Such a wonderful dilemma
All this delightful new yarn and I can't decide what to make next. All life's decisions should be so difficult!
I couldn't help myself, I had to do a swatch with the Noro Airisu. Here are the results. I started with a size 7 needle (the bottom of this swatch) but it made it very stiff and
didn't seem like it would be comfortable for a top, so I switched mid-swatch to a size 10 (the recommended needle size) and I like it much better. It's quite easy to work with except when it has a slub on the colored portion. I've been taking the worst of the slub portion off as it isn't shiny and looks out of place. I've almost decided what I want to make with it. It's a T-top pattern by Heartstrings called the 3 to 2 Any Gauge Sweater (pattern #W40) and is available through Elann.com.
I'm dying to try making it. Now to just do it. I've looked through every book I own (that's quite a few) including magazines and I can't find anything I like better, and the best part is that the pattern is made to adjust to whatever gauge and yarn the knitter chooses! I like that, plus I like the style, though I will make it short sleeved rather than either of these two versions (they said it could be done with short sleeves, but didn't offer a picture). It will really dress up a pair of jeans or go with something more dressy just as easily! Do you think I have myself convinced yet?
I also found a pattern in one of the magazines for a purse that I wanted. It's similar to the Sunburst Sling from Two Old Bags. I'm actually thinking of changing it so that the center is slightly off kilter. It will take some playing around, but will be fun to mess with!
Well I'm off to play with the thoughts running through my mind, after all there's no one else to play with!
Yarn Garage Sale! Whoo hoo!
Family members can attest to the fact that only a yarn garage sale or vacation could get me out of bed before 6:00am. But this was a garage sale not to be missed. It put a pretty deep hole in the budget, but a yarn store would have been at least another 33% over what I spent. Here's what I got;
Ice - Turkish made novelty yarn in pink and black for scarves. 6 skeins of the pink and 3 of the black. The first will be for one of the neices I think. There is no yardage or fabric content listed but it's kind of scratchy so it will need to be carried with something else. Hopefully washing will soften it.
Noro Airisu - 54% Rayon, 38% Silk, 6 % Cotton and 2% Nylon - 19 skeins of 50 meters each (I think it wants to be a short sleeved top). It's a multi stranded yarn with lots of color. This is a Noro yarn I've never seen before, but I love it.
Noro Silk Garden - 13 skeins of color #105 which wants to first be an entrelac purse and maybe some scarves or, or, or . . . maybe more purses.
These skeins show all the beautiful colors in this yarn.
And last but not least some gorgeous Turkish lace weight mohair in blues and purples. Not brands I have ever seen, but for the price I just couldn't resist.
Already I can feel the "startitis" in my hands quickly traveling up to my brain! Now if only I had another pair or two of hands to knit with! It will be fun (um, maybe not) trying to find room for it all on my shelves.
The ad for this garage sale said over 2000 skeins/balls of yarn but when we walked up there really wasn't much out. Then the homeowner returned from the store and I asked if she had any Noro, mohair or silk yarns and she said yes, she hadn't gotten them out because she didn't want people to try to talk her down to nothing on the prices. I put back almost everything I had in my bag and went for the good stuff. I could have spent a lot more if I'd had it. She said she will be doing this again . . . I hope I have $$ when she does.
OTN: The I-Cord scarf is still in progress, along with the Bella cardigan which I haven't touched in a week.
