May 18, 2008
Marshfield Fiber Fair - 2008
Some people had fun at the Fair...
(Hi Heather! Hi bunnies!)
Some did not!
I really enjoyed it, myself! It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm but not too hot. I had fun hanging out with my knitting friends Heather and Dallas (and seeing even more knitty buddies and random Ravelers), and I came home with some really soft handspun, a skein of beautiful pink and brown variegated laceweight merino, and sheepsmilk cheese!
Posted by zarah at 8:24 AM | Comments (3)
May 16, 2008
Marshfield Fiber Fair
I'll be there, will you?Posted by zarah at 6:37 PM | Comments (0)
April 24, 2008
Time for the Fling!
I'll be headed off to st. Louis this afternoon with Tammy for my very first knitting retreat - The Loopy Ewe's Spring Fling. I'm signed up for classes by both Wendy and Cookie A. It' the first time I've actually taken a knitting class, so I'm really interested to see how they go. I'm sure it will be great. The Spring Fling board on Ravelry has been buzzing about this event for months, so it will be nice to finally meet everyone in person.
But first - I've gotta go work half a day!
Posted by zarah at 6:53 AM | Comments (5)
December 4, 2007
New yarn makes it all better
Hey there - I've been a major slacker on posting lately. "Major Slacker!" [salute]
I've actually been doing quite a bit of knitting on the Lady Eleanor scarf, plus I started a new pair of socks. I hadn't really been feeling the sock-knitting mojo, but that was before I got a package in the mail containing these beauties:
The Loopy Ewe: How Zarah Got Her Groove Back.
Some pretty purple Trekking XXL....
A gorgeous skein of Wooly Boully Meanie (colorway "Fishing with my Father")....
And last but not least, my treat for becoming a "Loopy Groupie" at the Loopy Ewe - a skein of Seacoast Handpainted Supermerino. This is going to be a Christmas gift to Kate, since it's totally her colors.
Posted by zarah at 5:58 PM | Comments (3)
June 21, 2007
Glee in Tweed
Remember last week, when I was sulking because it had been such a long time since I bought any yarn and I was hoping to get some for my anniversary? Well.....
My little pity-party purchase came in the mail! I guess it ended up being fairly unnecessary, since Matt came through like a champ with the yarn from San Francisco, but I'm still really excited about knitting something for summer. I bought 6 skeins, which should be plenty to knit Glee by Zephyr Style.
But I told myself I would cast on until I finished the sleeve of the Hempathy sweater.... so here it is!
(Yeah, yeah, it's not supposed to be short sleeved. But I think I will run out of yarn otherwise. Seriously, I decided to go short-sleeved way before my new yarn showed up!)
In other news... AfricanKelli has inspired me to to start training for a triathlon. Look for the old "Running Fridays" feature to start again - hopefully it will keep me motivated and accountable for my training!
Posted by zarah at 6:32 AM | Comments (9)
June 20, 2007
Zukii to you!
So... turns out I got some new yarn, after all! My husband was on a trip to California for work, and he was thoughtful enough to stop by a yarn shop for me!
I got two skeins each of "Fluffy" and "Iceland" by Zukii Designs. It's made in California. Iceland is handspun thick and thin, and Fluffy is a really thin yarn with some little fuzzies on it. I think I might use it for Wisp, from the new summer Knitty.
Posted by zarah at 6:30 AM | Comments (5)
June 11, 2007
A Week Without A Camera
Well, my anniversary came and went without any yarn to be seen.*
But I did get an awesome umbrella for my patio set! Matt and I usually get a gift together on our anniversary, something we can both enjoy. (This dates back to the early years of our marriage when we were really broke.) We also found these neat umbrella lights at Bed Bath and Beyond that are solar-powered - the solar panel goes on top of the unbrella, and the lights loop around underneath. Nifty, huh?
I would show you a picture, but.... Matt "borrowed" my camera for the week (he's at a conference). I always have a hard time blogging without any pictures to narrate, so this week might be a little light on the postings.
* Don't dismay - I took pity on myself... Glee in Silky Tweed, you will be mine!
