More socks, more yarn

Having finished my previous sock project, I have started another. I'm telling myself that this productivity, combined with my recent progress on my sweater, means that my purchases at my local yarn shop's Sunday sale were merely replacement yarn. This is inaccurate, given that I bought enough yarn for three sweaters.

Sock progress

Travel followed by a cold: those are my excuses for no knitting news here, and not nearly enough knitting either. Oh, and the fact that it's Spring out there!
However, I can now report that I have turned the heel and started the ankle of my second sock of a pair using Wendy Johnson's Diagonal Lace pattern and Whimzy Pinzy's hand dyed wool free sock yarn in shades of (mostly) green.
More knitting later.

More sock yarn

I've fallen behind on posting the lovely recent additions to my Whimzypinzy sock yarn collection. Here they are:
Peacock-inspired:

The photo doesn't do justice to the subtle colors in this one, inspired by my photos of ferns, asters, butterfly, leaves:



Shades of green (had a name but I don't remember it)


I'm well stashed in preparation for my knitting group's planned "stash down" knitalong--no danger of a yarn shortage here!

My yarn idea

It was my turn to suggest a color scheme for Whimzypinzy's Cotton Club, and in the end she used all 4 of the photos I considered.
I can't wait to see the result!

Oh, yes, about the yarn...

Here's the latest cotton sock yarn from Whimzypinzy:



This should work up into something fun!
Last month brought a peacock-based skein with brilliant blues and greens but I haven't taken a picture yet.

More knitting, more yarn

September left me with a bunch of unfinished knitting, but I needed a fun, portable project, so I started some toe-up socks using the Watermelon Sangria yarn I got earlier in the summer (see 7/3/entry):



I am making each foot before starting either heel.

Stashtastic

It started small, as these things do--just a little idea for a corner of one shelf in a book case. One little lunchtime trip to Bed Bath and Beyond just to look at any storage boxes that might fit that shelf. Somehow it turned into this:



As it turns out, the top two shelves hold 16 boxes nicely. And each box holds roughly a project's worth of yarn (except for the sock yarn, of course.) Not that it's all of my yarrn, but it's almost all of the yarn I bought myself, as opposed to the yarn I got in the great wool-free-forever swap.

I figure I've already covered the cost of the boxes just by talking myself out of buying a bunch more yarn.

What's next? Well, I do have a little stack of books to reorganize...

Tending to my knitting

I have project updates and yarn updates, and the yarn is growing faster than I can knit!
In the project department:
1. I have finished my scarf:


2. I have started and made good progress on a sweater/top for myself. It's a modified version of Pioneer (from Knitty.com), using TLC cotton plus:

The photo is a bit blurred, sorry.

In the yarn department:
1. I got some fabulous Flock Bransonas cotton-bamboo yarn in a swap package from a Ravelry pal:

Yarn detail:

2. I signed up for Whimsy Pinzy's hand dyed cotton yarn club and have 2 yarns so far:
"A Night In"

and Watermelon Sangria:

Every month is a fun surprise!

Catching up

I've been slow to take photos and some how I got correspondingly behind on blogging as well.
My latest knitting update is that I've started Anna Bell's Cherry, a short-sleeved cardigan. The pattern calls for Jo Sharp Soho Summer DK Cotton, which means I can actually use the original yarn, and it was on sale! The color I have is called Rockpool, a deep green.
In sock news, I'm struggling along on my second sock using the Berocco Comfort Sock yarn. I like using bamboo or wooden sock needles but was disappointed that one wooden needle broke.

Quick update

Travel has kept me away from blogging for a while but not away from knitting. Or shopping. Midcoast Maine's LYS owners are friendly and helpful!
A quick visit to Heavenly Socks Yarns in Belfast got me started on sock knitting, using Charlotte Schurch's lucidly written More Sensational Socks. My first pair used some previously purchased Kollage Luscious, variegated in purple, green, and gold. They are comfy but a bit loose in the heel. I'm not sure I'll use it for socks again, or perhaps it just needs less ease and a ribbier stitch. I've started pair number two using Cascade Fixation in purple, toe up for (I hope) a precise fit.
Circumstances kept me from getting back to Belfast for the remainder of the trip, but I did manage two visits to Camden's Unique One, where on impulse I got 3 skeins of Schaefer's Laurel in the Empress Wu Zhao colorway. I'm hoping to find a comparable yarn in a solid to add structure to the randomness. In addition, still thinking of socks, I got 2 skeins of Berrocco Comfort Sock.
Photos later.

Yarn!

When I got home last night the Amy-friendly Lorna's Laces yarn had arrived from Jimmy Beans. (pix later). It's beautiful. !!

Amy-friendly!