The Cinderalla Scarf
Just two days ago this scarf was referred to in less than complimentary terms. This is Plymouth Jungle ribbon yarn http://tinyurl.com/hg2qp and it's a chore to work with, but absolutely beautiful when completed.Not quite finished but getting longer is the I-Cord Snake Scarf from Jane Davis' book "Knit Ponchos Wraps & Scarves". I gave the wrong title to this book earlier, but will correct it in the old post. My apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.This next picture shows the progress I'm making on the I-Cord scarf. I'm 
making a slight change in the pattern, because it is stockinette stitch it rolls (it's intended to do that), but I don't like that much bulk around my neck so I'm doing the neck portion of it in seed stitch. I didn't want the seed stitch to make a straight line across so I started in the center with one stitch, then the next row I made a purl on either side of the original purl and half way between those two and each edge I did one more purl (it was much easier to do than to describe). Ultimately the design was to end up with three points of seed stitch coming down, with the center one one row longer than the ones on each side. Once those three triangles of seed stitch met then it continues in seed stitch for about 12 inches (I'm still working on this portion).S 'n B meeting tonight for me was an escape. We met at Jo-Ann's and of course that meant I had to (I really, really had to) buy a new book. I had a 40% off coupon so I picked up AlterKnits by Leigh Radford for only $15.00. It wasn't so much that I needed this book, or even that I needed another book, but I was gifted some $$ by my dear father-in-law and I wanted to get something that I would keep, not just more groceries, or something that would be gone in a short time. There is an awesome scarf/shawl pattern in it that I would like to make for someone who specifically mentioned that she would like a warm shawl to wrap around her when it's cold.Speaking of Jo-Ann's - they have a good yarn sale coming up this weekend - Friday through Sunday I believe. Note however, they only accept one coupon per customer now. When our superstore first opened they accepted three coupons on three items, a Jo-Anns, a Michael's and a Beverly's. So I guess from now on I'll take one item to the car and go back in to purchase the next one . . . as my grandfather used to say, "There is more than one way to skin a cat!". The last time I was at a Beverly's store they also accepted multiple coupons as long as they were from different sources. There they actually accepted on of their own "mailer" coupons and a "newspaper" coupon along with a Jo-Ann's and a Michael's - making 4 coupons on one sale (7 skeins of yarn). These stores need to figure out what they are going to do, because those of us who need to save money are going to take our business where we can save.Enough of my sputtering, it's time to put my feet up and knit awhile.May your disposition and your days all be sunny!
Favorite Photos
A friend shared some photos with me recently and it reminded me of my favorite photo, so I thought I would share it with all of you.
This was taken with my first digital camera, a Sony 2.3 megapixel, in November 2000. The location is the base of the castle in Disneyland. If you look at the reflection the swans heads are in that classic heart shape, though not quite touching. Also, if you look at the turtles reflection you can see their heads quite clearly. That spit of land has since been removed and the swans are seen much less often these days.
Other photos taken on that same trip were equally stunning considering my amateur status as a photographer. This one of the Mark Twain is also one of my favorites.
I now have a 5.1 mega pixel Sony. Both my digitals have had the Carl Zeiss lens and I think it's one of the best lenses available on a digital.
There are such high mega pixel cameras available today that I'd love to upgrade to one that takes better close ups. Of course if I keep dropping mine as I did on a recent trip I may have to upgrade before I'm really ready.
We have several accomplished photographers in our family. Some by natural talent, and some who've taken courses in photograpy.
For you knitters who keep up with my blog, otn: a ribbon scarf that was started back in February for dgd #1 has been frogged and tomorrow will be started once again, this time on wooden needles. It will be a drop stitch scarf in Plymouth yarn's Jungle in colorway #116, it goes from blues to cream to chocolate and some gorgeous shades in between. It's beautiful, but not the easiest to work with . . . but I will persist, and it will become a lovely scarf for a lovely granddaughter.
Knit in peace . . . 'til next time . . .
Color, Color, Color
This is the scarf I'm currently toting where ever I go . . . It's Interlacements Peru, a hand dyed 50% Superfine Alpaca, 50% wool in colorway #218. I love the intensity of the colors in this yarn, and like the way it's knitting up even more than I liked it in the skein in the store. The pattern is the I-Cord Snake Scarf from Jane Davis' book "Knit
Ponchos Wraps & Scarves". It's got a long way to go before it will be finished but I suspect it will get finished quickly as watching the colors play out makes it difficult to put down. I'll be taking it to the Stockton Ports game tomorrow evening. I've found knitting makes the game go faster . . . for me at least, though I doubt it affects the way others perceive it. I got lots of questions about the sweater that I took to work on the last game. This is one of the yarns I bought with the $ I was gifted by two of our daughters for our 20th anniversary.
I've heard from my One Skein Secret Pal. She's from New York, and likes basic things, so I'm thinking about the yarns that she might like. I'm thinking maybe a nice wool because she said she is a cold weather person. I'll be making a visit to the LYS soon to see what they have that has her name on it. Mmmmm, I wonder what their stock of wools will be this time of year?
