Yarn Crawl

Relief!

I washed and blocked the sleeve and it's going to fit. Woo-hoo! I have 3.5" done on the 2nd one.

Stash Enhancement and One Sleeve Down...

Yesterday Jim and I rode the bike out to the Midwest Fiber & Folk fair. It took a loooongg time to get there on the way there as we took the scenic route - about an hour and forty-five minutes. On the way back it took about an hour on the expressways. We were worried about rain, so figured we should take the quickest way possible. Luckily we didn't get rained on.

I did make two purchases:

First, four skeins of Brooks Farm Acero in a really pretty black color (it's like a semi-solid black that is really gorgeous and will have a nice sheen to it)

It's like 1600 yards, which is a lot, but I was worried about just getting three skeins. They were only $18 each for 475 yards or whatever it is, so I figured I should just go for the extra skein to be safe.

Next (and Jenny, you are going to laugh at this!) I bought five skeins of Allhemp 3.

The joke is that over a year ago (maybe almost a year and a half ago now) I sent a half-finished hemp knitting project to Jenny to finish and keep as I was so frustrated with it, and I sent her the heavier weight allhemp 6 I had purchased for a skirt as well because I was so frustrated with the hemp. However, that was when I couldn't stand small needles - and that was Elann Canapone, which kept tangling up and driving me crazy. I am now ready to give the Allhemp 3 a chance, but if I hate it, I will just destash it. It was only like $35 (no discount or anything, but I've discovered that lightweight yarns are a great deal for the money - even though you have to buy more yardage, proportionally they cost less anyway - it says this in Knit So Fine and it really is true.) Also, I don't think I'll ever attempt the Allhemp 6 again - heavier inflexible yarns really do kill my hands. But I figured that I don't mind thin cotton now, so why not give the lighter weight hemp another try? Plus the Allhemp has to be wound, so I can wind it right, unlike the Canapone that's in a (tangly) ball already.

I'll also share another addition to my stash that I bought on Ebay - delicious, isn't it?

I also finished the first sleeve of Broderie this morning:

I shortened it my standard 2" and the length is perfect, but I'm hoping it loosens up a bit when I wash/block it as it is a tiny bit tight right now when I put it over my arm. I'm sure it will be fine.

I'm hanging a bit today...the party was a lot of fun last night but I drank too much wine. Again, I think about how thin I would be if I only would stop boozing it up because honestly it's my only major diet flaw. LOL. I've been getting a lot better, but there's room for improvement for sure. At least I have been going to the grocery store and buying (and eating before it goes bad!) healthy food and eating better and exercising every day and drinking my five 16 oz bottles of water a day and usually only drinking one glass of wine at night with dinner. The wheels tend to fall off the bus at parties though. Oh well. It's a journey. All I can do is try to continually improve.

FRIDAY!

Finally, it's Friday! Another long week. It's quarter end, so at least I have been busy, which I prefer to sitting around trying to come up with things to do.

I picked out a fabric with the gift certificate I received from my wonderful SP - Gorgeous Fabrics just added some new knits and I LOVE this one:

I got 3 yards, which should cover anything I want to make with it! Love chocolate brown, and paisley, so the combo is over the top. Thanks again SP!

Last night I got about 9" done on the first Broderie sleeve - I could only handle about 2" in the round (shocker!) for that pattern so I ended up knitting back and forth from that point and will just seam it to there. I'll do the other one flat from the outset. I guess I could have ripped the 2" I had done, but I didn't think it'd make much of a difference at this gauge when I seam as long as I do it right at the edge as there are six stitches to the inch. Lazy maybe, but I can live with it.

Tomorrow I'm going to the fiber fest and looking for some good, pliable between-4-and-5-ply yarns. I swatched that Lustrado and it was ok. Couldn't get 7 stitches to the inch on 2s, which shouldn't surprise me, so I will reswatch it on 1s. That is a really, really lightweight yarn, much more so than the RYC Cashcotton 4 Ply I'm using, and I really want yarns that are more like the Cashcotton (like maybe 6.5 stitches to the inch instead of 7.) I've discovered I don't hate 100% cotton (and maybe other inflexible fiber) yarns if they are lightweight. Just the fact of being lightweight makes them much more comfortable to knit.