I got so excited about the news that the Amy's Vintage Office colorway Lorna's Lace's made in honor of Amy Singer was available in an Amy-friendly non-wool version that I ordered a whole sweater's worth from Jimmy Beans. I was somewhat relieved to learn that it is back ordered while Lorna dyes another batch. I want to think of something fabulously artistic to do with it--something that takes its innate stripy-ness in multiple directions. It's a sophisticated look--charcoals and teals--and I want to support "amyfriendliness" on principle.

Crafty

I spent Saturday morning at the Crafty Bastards craft fair because a friend had told me there would be a spinner with vegan yarn there. After fortifying myself with a mango Italian ice I found the Folktale Fibers booth. She had some really pretty yarn and sure enough, some of it was vegan. I got 2 skeins:



The one on the right is a blend of organic cotton, bamboo, and "sparkle"--something synthetic. The green one on the left is bamboo, hemp, and sparkle. They are both nice and soft. It was really helpful to be able to handle the yarn to be sure it would suit my skin. These aren't very good photos; the colors are much nicer than they look here.

New Project

I'm using the Bernat soft blue "Soft boucle" acrylic I got in trade for some of my wool to make a top-down raglan/sweatshirt equivalent, using this pattern:
Comfy Raglan from The Knitteur.com
So far it's going well. I'm about half way down the yoke. I'm mulling the idea of using a contrasting color--maybe gray--somewhere to give it a little more structure.

Woolfree

I removed the slide show of yarns from the right corner. The wool is gone. Cottons, rayons, etc.are still coming my way. I've started an experimental rather narrow One-Row Scarf using the single ball of softly variegated chenille. Not sure if it's enough yarn yet but I like the effect, although the yarn puts a little too much friction on my irritated left little finger for extended knitting. Not sure if I need a bandage or if I should try knitting in my lifting gloves. Maybe a tiny finger puppet?

Yarn Wealth

Today I took my last batch of wool in to work. The green alpaca found a home and the various remaining rusts will, I am sure, be on their way to new homes within a week. The best part of all this trading is that I received (and continue to receive) so much yarn in return that is just the sort of stuff I'm ready and able to knit with right now. I've finally turned that woolly albatross of a stash into something I can enjoy.

Swatching and searching

I've been swatching my Peaches & Creme to see what needle size works for me and hoping (vainly!) that I would intuit my way back to the slip stitch stripe pattern I used long ago on that w**l vest I no longer have. This morning I found the stitch in my Barbara Walker II: "Stripe and Rib" pattern, to be worked back and forth on dps or in the round. I see a dishcloth cotton vest in my future. Will post a swatch later.
In the meantime, I've added 2 yarn slideshows (bottom right of page) so non-Ravelry knitting friends can see what I have. Soon I hope to have No More Wool!!

More de/re-stashing

I've photographed and catalogued all my yarn. Thank you, Ravelry!
I think I've found, photographed, and recorded all my remaining wool.
I've brought home, photographed, and recorded all the fun stuff I got in exchange for the Dyed in the Wool variegated, which has found a home.
I've put the handspun naturals( coveted by at least 2 of my colleagues) into my gym bag so they will travel to work with me on Monday.
Meanwhile, I have a few tentative nibbles on Ravelry as well as offers of small experimental amounts of various non-wools.
Somewhere in here I got out to view the tulips and daffodils.
Now it's time to start knitting something other than that afghan. I'm trying to recall how I did a slip stitch pattern that came out as a restrained 2-color plaid, back in my woolly days. I' m picturing it as stockinette, with vertical lines of slipped stitches, and occasional rows of a contrasting color, crossed by the slipped stitch.

Destash and restash

The package of yarn traded for my Rowan designer dk arrived -- 6 skeins total of 2 different cotton blends in black, plus some magenta cotton and some orange suede-like ribbon to play with.
Meanwhile, I've rummaged around and discovered more wool. 4 skeins of alpaca in a soft green, miscellaneous variegated odds and ends, and some fairly heavy reddish hanks--unlabeled, but somewhat similar to Manos de Uruguay in texture and shading. Might felt well?? Don't have the energy right now for the whole upload-the-photos process. Maybe tomorrow.
In the meantime, I'm hoping my Ravelry post will turn up some offers of oddments of nonwool I can try out to see what I like.

Fourteen!

I'm ridiculously thrilled to have finished block 14 with no mishaps. There's something about knowing these notes will show up on Ravelry that makes me want to have progress to report, and to report it, with some regularity, even though I can't imagine that any of my fellow Ravelers are really watching. My progress inspired me to drop by a LYS and stock up on some vest-worthy yarn: Rowan cotton jeans in a greenish brownish tannish tweedy shade called Jute. I yearned for the colors of the variegated Manos wools but I know it would make my skin cranky.