What came home

I think I mentioned going yarn shopping the other day.  I thought I would show you some pictures of the haul.  It doesn't look like that much and yet, it is 4 miles of yarn.

I went back today to see if they had any more of this colour of Misti Alpaca Lace.  They did,but just one wee ball.  Yes, I needed a a 6th ball.  There are several shawls I'd like to knit that need at least 2600 yards.  It takes a dismal picture.  Up close the yarn is a rich warm earthy brown and green melange.  Its wonderful.

Then these.  I thought I had some of these.  I don't though, but I am sure I will find something to do with them.

Because there always has to be Noro and this lovely subtle colourway goes with everything.

The most marvelous green Misti Alpaca Baby Suri alpaca and silk.  I have used this before and though I seem to have missed recording it in my active stash, I know I have at least 2 skeins in there somewhere, for a grand total of 6, a nice amount to do something splendid with.

A skein of Tonos from Misti Alpaca and a skein of Kidsilk Haze Stripe.  The might get used together.

And the most magnificent green/blue ever dyed.  I have two of these somewhere already.  I didn't know there was more but when I saw them, they had to come home with me.

There is another yarn, but I that one is already under construction.  More tomorrow.

All the pink I will ever knit.

That isn't quite true.  I have some seriously hot pink in the depths of the stash but these are all the soft pinks I will ever knit.  I like all sorts of colours but not pastels.  They just are not me.  There are always exceptions to every rule.

The Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino is not pastel pink.  It is a lovely dusty soft pink that is usually found in the sky after the sun sets.  Its really just a hint of pink.  

The Schulana is pure pink in all its pastel glory, but surely a hat with a wee flower gracing the side and some pearls scattered about it, is a must for a wee thing.

And the bright pink Happy sock yarn?  Well that is to do some faux isling on the white Kertzer On Your Toes Bamboo ground.  Flowers, If I recall correctly.  The Yarn Harlots buddy Ken did something for a wee girl a long time ago that has always stayed with me.  Pretty faux isle in a pink multi colour on the white ground is not my idea but I will run with it.

My son and daughter are having a baby and just the other day they found out it will be a girl.  I don't intend to swath the wee thing in girl stuff only.  Kids should be who they are and she might be the type to climb trees and be the jungle gym ruler and might even beat her pappa at golf. She will have lots of strong bright colours too, but these few soft pink things.  Well that is just for grandma and from grandma, just because.

Grandma also took care of herself too. 

I'll need a large wardrobe of lace shawls just in case she really likes tea parties and dressup. 

Playing at the yarn store.

I did a favour for my favourite people at my best LYS, River City and worked Saturday and Sunday.  It was lovely to stop and talk with people and help them.  A very good time was had by all (though I can really only speak for me!)

Yes as I said, I was scoping out the store on Friday, preparing.  It really wasn't so much to plan the shopping, it was to get the lay of the land.  Things don't change all that much, but half the art of being a good retail associate is to know your stuff, know where it is, know what is in stock.  So I dug in baskets and poked in corners and just generally learned the lay of the land.

Saturday in the quiet moments, that is when I shopped.  I did well.  I did really well.  Well, in truth the store made out like a house on fire!  And so did I.

I did do a little prebuying.  I happeend to have some stuff come in just after I said yes to working the days. 

 

A full bag of Lanett, a good baby yarn, in a nice clear white.  I like to keep some plain stuff on hand.  You just never know when you need a little gift and I was down to just a few coloured balls.  Its also great for colourwork, for mittens and small projects.  Along with the Lanett was that lovely golden Eden from River City that I knit my friends shawl out of.  That was round one.

Round two was a lot of fun.  The 2 red balls in the picture above was part of round two.  We'll talk more about that later.

This was round 2.  Lots and lots of fun.  

The back creamy looking stuff is Wendy Happy in the softest prettiest colourway I have seen yet.  It reminded me of Bitterroot (Lewisia), with it's soft roses and gentle golden yellows.   I don't know what it will be but is mine and I will not share .

The green is two skeins of Malabrigo Lace. I have loved this stuff for some time, but I just never got around to getting any.  Yummy good.

Then in the center, the red, is more of the splendid Eden, colourway  

Temptation. Oh it is aptly named.  So absolutely perfectly named.  Sinfully delicious.

