No knitting, Just shopping

My nice striped socks look exactly like this past Sunday's photo.

Reason being a silly thumb ligament injury. I'm trying to be positive about this injury and hoping that 5 full days of no knitting help out. I really need to knit to get my piece of mind back.

So, what does a knitter do when down for an injury...buy yarn!

I managed to buy one of Simply Socks Yarn Company's Valentines Day kit. Included in the red bag was:

• Yarn from The Cyborg's Craft Room, colorway Tainted Love
• Chocolates from DeBrand
• Yarn Mug "Life is Short, Knit the Yarn"

Then, I had to buy this:

 From left to right:

• Opal, Daydream 6-ply
• Valentine's Day Kit yarn (see above)
• Poste Yarn, colorway Heartbreak Hotel, 6 stripe yarn

It was a really good post office day!

Stitches East 2014 Stash Enhancements

Well, there was a bit of stash enhancements purchased at Stitches.

Each year there is a map released through Ravelry that shows the layout of the convention center with the names of the vendors in their locations. Well, the OCD in me takes this map, color codes the vendors to visit, makes the list of what to get, and off I go.

This year I had ordered, for pickup at Stitches, a Bison/Silk kit from The Buffalo Wool Co. I had heard that you cannot be allergic to bison as you can be from sheep/wool. I was really looking forward to trying this new yarn.

They were easy to spot....as Knitters Universe had allowed them to bring their van onto the convention floor! Very cool!

Within my kit, was 800+ yards of Bison/Silk, beads, shawl pattern...and a little friend:

I also knew if I was going to continue to knit more toe up socks I needed more Hiya Hiya needles. So, here is the obligatory purchase photo:

• Lisa Souza - Bombxy Silk in Bayberry Colorway, 1094 yards
• Fiberlady - Makicot Bamboo/Cotton; Blue Hues, 335 yards
• Fiberlady - Mousou Bamboo; Purple/Rose, 650 yards
• The Buffalo Wool Co. - Bison Down/Silk; Natural, 800 yards
• Cast off Bind off Book by Leslie Bestor
• Hiya Hiya Sharp Needles - US 1.5, 3, 4; All 32" (2 pairs of each)
• Nicholas & Felice aluminum 'Bow' shawl pin
• Michelle's Assortment Straight Pin with blue bead
• Blue Beads, 8mm

 Not too bad!

Stitches East 2012

Interrupting the sweater news with a post about Stitches East 2012.

The DH was my companion for 3 days. Of course I didn't totally abandon him, I had a good balance of knitting time and vacation time with him!

I did a little bit of shopping Thursday night:

Blocking Roll (have you felt how light these are?)

Polar Fleece kit (*not in photo) & extra skein
The Sassy Skein - hat kit
The Sassy Skein - Jelly Fish Yarn
The Sassy Skein - dress pattern
Circulo Tecido Trico Yarn
Classic Elite Yarn - Verde Collection Allegoro
Valley Yarns - Goshen
Handmaiden Sea Silk - Wine
Handmaiden Sea Silk - Tourmaline
The Uncomplicated Knitting Machine book

Not bad! I mean it could have been much worse!!

The class I took this year was Fixing Mistakes in Lace Knitting by Brooke Nico. I would recommend taking her classes. She is a fun instructor, who explains things a few different ways to make sure everyone gets it. I learned a few ways to fix things. I hope in having learned what I did, I can finally tackle that Ishbel (version 4!). 

The DH and I also ate quite well, there was Salmon, Grilled Chicken, Rotisserie Pork, hamburgers, Chicken wrap, Brick fired Pizza....and who can forget delicious desserts:

Hartford, CT is such a great city to walk around in. We had some great daily walks around the Riverfront area and the bridge. Except for that one night that it was FREEZING!!

We will have to see if we can make it there next year.

Day Three: Tidy mind, tidy stitches

Organization. Depending on who you ask this is my middle name. My stash is no exception.

All of my yarn is cataloged in Ravelry. If I have a specific project in mind for it, the yarn is linked to the pattern.

Last year I participated in the 2010 Flash Your Stash. I took the picture on the right in April 2010.

The bottom one is from March 2011. Hmmm, it seems a little enhancement went on this past year.

Interesting to see some of the same skeins, figuring out the skeins that are no longer in the stash and seeing the new ones. Also, for full disclosure I didn't put all the skeins of the projects I'm currently working on in this photo.