A year ago if you would have told me that I would be knitting something flat when the pattern says to do it in the round, knitting with 4 ply yarn and being open to 100% cotton I would have said you were crazy, that I would never change that much. Well, I guess it is always good to keep an open mind. I've recently noticed that I've gotten more set in my ways as I've gotten older, so I guess I'm glad I can still be open to some things.

Anyway, enough "deep thoughts". Have a great weekend!!

Miscellany

First up, I started the first sleeve of Broderie yesterday.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is one instance where I would have rather knit the entire sleeve flat! The Wildflower Knot pattern is kind of annoying to do on a small tube. I may do the other one flat. The pattern has you do the sleeve in the round from cuff up to the sleeve cap, then knit the cap flat - I've done this before on my own but I don't think I've ever seen a pattern instruct me to do so - so that was kind of cool and different. At least I'm not getting any laddering on my Magic Looping of the 46 stitches.

Next, I ordered one skein each of some lightweight Elann "house brand" yarns for swatching:

Lustrado (a Rowan 4-Ply Cotton knockoff - even same yardage - me likey)

Linen Twist (not too annoying looking, for linen)

Lara (a sport weight 100% cotton - looks like it has splitty tendencies though))

and Pure Bamboo (potential for drapey, splitty mess, but I'll reserve judgment)

I'll report back. Well, I'm not all that good at reporting back as I tend to get interested in a million other things and move on to those, but I will try.

What else? Jim and I are taking the bike to the Midwest Fiber & Folk fest on Saturday - this year many of the booths are indoors, in keeping with our "all rain, all the time" theme this summer, so that's a plus. Hopefully it won't rain though as we do want to take the bike. We're also going to a 50th wedding anniversary party that night (that we were invited to by voicemail, yesterday. Anyway.)

Jim also bought us tickets for Cavalia next Friday night - I was so happy that he just went ahead on his own and "made a corporate decision" (as he puts it) and bought the tickets. He knows I love both animals and Cirque du Soleil, so he was right on with the purchase. We'll have to find a good place to go for dinner downtown first - I'll take the train down in the afternoon and probably hit the downtown location of Vogue and Fishman Fabrics, then head to his office and pick him up for dinner. I'm feeling so much better than I was last week.

Next Thursday, I am having a Lia Sophia jewelry show - they are doing their twice annual "buy 1 item, get two for half price" sale so that is always the time I like to buy. If you see anything in their spring/summer catalog that you want, just shoot me an email at rm090195 at gmail dot com - I will ship it to you within the U.S. at my expense, and split the shipping cost with you if you're outside the U.S. The jewelry is really nice and comes with a lifetime guarantee if you keep the receipt. It's what I usually wear every day and in my blog pictures. I like that it's the cheapest item you pay full price for, too, not the most expensive. I'll buy a $15-$30 pair of earrings or slide/pendant for the full price item, then get two bracelets for half off!

Thanks SP!!!!

I just got a $30 gift certificate from my SP14 for my favorite online fabric store, Gorgeous Fabrics!!! LOVE!! Thanks SP! I'll have to pick out something special and post a picture once I do!

Checking in...

Not much going on so far this week - I've been swatching different yarns for the Tie Back Shell (another Connie Chang Chinchio design that I want to knit with the SKC this quarter) and I think I finally decided on Debbie Bliss Pure Silk in a royal purple color from stash. I bought the yarn a few months back from a sale at My Sisters' Knits and I think this is the winner for this design! I considered and dismissed Rowan Wool Cotton (right gauge, but no "sheen" which this design needs) and Classic Elite Premiere (ok, but again, the sheen factor wasn't there.)

Other than that, I still have to do the little cap sleeves on Paloma and pick out a ribbon for the neckline. The pattern recommends a 2.5" wide ribbon and I am going to go with a 5/8" wide one instead as I think it will fit in the eyelets much better and also be more understated. I'm thinking of one of these hand-dyed silk ribbons from M&J Trimming for it. Any suggestions on colorways?