And the rust?  That pile of rust is a sweater quantity, or so I dearly hope, of one of my pet yarns.  It is something that is no longer made but I love it.  It never struck people fancy's here, too bad for them and very lucky for me.  I have used this a few times now and it is a really great yarn.  It is Elsebeth Lavold Angora.  12 skeins.  Sinfully good.  It will be a very simple cardigan, something with short sleeves, I think.  Its Angora.  I'm 50 ish...you get the picture.  Single button closure, short sleeves, just a nice simple top with one really over the top feature.     

This is Egret, a free pattern from Berroco's website.  That splendid reddish, but not really just red at all, ball of mohair, is going to be that long showy collar.  

See?  Match made in heaven.  I did look at Rowans matching Kidsilk haze, but the single ball of older stock in the store matched better than the newer stock and this just seemed a better way to go. Besides the little bit of variegation will look stunning.

Anyway, that took my wages for the weekend and more. I had fun and earned a little completely free yarn money leaving my yarn budget there to blow on that really nice Angora.  

At the end of it all, we had some pizza and beverage and then carried in all the boxes and baskets and display stuff from the show back into the store.  

If you want to see what RCY was up to this weekend and where they were, check out their facebook page.  Some great snaps, and you never know who wants to sit and knit for a while.  

  

The other end of it.

When I left my last temp position, the one I was at all winter, I made a pretty little shawl for my office mate.  The office we shared had heating issues and even though they sort of solved it, there were times when a chill ran down your back. Shivering was a regular and shared event.  There is a certain sort of cameraderie to shared cold, a sisterhood of sorts.  I'm sad to lose that.

I made the shawl for her to remember me by, to wrap around her shoulders when the days weren't going well, to let her know I'm cheering her on and shivering with her, wherever I am.  

I did not expect anything back.

She came with a very large bag.

Oh dear I thought.  I worried that my small gift of very very enjoyable knitting made her feel that a gift must be given in return.  I hate when that happens.  Obligation isn't what gifting should be about.  My small thing gave me joy to make and the thought of keeping her warm is what drove me. Well that and me being swathed in wool all winter while all she had was her coat. I was worried. What on earth could be in a bag that big?

And then I looked in the bag.

I had to laugh.  The gift was absolutely perfect.  It is rare that anyone understood so clearly or so quickly the very heart of me.
This is a rare friend indeed.

Its the biggest ball of yarn on the market.  As you can see it almost takes up the whole seat of my knitting chair (Its one of those tub chairs from Ikea)

It weighs several pounds.  I would weigh it but I suspect my scale down here for woolly things doesn't go that high and the scale upstairs doesn't do that small!

As a gift for a knitter, this lovely perfect bluey green, or greeny blue is exactly right.  She understood everything in all the ways that I could never come right out and say.

She understood how much I enjoy knitting even though she knows nothing of it and knew yarn would be perfect.  She understood that my love of knitting is beyond reason, and that I consider poking fun at my knitting necessary to balance the universe and wasn't afraid to share that with me and poke just a little fun at it that with a very very large ball of yarn.  She knew that a very very large ball of pretty yarn would convey the message she needed to say, just as my knitting told her how much I valued her support and care, that she valued mine.

See when you say it with words, it sounds a little much doesn't it and it doesn't even approach all the depths of it.  But a big big ball of yarn?  That speaks a language that says it all in one large and goofy and completely and utterly sweet very very big thought.  I am charmed.

It is going to be something special.  I knew that the moment I saw the yarn.  My first thoughts always go to sweaters, but I rather think a blankie, to echo the shawl. Something to keep both of us warm at each end of a gift exchange. I might consider a shawl, but seriously, there is too much yarn! So to blankets.  You don't have to go further than Brooklyn Tweed to find the right stuff.  Girasole perhaps, or maybe he Hemlock Ring or the absolutely fantastic Umaro.

I'm looking forward to getting it on my needles, and then getting it onto my lap!  I will cherish it as I cherish a good friend.

Well there you have it.

In the middle of the biggest sock 'thing' in quite a while, I had a quick project to do and I am really enjoying it.

It is a small shawl, a Multnomah, a bit of garter, a feather and fan pattern.  It is almost the perfect quick project pattern.  

I have been working in the company of some very very nice people this winter.  I did not really like the jobs quirks but the people have been grand.  I shared an office with a lovely lady.