One of the things that stands out at me this year are my purchases from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. I did purchase a couple of skeins from Stitches East, then promptly ordered 5 skeins of Sock Candy when I got home. They are all starting the bottom row on the left hand side. The other skeins on the far left are Knit Picks Comfy & Cotlin. They are some of the softest yarn I've held.

As for where I store my yarns. I have this canvas bag from LLBean. The yarn goes into see through plastic bags by weight into this bag.

I am going to guess that 85% of my stash resides in this bag.

I take out all the skeins of yarn for the particular project I'm working on and locate them elsewhere for ease of use. I also keep my leftover yarns if the ball is small enough in mason jars.

If I have a majority of a skein left after a project it goes into a see through bag with all the others and put in a separate tote bag.

Yes, it is my organized stash!

Christmas Stash Enhancements

Starting from left, we have 2 (edited - try 3!) skeins of Ty-Dy Cotton, Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts, Mission Falls Illustrator, Great Adirondack Yarn Company Bamboo Cotton, Artyarns Regal Silk & Artyarns Pearl & Sequin Silk.

Fabulous stash enhancements from a wonderful man! (the husband, verses Santa!)

I hope you all had a nice holiday! We still have a couple of Christmas celebrations to still get through. In the meantime, the weather shows us in quite a snowstorm with the potential of up to 2 feet of snow...great knitting weather!

Stitches Stash Enhancements

This was my first visit to Stitches and WOW! It was very exciting! My DH had provided the opportunity to go, along with an overnight at a local hotel.

Since you have already seen what I was wearing, let us move on...here is the obligatory 'Welcome to Stitches' photos from the Connecticut Convention Center:

It was then off to market! There are no photos allowed on the trade show floor. However, take my word, it is BIG!

Let me get a list of what you see.

Yarn:
Blue Moon Fiber Arts Luscious Silk in Copperline, 350 yards
Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silk Thread 2 in Lenore, 1125 yards
Lisa Sousa Sylvie in Sapphire, 750 yards
Cherry Tree Hill Yarn Organic Cotton in Summer Sky, 1750 yards
Kollage Creamy in Turquoise Sea, 200 yards (2)

Patterns:
Le Petit Pont by IrishgirlieKnits
Rippling Water Socks
Bellingrath: Shawlette & Sock SEt by IrishgirlieKnits
Fairhope by Dolce Handknits
Blossom Street Collection Book 2

Misc:
Sassafras earrings & keyring
Signature Needles US 6, 24 inch circulars
Biased Knitter T-Shirt
Knit Whits Ripley Hat Pattern & Yarn
*Christmas gift for someone who reads blog!

Stay tuned next time to see who I was able to get my picture taken with!!

Stash Enhancements

So, did you figure out what yarn I just enhanced my stash with?

SOCK CANDY from Blue Moon Fiber Arts!

Colorways from left to right: Scheherazade, Glory, Lapis, Plum Crazy, Lagoon.

I was thrilled to learn that Tina was bringing this yarn base back for a limited time to hand paint it. As per her website, she is looking into having it mill dyed at some point.

I had such a hard time deciding on what colors to purchase, so I initially purchased the two on the left. Then, I went back and added 3 more.

When I purchase yarn I have a general idea of what I'm going to make, like a shawl, hat, scarf, or socks etc. However, I'm not sure what I'm going to make with these yet. Time will tell!

The weather is finally beautiful here (instead of blowing rain like it had been all week) so I'm off to spend some time outside.

Birthday Arrival

In reading Joan's blog, Wool Free and Lovin Knit I found another sheepless yarn I wanted to try. It was made by the Great Adirondack and called Bamboo Fingering. It is a cotton and bamboo base in some great vivid colors.

Of course, then I searched the internet and found only a few shops online that carried this particular yarn.  One of the places I stumbled onto was Ewe Need Yarn. As luck would have it, the color that I just had to have was out of stock.

A couple of emails back and forth to Terri and yarn was on order. Of course, by then I had found another color that I needed. Terri was great throughout the ordering process, keeping me in the loop of what information she had received from the company through frequent emails.

My order arrived in time for my birthday, so it has become the birthday present to myself. To introduce themselves:

You see the Pansy and the Mixed Berry colorways. Since each of them come in at 990 yards a piece I plan to make a Clapotis with one. The other is to be decided.

So, hop on over to say hi to Terri, but better yet buy some yarn!


In knitting news, I have completed the straps on my Frock Camisole, however I'm still working on the back. I'll have pictures of the progress next time.