Posted by zarah at 6:35 PM | Comments (10)
June 8, 2007
Twitchy Eye
I need a fix.... I have not bought any yarn since APRIL 4, people!!! The stashies are getting restless - they've heard Old Man Kochoran tell the same stories so many times, it's not even funny.
My anniversary is this weekend, so maybe my dear husband can forgo the traditional gifts of iron or candy (what a random combo, by the way!), and buy me some yarn? (Pretty please?)
Posted by zarah at 5:36 PM | Comments (8)
May 2, 2007
Before and After
Remember this yarn that I got in the "we're not buying anything so we're not cheating on the yarn diet" yarn swap?
Well, this picture makes it look almost pretty. It's not. The colors are more orange and just kinda fugly. Brianne gave it to me and said, maybe you can dye it....
Well, here are the results. I haven't dyed any yarn in quite a while, so I couldn't really remember how much dye I normally use, but I knew I wanted a fairly dark brown. I didn't get it quite as dark as I wanted, but I think that's just the colors of dye I had to work with.
(If you're interested in trying your hand with acid dyes, try the kits from Prochemical - you get 6 different coordinated colors and all the other chemicals you need.)
I got this color by overdyeing with both mochachino and sugar maple. I think it turned out pretty well - I really like the "manly" sock patterns in Nancy Bush's book Knitting Vintage Socks, so this skein will probably become one of those patterns. (Now this is the kind of yarn diet that I like!)
Posted by zarah at 8:05 PM | Comments (4)
April 30, 2007
Yarn Swap!
Last Friday, I met up for a yarn swap with local knitbloggers Meredith, Brianne, Brianne's mom Linda, and Tammy (who attended by proxy - she's brave girl, but don't worry, we didn't send her home with ANY fun fur! Except that kitty fun fur - right, Linda?)
Several of us have pledged not to buy any more yarn during the summer (my "yarn diet" goes until August 1 - no exceptions!) so we wanted to refresh the yarn stash without buying anything new.
I brought a LOT of yarn, but I wanted to keep my options open once I saw what everyone else brought to trade.
I made some lovely trades... wanna see?
First up, we have the Mama E C*eye*ber sock yarn, in a sickening shade of sorbet orange. I'm going to try to dye it or do something to make it look pretty - Brianne dared me.
Next I got several skeins of recycled sari silk from Meredith... she says she has a purse pattern I just have to make.
I plan to use the Diakeito and the Chunky AL for a fake-isle hat... hopefully I'll have enough yarn.
Last but not least, I got two skeins of Jo Sharp Tweed - can you ever have enough? - and two skeins of Cotton Tots to make something for my nephew who's being born this summer. I keep talking about him, but I really need to start KNITTING for him.
Posted by zarah at 6:47 PM | Comments (4)
April 11, 2007
Yarn diet, schmarn diet!
It doesn't count if I don't buy it, right?
I swear, I had no clue this was coming - it just showed up on my doorstep yesterday. It's a late b-day present from my friend June. We've been friends since around second grade - my first memory of her is when she threw up in the school lunch line (turned out she had appendicitis).
Anyway, life goes on, as it tends to do, and we don't see each other too often anymore, since she lives in Oregon and her parents moved away from our hometown. But she was visiting Missouri not too long ago, so we met for breakfast... and that's when I spotted her handknit sweater... and handwarmers... and socks. Oh my goodness, she's as bad as me! (actually worse - she's a spinner, too!)
So, long story long.... here's my birthday present from a fellow knitter - isn't it awesome? That purple yarn in the middle she spun herself. It's so pretty and soft (merino superwash), I'm trying to figure out the perfect project for it. I'm guessing it's about DK-worsted weight, and it feels about as heavy as a skein of Cascade 220, so probably whatever you could make with one skein of that would work. Any ideas?
Thanks again, June!
Posted by zarah at 6:11 AM | Comments (9)
April 3, 2007
The Great Annual Yarn Sale....
You know I love a good yarn sale. I don't go crazy, but I do try to find good deals on projects that I know I will love - I have to have a project in mind before I buy! Every spring Simply Fibers holds a sale to clear out the winter merchandise and promte the spring stuff - at least 15% off everything in the store! I managed to find a few items....