The offices were recently renovated and the renovation left the heating system decidedly unbalanced.  The back offices sweltered and accounting was cold.  Beyond cold.  There were a lot of days where coats were common working wear.  I was lucky with my large stock of wool scarves and warm woolly sweaters.  And some days, scarf, sweater and shawl in layers were required.  They finally got the right balance in February, but there is just something about shared companionship of working in challenging conditions.  It ended up being a lot of fun because as chilly as it sometimes was, we could laugh together at the silliness of it all.

So this shawl is for my office mate Johanna, the loveliest of people, who I am really sorry to be leaving behind.

I have just today and tomorrow to work there, (Wednesday I move on to another assignment) so I need to finish this shawl tonite.

It is made out of a stunning yarn from River City Yarns, dyed specially for them by Handmaiden, named Eden.  They have two brand yarns now, the sturdy basic Epic, and this sinfully rich stuff.  

I know I talk a lot about earthy yarns, yarns that remind me of where we came from.  I love the feel of them in my hands, I love wearing garments with their sturdy honest plain folk feel.  But this is a whole different ballpark.  

Mostly wool with a bit of cashmere and a little nylon, Eden is sinfully rich and soft.  This is my first experience working with it, though I have a lovely red skein that I have been fondling through fall and winter.  (I've been a little sluggish knitting it up, but it is hard to let it go.  I mean what would I pet?) To say that I love to knit with earthy things is not to say that I don't like knitting with heavenly things too. It is a dream to knit.

I declare this a desert island yarn.

My desert island had better have a good link to the internet and be on a regular postal delivery route. Just sayin'.

On Coming Home

I did have a wonderful weekend, and then, as ever, one must return home.

A surprise awaited me!

Several weeks ago, I ordered a few more things from St. Denis Yarns. I love Veronique Avery's yarns and St. Denis is one of the few online places that has all the B & L lines.  The 2 yarn lines are the perfect match.  One woollen, one worsted, both utterly good.  

Ordering from St. Denis is always a pleasure.  

I wanted 3 more skeins of B&L sport in Sheeps grey.  I wasn't too worried about dyelot matching.  There are ways I can work around it.  On opening the package, what did I find?  A dyelot match for the 2 skeins I already had.  Nice job St. Denis!

I also tried another colour of Boreale blue.  There is a back story to the blue thing.

A long time ago, I bought some very pretty blue beads.  

It is like having a little vial full of ice.  The problem is that most blues are pastel blues.  These beads are not pastel.  They have tones of soft lavender blue and icy white.  (Lavender blue dilly dilly)  Up until now, the closest I have come to the right blue is a single skein of Drops Mohair Silk and I really really didn't want to have to use them on mohair.  It just was not what I had in mind.

Last time I found an excuse to order from St. Denis, I ordered chalk blue.  I had high hopes, but no.  Chalk still had a soft pastel blue cast.  It is a lovely colour, but it was not quite what I needed.  

This time I tried Aurora. 

 Isn't that just the prettiest soft icy blue combination ever?

I am content.  Coming home was very, very good.  Now if only I can remember the pattern that set me on this icy blue path.

That was nice

Knitting on the Clapotis was really nice.  I'm not sure that it has quenched my itchy fingers, but it was nice.  OK, I know it has not calmed my itchy fingers.  

Never the less, it is what I am going to focus on finishing as my 'needs something beside the sweater' project.  Beside the several socks on the go, that is.    

 

I have some yarn coming soon.  Its another wee shipment from St Denis yarns.  I say wee because it really isn't very much.  Just a few skeins of Sport in  sheeps gray and some denim Durasport to go with the other skeins of denim and sheeps gray in the stash.  There was a little thing that happened as I passed the Boreale section of the website too.

I think the sheeps gray is a contributing factor in the yarn funk I have going.  I think I am in love with this yarn.  It is really the most interesting stuff.  It has a delicious warm natural heathered look to it.  I think I was born to be heathered.  There are depths and hidden secrets, corners of sheep and corners of gray, that will be revealed as I knit.  

I would have started but I have to wait to see what happens with dye lots.  Two different source means it will not be the same dye lot which is neither here nor there.  It is going to be a textured and I have no problem alternating balls so for this end use, I am not anticipating any problems.  It does mean I don't even want to start the project until the other arrives though.  