Swift, Take 2

Second skein off the swift:

This swift is so much fun!! No worries, I have no intentions of blogging each skein...it is just a new toy. :-)

As my DH tells me, "this too shall pass".

This is Handmaiden Sea Silk in the Cosmic Dawn colorway.

A Stash

I've been a web lurker lately. I've been staying in touch with my favorite blogs over the past few weeks, however, I've been absent from my own.

In my reading the blogs of others, I've almost always found a stash photo. Some of those photos have made my jaw drop with how many skeins or rooms they take over, while others have been, in my opinion, very manageable. It was time for me to take a photo of my entire stash.

So, what exactly is in my stash?

Starting at the top left to right (clockwise) is my Cascade Fixation, Rowan Cotton, SR Kertzer, Crystal Palace Panda Cotton, Handmaiden Sea Three & Sea Silk, Ultimate Cotton, Artful Yarns Fable, Knit One Crochet Two, Sugar 'N Creme, Lorna's Laces Pearl, Schoeller & Stahl Sockina, Mission Falls 1824 Cotton, Rowan Cotton Tweed, Ellyn Cooper Canasta, Tahki Cotton Classic, Sugar Bunny Boulevard, Classic Elite, Stacy Charles Kyoto.

I think my stash falls under the manageable category. It isn't a stash that I have more than I'll ever knit. The best part is it still all fits into one LLBean zippered canvas tote bag. When I use a skein I can buy one. It works for me. Although I have slipped a bit at times, however before anyone noticed the yarn has been knit up.

As I get better with knitting socks and hit my goal of learning the magic loop method I see the using up of the Panda Cotton. Many of the lace skeins are matched up to shawl patterns in my Ravelry que. I even have my skeins to make a bunny, of course!


The only skeins missing are those current WIP's, white Panda Cotton (for dying) and my Tussah Silk.

Not surprising is the lack of wool, angora, cashmere, alpaca etc.  as those would not work well with my allergies.

What I do find interesting are my color selections. You see a heavy influence of my favorite color - blue. Yet, there are some happy colors, bright orange from Tahki, bright colors from Ellyn Cooper and a rose color from Universal Yarns. I even bought bright orange Panda Cotton for socks.

I'm off to make some more bread as this loaf has disappeared already!

A little yarn candy

My MIL had an interesting way to present me with a Christmas gift. I opened up a package and in it was a ball of yarn.

You know the kind, you start off winding it around one of your fingers and keep going until it is the size of a baseball or melon?! In fact being that it is so dense you could probably do some damage if it got a good wack to send it sailing!

I asked if I could cheat in the unwinding process. I mean we had a meal to eat and all, let us not delay food. So, out came the trusty old winding machine, the ball went into a box at my feet and a winding I went. I ended up with a very tiny box and in it was a bit of money specifically for the purchase of yarn.

So, off to one of my favorite yarn shops I go: The Loopy Ewe! I use a bit more funds from another gift certificate I received and scored these two gems:

Yarn: Handmaiden Sea Three
Colorway: Twilight
Weight: Worsted
Yardage: 254 yards

I'm in love! These colors are right up my alley...the medium to dark blue and then the black. Well, between those two colors you have accounted for 92.6458% of my work wardrobe!

I have a few patterns I'm thinking of using these for. I'll keep you posted. As you know I have a shawl and scarf that need attention.

Webs, visit #2

DH and I went to WEBS on one of our days off. I have to say I was less overwhelmed than the first time I went last year.

We planned well, stopped and got something to eat first at the Northampton Brewery. Then to Webs with the list in tow. We also had time to stop at the Webs Bead store.

Without further ado, here is a photo of the loot:2 Socks At A Time Book by Melissa Morgan Oaks
2 - 32" 3mm Lantern Moon Circular Needles
5 - Rowan Cotton Rope in Orange
4 - Tahki Classic Cotton in Blue/Teal/Purple
4 - Tahki Classic Cotton in Red/Orange/Plum
1 - Rowan Calmer in Pink
2 - Rowan Calmer in White
1 - Mission Falls 1824 Cotton in Coral
2 - Mission Falls 1824 Cotton in Lush
2 - Mission Falls 1824 in Cardinal
1 - Cascade Fixation Yarn in Navy
1 - Rope maker

I would love to share what each of these yarns are destined for, however some of those individuals read this blog and well, that would be given away too much. So, stay tuned to see the projects as they unfold, or rather get completed.

I've spent a great deal of time tonight getting Ravelry updated with the photos, so next entry will be ocean photos!