First up, 6 balls of Rowan cashcotton DK to make this pretty short-sleeved cardigan (pattern in Rowan Classic Summer booklet, which is proving quite inspiring to me!). I think if I do the little extras to make this look really nice (ie - tubular cast on, setting in the sleeves well etc.) I could probably wear this to work. Plus, it's in DK weight yarn, so compared with most of my other projects, it should knit up super fast!
(I have plans for another sweater out of this book in Hempathy, but I need to do a practice swatch to get the lace pattern down first. I keep screwing it up, and Hempathy is tricky to rip back (very splitty).
Speaking of practice swatch, I also got a couple balls of a linen/acrylic blend (WAY cheaper than Euroflax linen) to make a practice swatch/handtowel with. I'm itching to get started, but I'm forcing myself to finish the moss stitch handtowel first.
Last but not least, I got this gorgeous skein of Colinette Jitterbug (superwash sock yarn) to make another pair of socks for my husband. It's actually a little darker than it looks in this picture - I think it strikes the perfect balance of interesting color cahnges for me but dark enough for his tastes.
This will probably go into the stash to marinate for a while, though... I finally got a pair of socks started that I like!! I'll post pictures tomorrow. (Oooh.... the suspense!)
But on that note, I am formally declaring a moratorium on yarn purchases until August 1! I have yarn for two summer sweaters, plus plenty of random skeins of sock yarn and other stuff. No free days, no excuses. I know I can do it!
Posted by zarah at 6:42 PM | Comments (9)
March 30, 2007
Mothman Vanquished
Confession time... I have no idea who "Mothman" is, I just thought it would be funny to see what came up when I typed it into the flickr search engine. Apparently, there's a statue built of him in West Virginia. And it's pretty creepy. But anyway....
After a thorough freezing of my entire yarn stash, as well as a dose of common sense from my better half, I've determined that moths were most likely NOT invading my stash. After all, wouldn't we have noticed them getting into our wool sweaters? And there's no dead moths in the bottom of the closet where I store my yarn (It's in a rolling cart with three wire mesh drawers - so anything like that should have fallen to the ground when I was rummaging through it to pack everything away in the freezer.
The good thing about this whole episode is that it's motivated me to use up the stash before I buy much more, and it has also forced me to work on one project exclusively. My MDK moss-stitch handtowel is almost done! Well, almost done according to the pattern. I might make it a little bit longer since it looks like I'll have plenty of leftover yarn.
Posted by zarah at 6:16 AM | Comments (6)
March 28, 2007
The stash is in the freezer
The verdict is in, and some moths have most likely invaded the yarn stash! (I guess this means I probably need to clean out the closet where it normally lives, too.)
But of course, knitting has not come to a total stand still. I've got a MDK moss stitch dishtowel that I started last weekend on the trip to visit my parents. It's nothing terribly exciting, but I can see how it could get addicting, combined with a stitch dictionary. I think I want to make another one to practice the lace stitch on my new Hempathy sweater. I keep screwing it up and that stuff just really splitty when you frog it.
Luckily, the big spring sale at Simply Fibers is coming up this Friday, so hopefully I'll be able to snag some more Euroflax linen there!
Posted by zarah at 6:31 AM | Comments (7)
February 14, 2007
And now for something completely different
Pretty, huh? I figured you guys might need a break from the all-Lizard-Ridge, all-the-time blog entries that I've been churning out lately.
It's my very first skein of Socks that Rock, in the Obsidian colorway, mediumweight. (It looks all brown in the photo, but there is actually quite a bit of dark gray in there, too).
Since I began knitting in earnest in late 2005, I have made socks for myself (2 pair), my sister, my mom, and my grandpa. But I've never successfully completed a pair for my husband, who is so sweet to put up with my knitting obssession and tendency to leave bits of yarn, needles, patterns, books, projects, etc. on pretty much every flat surface in the house.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, the guy deserves a pair of socks! He only likes dark socks, and he has given the official stamp of approval for this color.
So.... (as if I need more projects going right now) my question is, what "manly" patterns do you recommend? He liked the Gentleman's Fancy Socks that I knit for my grandpa, but I like to try different patterns, so I'm open to other ideas.