And so I wait.  It is some consolation to know something special is coming in the mail for me, but there is that wait.  Dear post office, much though I malign you in my everyday life, in my yarn life, I revere you.  You bring me good things.  Bring it faster please.

The yarn funk should be over soon.  

All I got was a t-shirt

Mr. Needles was off for his usual midwinter golf thing and once again, after a bit of ribbing,  

 and joshing from his buddies,

He brought something home for me.

It really isn't quite so bright as it seems here.  It is more of a soft peach, or melon colour.  Very soft and pretty.  

Its a yarn I haven't worked with yet, Cascade Pacific, a 40/60 blend of wool and acrylic.   There are so many babies to knit for this spring and summer and its is the perfect blend for easy care and long wear for kids and families, I am very sure it will get put to good use.  I'm looking forward to it.

And to all his golfing buddies, should they or their wives be checking the blog (or not), thanks for putting up with my wee small request.   

I felt like winding yarn

On occasion, I take a day or so and do very little knitting.  When I do, sometimes I play in the stash and sometimes I wind yarn.

Yesterday I wound yarn.  

Yesterdays winding was lace weights and a couple fingering weights. No tension, but not so loose that the ball fall apart.  (Also, much though I think Vogue Knitting is foolish to go strictly i-digital, the spring issue is, once again, a truly wonderful thing.)

I know that a lot of people don't like to wind till it is time to knit. I understand why.  Sometimes, the ball winder and swift combine to make a ball of fibre so tight that you can barely pull the fibre out of the center ball, so tight that every ounce of stretch the yarn ever had is used.  I'd worry about yarn that was under that kind of stress for a very long time and if I wound like that and left it, I probably wouldn't wind early either.

I am the master of the double wind.  Once off the swift and then off the ball for the perfect yarny cakes of goodness. On occasion and yarn dependent, sometimes it goes to a 3 level wind to create the perfect tidy cake.  They only have a little bit of stress and tension on them, much like any nice ball of yarn you would find in the store.  If yarn is caked, it stores so tidily in the square sided bins.  I don't know if it saves room but it makes such a tidy pile that it warms the cockles of my heart.  

I like how cakes of yarn sit so quietly, so well behaved beside me when I work from them.  I can put a few in the bottom of a workbasket and they just sit there waiting.  I like that.

But most of all, I like having it all wound up so that when I get it in my head that I absolutely must knit with x today, I can take it and knit and just have a good time.  If I have to wind everything before I start, that can and has stopped me from working on that project.  When that happens, I usually end up with other things started and a bunch more wee things in the WIPs bin.

My preparation in advance seldom means that I knit with a plan.  Indeed, on seeing a new knit queue organizer program on sale in a magazine, I was repelled.  Trying to follow a knitting plan usually reveals that I wasn't listening to what I really like, but was listening to what everyone else is doing, or what I think I ought to do. A general direction, East, west or south is as much a plan as I need. I prefer to knit on a whim and choose my projects on the fly.

I just like to be ready so that when it is time to fly I can do it with as little effort and as efficiently as possible.  

And so it grows.

Some things just happen.

I spent some time wandering in yarn store yesterday.  There were so many pretty things to reacquaint myself with.

Some managed to follow me home.  One of the things that managed to follow me home was a very pretty ball of Zauberball Starke 6, a sportweight version of one of my favourite pretty things.

I've worked with this weight of Zauber goodness before on my Purple Haze shawl.

It is completely possible that I love the sportwieght version of Zauberball Crazy even more than the regular fingering weight version.

The Starke 6 (at the back) was welcomed by two balls of the same colourway of the regular weight of Zauberball Crazy.  (It is a good thing I like all Zauberball, isn't it?)

I have a thing for this colour palette too.  If you recall this wee project?  Turquoise blues and bright apple greens.  Magic!

Though I would have preferred the comfort of two balls for what I have in mind, one was better than none.  A little something else to hold the worry of running out of yarn at bay, followed him home.  

 A couple balls of a perfectly matching fingering weight apple green.  For what I plan, and for the way I hope to use it, the small difference in weight, shouldn't matter.  And, the green really is just the back up plan.  

A two ball back up plan?  Two balls because if I don't need it for this project, I might as well have enough for a decent pair of socks. 

