shetland something.  Or an Orenberg something. It deserves to be something from this,

which I already have in my library.  Couldn't you just see it in that kind of lace?  Sigh.  

Or this,

which is one of my new ones.  Wouldn't this make a great Shetland style shawl, something with that marvelous pinetree like lace in it.

It also has the heart to be something from here, a book which I drool over regularly.

This is my bedtime storybook and encourages only sweet dreams.  But wouldn't Rosy Cash Woole make a stunning shawl in the Estonian tradition, with its ornate flowers and nupps and all manner of goodness?

I can't wait to see where it ends up!  

How fine is fine?  Cash Woole states that it is 2/30.  So just what is 2/30?   The best reference I found in a quick and dirty search is from Colourmart, the home of the very fine mill end.  Suffice it to say it is fine.  Very fine.  Cobweb fine.  And yet it is still a 2 ply yarn, so you have to know there is stuff out there spun finer than this.  

Its probably easier to see it in comparison to Gracie, which is a more standard laceweight.  Cash Wool is almost double the metres per 100 grams in comparison.

Mr. Needles done good.  I would say I am verklempt, but well, gosh darn, you can clearly see I am not.  No, I could sit here and sigh and talk lace and delicious loveliness and lace traditions and shawl construction till the cows (which I do not have) come home.  

Not verklempt, but I sure am content.