Posted by zarah at 6:06 AM | Comments (3)
December 27, 2006
More Knitty Gifts
As if the llama yarn wasn't enough, my mom totally spoiled me with knitting gifts this year. I got three more skeins of Noro to continue working on my Lizard Ridge afghan.
I soooo love knitting the LR squares, so I'm very happy with this gift! I do my best to get very last inch of the Kureyon into a square, so I'm hoping I can graft some of my leftovers onto these skeins and gets 4 or 5 squares out of them. (I'm such a yarn miser.)
Mom accidentally bought one skein of Noro that's not Kureyon - I think it's Kochoran? Is that a thing? It's very pretty, but I think I'm going to try to swap it for my Kureyon at the LYS unless someone gives me a really good idea for something to make with it.
I got this Lantern Moon knitting basket that I've been coveting PLUS a gift certificate from Simply fibers from my uncle in the "grown ups" gift exchange at my grandma's. The gift giving at my grandma's house can reach epic - and ridiculous - proportions, but luckily the adults have agreed to reserve the insanity for the children and do an exchange among each other. My uncle said I was so easy to buy for - my mom told him where the yarn shop in Springfield was, so he just went in and told them he needed to buy a gift for me. Apparently, I had been there less than an hour before, pining for this very basket, so they just handed it to him and wrote out a gift ceritificate! I think that could be a sign that I spend too much time in the yarn shop, ya think?
And last but not least... the piece de resistance... I also got a ball winder and wooden umbrella swift from Halcyon Yarn! What a great haul!
Posted by zarah at 8:16 PM | Comments (10)
December 26, 2006
Zellama Yarns
One of my many knitty gifts this Christmas was this gorgeous hand-spun llama yarn. Actually, my gift was much better than that. I got to visit the llama farm, meet the spinner, and pick out my favorite yarn!
Once I really started getting into knitting, I was just desperate to go to a knitting festival. Unfortanately, I live in the midwest and all the "big" fiber festivals seem to be on the east coast! So I started doing some research to see if there was anything closer to home, say... in Missouri? Turns out, I had quite the fiber enthusiast right in my backyard. Zelma Cleveland runs a small llama farm called near her home outside my hometown of Chillicothe, MO. She is involved in nearly every part of the fiber process - she raises the llamas, shears the wool (she does send it out for cleaning), cards the fiber, spins it, and also knits and weaves!
She takes her products to various agricultural fairs around the midwest, but she also keeps a little shop set up in her basement. This was my Christmas gift - I got to choose whatever I wanted! (For my mother's sake, I tried to stay somewhat under control in the budget department. Artisan yarn ain't cheap!)
I ended up selected the yarn pictured above - it's about 600 yards of sportweight 2-ply in the llama's natural color. Actually, all my yarn came from the first cut (which is apparently the softest and best) of a single llama, named Brocade. Zelma labels each skein with the name of the llama it came from, so it will match perfectly in case someone needs to get an additional skein later on.
I also got a tour of Zelma's workshop, which essentially takes up her entire basement (and she had some other spinning wheels in storage). She has at least 50 plastic storage bins full of fiber, and wheels, spindles, carders, and other spinning implements everywhere.
Of course, I couldn't get out of there without at least a tiny little spinning lesson. I've always told myself that I didn't want to spin, it would just cut into my limited knitting time, but.... I figure it doesn't hurt to try! The good news (for my husband, who is vehemently opposed to MORE fiber arts entering his home) is that I'm really crappy at it. Perhaps I can blame the freebie spindle, which is made of a couple of old AOL CDs and a dowel rod. But, like a true fiber enabler, Zelma sent me home with a gallon bag stuffed full of fiber to practice with, so I may give it another go.
More Christmas knitting news tomorrow... there's actually a hint in the first photo in this post - can you guess?
Posted by zarah at 8:17 PM | Comments (11)
September 27, 2006
We have a winner!
Actually, there are three! Last week, I was getting close to hitting 1000 comments, so I held a little contest - promising the 990th, 1000th, and 1010th commenters the chance to choose ANY skein of yarn from my sock yarn stash.
The first winner was Brianne, who lives right here in the Springfield area. Last weekend I went to her house for a little knitting (and balll winding!) fun, so she got to choose her prize in person. Didn't she do good? She picked the Tess baby/sock yarn I got at MS&W this summer.