And so a mighty stash grows.   

The good stuff

The light gray sport weight arrived!  

Seriously.  Does it get any better than this?  

Well, no and yes all at once.  

Because I did my purchasing of the Briggs and Little through Veronik Avery's online ST. Denis yarn store, I also had the perfect opportunity to do something I had long wanted. 

I could try some of her St. Denis yarn.   Here is Boreale a fingering weight yarn, the second in her line of yarns.  

I have always loved the look of this yarn when it is knit up.  I have spent way way too many hours looking at the website pondering colours.  I have coveted and I have dreamed and now I have.  A little to start but  There.  Will.  Be.  More.  Oh, yes, there will.

 

So considering the choice of colours, why did I pick that funny weak kneed yellow white cream?  

I didn't.  It is the palest, of pale blues.  Chalk Blue, an absolutely stunning shade.  

Breathe deep.  Inhale the yarn fumes.  Then stop over at St. Denis Yarns because you really need to try some of this.  

Stuff

I have to tell you something else, something I have not forgotten about, but something that I was not allowed to tell you about till after Christmas, because the giver said I must leave it alone till after Christmas.  (It almost killed me)

And then it just never happened.  I forgot to tell you.  I am sorry about that.  It is one of those things you really must share with friends.

I was given a gift of some of the very very delicious Loft , Brooklyn Tweed's new fingering weight yarn.   Oh my.  

 Spun by Harrisville, it has a depth and quality all its own. And the colours.  Oh my.  The photo does look pretty good but in truth it is yummier.  Besides that pretty box of yarn to ponder over, in my view everyday for the last few weeks, has been a pretty gift bag full of delightful yarn and some very charming birds.  

Pretty, Yes?

And yes, Sandra and all my blog readers, I too wish we could all get together and knit.  I've been to Sigrun's house and oh my.  When my farmstead is ready, Sigrun and I will be neighbours.  We aren't quite around the corner neighbours but country neighbours,  the just a little way down the road sort of neighbours.  It is only a short drive down the way.  Sigrun and I will get together one of these days to knit and toast our cup of tea to all of you!    

Knitting has brought so many good things to me.  So many many wonderful people and very very close friends, both near and far away. 

After digging in the stash

I was digging in my stash the other day with my daughter in law ( Yes she knits. No not obsessively, but most of the young women from eastern Europe learn when they are young. I aim to fix that!) and because it was very late at night, I let it percolate over night.

When I did, the two buckets of yarn that we had open seemed to get all mixed up together.  There was Cascade 220 everywhere.     

The next morning while contemplating the sorry state of my space as I sipped coffee, I noticed a little bit of sweet magic.

 The cascade 220 is a perfect bridge between the Mini Moochi at the front and the Nuna at the back.  

I doubt that I would knit them together, but isn't it pretty how the colours all just work? 

I have some very pretty things.  Sigh.  B)

A great way to open up a new year.

I started the New Year by working on a project that I started after Christmas.  And by doing so I may have found yet another desert island yarn.  

I'm making a simple garter stitch shawl increasing 4 stitches one row and 2 on the next.  This give you that glorious wearable horseshoe shaping. Briggs and Little Sport.

It appears just the smallest bit washed out here, but it is the richest deepest of charcoals.  

I really enjoyed working with the Regal but this?  This takes it to a whole other level.  Desert island yarn.

OK, I admit it.  I would never be able to get by on a desert island.  I mean really.  One yarn?  Forever?  How could I pick between Sandnesgarn Tove, Custom Woolen Mills Mule Spinner 2 ply, the Laceweight Einband?  How could one choose between them?  

I think I have a have new desert island.  My new desert island is going to have a yarn store specialising in delicious, slightly crunchy, old fashioned yarns.  

Or else a really really great mail delivery system and a truly speedy internet connection..

-25 C

Right now, at this very moment, at the weather station nearest us, the thermometer is recording -25C. That it is 2:21 a.m. is beside the point.  It is cold.  The forecast for the deep depths of night (as if 2:21 isn't deep enough) is -30 C.

This deep dense cold makes me wonder about one thing more than almost any other.  What the heck were people thinking when they abandoned wool?  Or at the very least, what the heck were Canadians thinking when we abandoned wool?  