Yesterday brought yet another Mother's Day gift from dd#1 and her family, a wonderful Harry & David gift basket containing some really yummy Lemondrop cookies, a tin of Cherry Vanilla tea, a beautiful sunny yellow mug, honey sticks, some candies, and a gorgeous striped tea towel all nestled in a basket that will come in handy for my many knitting projects.
I'm struggling with the lace pattern of the sleeves of the Bella cardigan. It seems I do most of my knitting late at night, and it's not working well because I can't count and watch tv, or maybe it's just that I'm tired. So I'm going to have to set aside some "day time" hours to work on it. That's easier said than done!
Back to the scarf . . .
A picture of progress
Today I wanted to document the progress on the Bella Cardigan from www.knitty.com The sleeves are a lace pattern which quickly became a problem while trying to knit them at our local S'nB meeting http://tinyurl.com/lo8po because I can't talk and count stitch patterns well. Thus I'm at a point where I need to frog a row or two and re-do them as when I got to the end of the row there weren't enough stitches to complete the pattern.
The Fishermans Shrug from Knit It! is done. Some notes for those of you who would like to make it; the errata is listed at http://tinyurl.com/lb8wu , the drawings are not correct but the pattern is. The L/XL is not truly an xl imho.
Mother's Day was really special. Several of the kids called to chat, and a gift certificate to one of my favorite web sites allowed me to shop without ever leaving home. Though it still allowed for some of the frustrations as the internet went down while I was making my choices and just like in the stores there was more that I wanted to buy than the budget allowed for!
Lunch with hubby's parents, sisters and their hubbies was fun. We went to a small sandwich shop that was always Mom's favorite. No crowds, very casual and really yummy food.
Try this sandwich sometime;
Ham, thinly sliced
apple, thinly sliced
leaf lettuce
tomato
dijon mustard & Mayo
wheat or grain bread (or your choice)
It was served with blue corn chips! Delicious! That along with a glass of refreshing ice tea made for a very yummy lunch.
Time to head for the knitting basket . . .
Making progress
The Fisherman's Shrug from Knit It! is now put together and has about two of the four inches of ribbing around the body. I should finish it over the weekend, but with Mother's Day in there it may take a bit longer.I've finished the body of the Bella Cardigan from www.knitty.com and have a couple rows of the sleeves done. The sleeves are lace and thus require my full attention.Mother's Day will be nice. Along with several family members we'll take my mother-in-law and father-in-law to a quiet little place that mom likes. Due to dementia that has become more advanced over the past year she does best in that type environments. She'll enjoy it at the time but may not remember it the next day, so we will be content to see the light in her eyes during the moment.I'm excited about the One Skein Secret Pal Exchange that I've joined. The secret pal that I'll be sending to is from New York. I've emailed her but haven't received a reply yet. I'm anxious to hear from her so I can start deciding what to send her!I've heard from the pal who got my name and we're striking up quite a bit of conversation! She seems like a very interesting person, and one who I'd quickly become friends with if we lived close. I can hardly wait to see what she'll choose for me. June can't come too soon.The weather here has quickly become more summer than spring. This week has seen two days in the mid to upper 90° range. It seems it was winter just a week or so ago.The knitting needles are calling . . . May the love you put into your knitting be felt ten fold by the recipient.
didn't seem like it would be comfortable for a top, so I switched mid-swatch to a size 10 (the recommended needle size) and I like it much better. It's quite easy to work with except when it has a slub on the colored portion. I've been taking the worst of the slub portion off as it isn't shiny and looks out of place. I've almost decided what I want to make with it. It's a T-top pattern by Heartstrings called the 3 to 2 Any Gauge Sweater (pattern #W40) and is available through Elann.com.
I'm dying to try making it. Now to just do it. I've looked through every book I own (that's quite a few) including magazines and I can't find anything I like better, and the best part is that the pattern is made to adjust to whatever gauge and yarn the knitter chooses! I like that, plus I like the style, though I will make it short sleeved rather than either of these two versions (they said it could be done with short sleeves, but didn't offer a picture). It will really dress up a pair of jeans or go with something more dressy just as easily! Do you think I have myself convinced yet?