I plan to cast on the first sleeve of Broderie later today as well, and I'm starting to feel some sewing mojo coming back after a hiatus.

I guess I had more to say than I thought!

Paloma Progress - Pre-Sleeves

I finished the body on Paloma last night, using a needle one size larger than the one I was using previously and adding a few more inches of length to make it more of a tunic. It will cover my hip bones but be a few inches above where my thigh meets my body, which is a good length for me. I just need to do the cap sleeves now, but I thought I would wash the body first.

Here it is lying flat on the washing machine:

and hanging (I thought I'd try photographing it this way as it is really hard to see anything on it when it's flat)

I think I'm going to end up liking this. Not much more to go!

As you can probably tell from my photos, I didn't do much sewing while on vacation, but I did do a lot of knitting! I did do some sewing at the beginning, and made yet another S3775 dress that I have to hem. I also found a way to trace BWOF patterns I like, and traced off two patterns, so I think that's an accomplishment. The destashing sale was a huge success and I've cleared out about four or five plastic boxes. I think I am going to use a few of them to house some fabric that's not exactly organized, and the rest for my clothes closet for non-hanging items like workout tops and pants.

Jim and I only did one long motorcycle ride - about four hours total on the bike - just to some farther flung "country-ish" suburbs (exurbs?) of our area. It was fun. We couldn't really go anywhere else as we got a lot of rain - I would say it rained about 75% of the time.

I think a week off is too long to hang around the house for me personally (particularly if it's too rainy to sit by the pool) - I get antsy. We still have to plan where we're going to go for our "big vacation" next year (we do a 2 week cruise every other year, usually) and that's where I really like to spend my vacation time. Interestingly, when I had all the time in the world to sew or knit, I felt kinda blah without a "routine" and didn't feel like doing much (except knitting). I didn't think I was such a creature of habit, but apparently I am now. I have decided I'm happiest when I'm busy, and the last few days were the best as I got a lot done around the house and organized some things, plus I'm happy with my knitting progress and destashing.

Anyway, that's my recap. Back to the routine now, which actually doesn't seem bad - hopping on the treadmill and going to work! I guess that is the point of a vacation - to refresh you to go back to your everyday life!

Broderie - Upper Body is Done!!

After monogamously knitting on this project for about a week, I just finished the upper body on Broderie! I think it's going to fit well! It's hard to tell 100% without grafting the shoulder stitches together, but I kind of pinned it together and put it on my dress form to get an idea. I probably could have shortened it from neck to bust as I am short in that area, but I just followed the pattern instructions as I did some measurements and thought they'd be pretty close.

Here it is so far (J.Lo got some (small) implants - I reduced her bust to the minimum size and then stuffed her bra.)

and a close-up of the lace:

More for the Destash Fest!

4.5 skeins of black Burly Spun!! Talk about immediate gratification. Compare to Cascade Magnum at $22 per skein - this is 100% wool, by Brown Sheep - 132 yards a skein. $25 for all 4.5. Price sticker says $15 a skein, so this is an excellent deal for this yardage in a super-bulky weight wool.

More Burly Spun in orange - 1.5 skeins; $12.

Paton's Classic Wool - $15 for over 800 yards of worsted weight merino wool.

Pics of some of the others I mentioned:

Louisa Harding Kimono Angora - $20

Cascade Ecological Wool - shade 9002 - $20

Karabella Aurora Melange - $20

I think that's it for now!

Destashing Update

I've updated my Ravelry destash page with a few other yarns.

Examples are some Karabella Aurora Melange ($20, 9 skeins), Louisa Harding Kimono Angora (8 skeins, $20 - originally paid an arm and a leg, but there is a funky smell to this yarn that has developed - if you know how to get rid of it, it's yours at a steal of a price), and some Cascade Ecological Wool (three 478 yard skeins, also for $20.)

Let me know if you're not on Ravelry and would like to see pictures of anything or a complete list of what's available.