There have always been elegant suits and tailored pants in very expensive wool.  It is the most classic of fabrics for modern menswear.  It isn't hard to find, for ladies who want that same business like look.  But outside of a really great pair of pants, or the odd very expensive sweater, there is little pure wool to be found.  

Unless you shop in little boutique shops in trendy parts of town or stores that you would never ever take kids into, pure wool isn't there.  In an average mall, you'll probably find only 1 or two stores with pure wool fibres, and I'd be willing to bet that when you do find it, it will be a men's wear store. If you shop in an average chain store, wool isn't there.   If you shop on a budget, pure wool just isn't there.

Wool is the perfect fiber for Canada.  In Canada, even in the hottest summer, having a light wool sweater at hand is the right thing.  Summer nights can be chilly and spring and fall are perfect sweater wearing weather. 

But winter...Winter is why Canadians should hearken unto to wool like few other places on the planet. The other wool places are like us, secure in our position on the top or the bottom of the globe. Polar people.  Wool people.  Wool should be our common middle name.  

If I were a really talented writer, I would write a soliloquy on what it is to discover wool as an adult, and wear a wool sweater in the middle of a deeply cold and dark winter night.  I would tell you how, when I slip on a wool sweater or toss a shawl across my back, the chill that haunts me, is gone.  I would be able to capture the deep comfort that is sleeves curving down around my elbows, making the wool hug just a little more closely across my back as I move and work, and how a nicely buttoned sweater envelops me like my mother's hugs.  I would be able to make you read and feel the wool if I were a truly talented writer.

But I am not a really talented writer.  I may have been close to good on a rare occasion or two.  I might turn a nice phrase once in a while and that is enough for me.   

What I am is a knitter.  I am a pretty good knitter and I hearken unto wool.  That matters to me.  That matters more than is rational and sensible.  It has meaning in the deepest heart of me and in the cold of a Canadian winter night.  It ties the inside me and the outside world into one.  

I am cozy.  I am comforted.  I am warm.

I am also going back to bed.  

It's -27 C now.  Bed, snuggled under a pile of blankets, wrapped in my sleepy time wool shawl, is, after all, the only sensible place to be.

Close

but no cigar.

I did not get away unscathed a third time.  We worked hard, but there still was time to shop a little.  I did't follow anybody's plan.

This is Diamond Yarns Luxury Collection Llama and Silk.  It kind of looks like an ordinary blue, a nice tweedy blue, but this is one of the yarns you have to see to believe.  It is one of those colours that defies photography.  

It is teal but not, turquoise, but not, navy but not.  It has depth and intensity that is hard to define.  It doesn't matter since it is mine. All mine.

I have enough for a nice long wide shallow triangular scarf.  Possibly a Shape It Scarf.  But first...

There is always work going on on the second sweater.  Remix is a seriously fine yarn to work with.  So much so that if I had the room I would buy a full bag in every colour.  Its that rare non wool yarn that might very well do everything well. It's like the Cascade 220 of non wool yarns, but it's tweedy and easy care.  There will be more in my future.

Sleeve one is done and sleeve two is underway.  There has not been much time to knit but  had there been, sleeve two should have been about half done.

Should have been but isn't.  This lovely cuff was about an inch wider than the first cuff and had to be completely reknit.  And when I was comparing first to second sleeve again last night, cuff two is several rows longer than cuff one and a couple inches has to be frogged to fix it.  

I have a ton of work to do today.  Working the last few days put a crimp in the laundry schedule and I am out of bread so I have to bake too.  These are both things that can happen alongside large amounts of knitting and if heaven works in my favour, there will be a significant part of the second sleeve done before I go to sleep tonite. 

And if I get sick of sleeves, I can always start working on the body.  The sleeves require increasing all the way up, so its knitting I have to pay attention to.  The body is just brainless stockinette.

I'm looking forward to brainless.  Brainless knitting is highly underrated.   

Day 2

Again with the no touching of the ArtYarns.

Inconceivable.  

I did come up with one other idea that fits the plan criteria.  I love the Undercurrent sweater from  Knitty First Fall 2011 I have some gorgeous  Noro Silver Thaw that would be just about perfect for it.  All I need is another yarn to coordinate.  There are a couple things at the downtown location that might work, but I didn't even get the chance to think about it.  Oh well.  I'm back there for a few days next week.  Maybe I'll get the chance to figure it out then.  