Commenter 1000 is .... Lolly! I'm so glad she won, I got to meet Lolly this May when I went to Washington DC on vacation. She was a wonderful tour guide around the city, and even helped me navigate through my very first fiber festival!
Commenter 1010 is .... Julie from Jujuknits! She was my spoiler in SP7, so it's nice to be able to send her something nice after all the wonderful stuff she sent me!
Lolly and Julie can clck here to peruse the stash up close and personal and choose their prize.
I just got back from a 1 day business trip to Minneapolis.
Good news: plane time=knitting time.
Bad news: lost luggage=thank goodness I have a cousin in Minneapolis who's a lawyer in Minneapolis I can borrow a suit and shoes from so I don't look ridiculous/disheveled for my deposition.
My bag did finally arrive about 2 minutes before I was getting ready to leave my hotel to go downtown for my depo, but needless to say, I was feeling a little flustered by the whole situation when I got there. Luckily I calmed down and tried to ignore the fact that I had no makeup and no hair products. Maybe it helped me intimidate the witness? =)
Eek. Well, the good news is, they changed the rules THE DAY AFTER my flight so hopefully we can all go back to carrying on our bags for short trips like that one. Whew!
Posted by zarah at 7:47 AM | Comments (5)
September 20, 2006
Stash Management
Compared to many knitbloggers out there, this is an extremely reasonable amount of yarn. However, my husband loves to remind me that this is not the standard I should be measuring myself against - to "normal" people this is a LOT of yarn.
I have to say I agree with him. There's not much in here that I hate, but there's plenty that I will likely never get around to using. I don't like to admit that to myself, but it's true. I enjoy shopping for yarn and I will never be able to keep from shopping long enough to knit up everything I have.
I wish I had time to knit up everything I have for charity or some other good cause, but it's just not going to happen. I've been knitting steadily for almost 2 years now, and some of this stuff has been hanging around WAY too long.
So, in honor of reaching 1000 comments - which should be happening in the next week or so - I'm going to give the lucky thousandth commenter their pick of my sock yarn stash. (And probably # 990 and #1010, too!)
I think this will be one of my contributions to Socktoberfest - sending some sock yarn out into the world to become socks!
See anything in there you like?
Posted by zarah at 7:21 PM | Comments (22)
September 19, 2006
August Spectrum Wrap-Up
I am the wost swap hostess ever! My Hand-Dyed Project Spectrum Swap ended over a month ago, and I never showed you the yarn I received from Maylin! Here it is in many lovely neutral shades. She also sent me a package stuffed full of other wonderful goodies: cookies, tea, a silk scarf, and some incense! She puts me to shame!
Actually, I've been getting spoiled a lot lately. I found some cheap Cascade Fixation in a color KnitPastis had been looking for, so I sent it to her and look what I get in return!
Getting presents from her certainly wasn't my goal but I can't say that it bothers me!
I added all my new yarns to my yarn bin. It's getting a bit ridiculous. But I love it! Stay tuned for a picture - I'm trying to catch it in natural light.
Posted by zarah at 7:42 PM | Comments (9)
July 24, 2006
Swappy Time
I've received some fun stuff in the mail lately... wanna see?
This is the package from my Vacation Swap Pal Rebecca from Australia. She does lots of different crafts, including beading. She sent me a bracelet and earrings.
I also got a little felted pouch, a fan, and handmade card, some nice lotion and sugar scrub, and........
2 issues of YARN magazine, which is a super-cool Australian knitting magazine. It's a lot smaller than Vogue and Interweave, but it has lots of patterns and really nice photography. It's available to US subscribers, but I don't know how much $55 Australian Dollars is. Hmmm... that's what the internets are for, silly! Okay... $40 US for 4 issues is probably a little steep for me, but if you're a knitting magazine addict, it's worth looking into!
Just a few days before receiving my Vacation Swap package, I got this hand-dyed yarn in the mail! I was a little worried at first. I run a monthly Project Spectrum yarn swap, and I had to do a lot of rearranging this month to accomodate late sign-ups. Originally, Penny of Penny Lane was my swap partner, but I gave her to someone else when we had an uneven number. Anyway.... she sent me some yarn and this cute little notebook anyway, just cause she's so nice! She sells yarn in an etsy shop, if you like it.