Now, for tomorrow.  Tomorrow, I am at the southside location.  Southside has some slightly different yarns.   I need another plan.  

All this planning is hard work. Maybe the plan should be to touch some of the Artyarns.  Touching it is the sort of thing I should probably schedule.  Its safer that way.

And in breaking news, Mr. Needles sweater is finally dry!

I was asking him to 'vogue' but I clicked the camera too soon.  He might have been voguing just after this shot, or maybe it was just that he was bent over laughing at the very idea...  

The Plan

Well the plan worked.  

Within a minute of familiarizing myself with where things were in the store, I knew I would not go home with yarn.  They did not have the colour I hoped for.

Within a minute of knowing that, I knew that I wouldn't be able to stick to the plan.  I played with such lovely yarn yesterday.  I spent the morning pricing and sorting and getting the yarns ready for the shelves for both stores.  In the afternoon, I worked with students till 4 pm and then priced to the end of the day.  

When I say to the end of the day, I mean right to the end of the day.  I did not have a single moment to even cruise the store, looking for something interesting, or beguiling or even checking out how much of a particular colour of Remix they had in stock.    

So, I came home with no yarn.  I stuck to my plan through no fault and with no resolve of my own and I kind of regret that.  

I mean, they have Madelinetosh Vintage in stock.  They have a whole bunch of new colours and fiber qualities of Iris Schreier's glorious Artyarns in stock.  I didn't even get to touch any of it. Not even a single squeeze. 

Well I did brush the Art Yarns once in passing, but just once.  Not hardly a real touch at all. Barely a fondle.   

It was most unfair. 

Ice

I'm doing a few shifts at the yarn store the next couple weeks.  Sunday was one of them.  I was feeling weak, so I went with a plan of attack.  

The plan of attack was that if I bought yarn, it had to be pre-planned and it had to work with something I already had in the stash.  It couldn't be a whole project on its own.  So, the thinking began.  What do I need want in my wardrobe that I did not have yarn for, and that I had a reasonable chance of finding in the store on any given day.  And the deal breaker was that if they didn't have exactly what I was looking for, I could not get anything else.  

Ever since finishing Mr. Needles Lichen vest, I have wanted a colourwork vest made with Cascade 220 for me. 

There were a couple of lovely things in Folk Vests, my recent constant companion.  

I checked out a favourite, Scandinavian Star.  I checked Ravelry to see what others had done.  Right there, without looking any farther, I saw perfection.  A lovely blue and white version.  Sigh.  Breathtaking.  

I have a bunch of white Cascade 220 in my stash.  I have the the book and pattern.  All I needed was a nice icy blue.  

Cascade 220 is a fast moving product.  If you see what you want, buy it and buy it now.  It isn't going to be there the next time you go in.   I knew the blues that I didn't want, but was a whole lot less certain of what I wanted.  I wanted really soft blue.  I wanted cool.  Not pastel.

I winned!  Planning worked so well, I think I will do it again.

Perhaps a plain sock yarn?  No.  Too easy.  

..........thinking...thinking...thinking...

Ahhh there it is.  I have a lone ball of Fritidisgarn in a soft oatmeal colour.  I'll use it with some of the Cascade Eco on hand.  A gradient sweater perhaps?  The New Zimmermann book has one that is firing up my imagination.  I don't have quite enough Cascade Eco to get on with, but with the addition of a couple balls of oatmeal, it will be just right.  The price is right on Fritidisgarn too.  Under 5 dollars a ball.  Perfect.  

Here is hoping they have the oatmeal colour I want.   Otherwise I am toast.  

?????

I'm knitting away on sweaters here. Mr. Needles is my focus right now. One other has been swatched and a third in the dreaming of stage.  

My question is directed to myself this morning. 'Self', I ask, "self, what on earth are you about when you buy yarn?'

Yes that is the question isn't it?  My stash is proof of my fear of running out of yarn but really, this is quite ridiculous.

This sweater is a perfect example.  Body

and sleeve.

and so far I have used 2 and this much of a third.

Using this as my guide, I would guess that I will use two more skiens of yarn.  

I have 8.  

So ?????  

I wonder if I should change my Ravelry name to something like 'nevergonnarunoutofyarn' ?