I love getting presents!
Posted by zarah at 8:08 PM | Comments (6)
July 19, 2006
Photobooth is so cool
I got a new computer not to long ago, and I keep finding cool new features! This picture was taken using the Photobooth application that came with my MacBook.
It's a picture of yarn from Penny over at Penny Lane. She is participating in the July Project Spectrum yarn swap, and was nice enough to send me a skein, even though she's not my pal!
Here's some more pictures from Photobooth.
Posted by zarah at 10:31 PM | Comments (11)
July 7, 2006
More dyeing fun
Sorry about the little blogging siesta, friends! I have just been having looong days at work where I come home and just need to veg. But I have still been reading everyone else's blogs - I'm especially enjoying seeing everyone's vacation pics!
I have been doing some knitting and dyeing since the last time I posted. Carla is coming right along, I'm up to the raglan decreases on both sleeves right now. I hope to finish them this weekend and I'll have an update for you Monday!
On the dyeing front, I decided it might be nice if I actually READ THE DIRECTIONS for the acid dyes I bought, and tried dyeing again.
This time around, I'm using some nice fall colors and some sportweight superwash yarn that is perfect for that quick-knit pair of socks or even a hat or gloves. My first batch is done and ready for sale at Simply Fibers here in Springfield. (Not all of the hand-dyed sock yarn is mine - ask Carol to point you in the right direction!)
I'm still getting the hang of dealing with the chemicals, but I was really happy with the colors this time around.
And here we have the finished project hanging out in my dogwood tree to dry. It dries so much faster outside, but I always get a little paranoid that the birds are going to find it and either (a) poop all over it or (b) snip it to bits and make little hand-dyed nests for their chickies. Luckily it is just paranoia, and the yarn survived quite well.
I will probably do a bit more dyeing this weekend - I have a few skeins that need overdyeing - both are a little light for my taste - and one more skein that is a totally blank canvas.
Last note on dyeing: I have sent out matches to everyone involved in the July installment of the Project Spectrum Hand-Dyed Yarn Swap - if you signed up and haven't heard from me, please let me know. Happy dyeing! (This month is purple.... I had a little purple overload last winter, so I've been trying to branch out a bit. I don't have any purple projects planned at the moment, but I'll see what happens!)
Posted by zarah at 6:37 AM | Comments (6)
June 22, 2006
Diet Time?
Some people really get into self-improvement at the beginning of the year - you know, New Year's Resolutions and all of that. But for some reason, I've really been feeling the urge to "better myself" lately - who knows, maybe it's the Summer Solstice effecting my brain. But I've been trying to clean my house more, read more, exercise more, east healthy, watch TV less, all that sort of thing. I've been quite busy at work for a couple months now, so maybe I am trying to get some organization or balance in my life - who knows.
But, Zarah, how does this relate to knitting? Are you going to undertake some kind of crazy knitting project, like that chick who is knitting a swatch of every single stitch in the Barbara Walker Knitting Treasury? Well, no, not exactly.
As part of my cleaning frenzy, I finally got all my yarn put away in one place. I do not have three rooms of yarn like some of you people, but there is plenty. The thing I noticed was how many "sets" of yarn I have - yarn that was clearly purchased for a project. Projects that I still think look exciting. Projects that I really ought to be working on!
I've got quite a bit on my needles right now (socks, wrap, hat) but whenever I finish one of those projects, I really need to tackle one of these:
Cambridge Jacket in Interweave Knits, Summer '06. I bought the Tess Yarn for this sweater at Maryland Sheep & Wool to make a sweater for my husband - theorectically, it would be nice to finish it by his birthday in November, but I'm all about the no-stress knitting, so we'll see.
Such a cute sweater, and it shall be mine, mine, MINE! My LYS was having a closeout on Cascade Quattro, so I snapped up 4 skeins - just enough to make this sweater!
Isn't this jacket adorable? The round construction just seems so cool to me, too. I bought yarn for this as soon as I saw the pattern (6 months ago) -- I would love to knit it to wear this fall.
If I end up knitting this pattern, it will be a complete rip-off of Lolly's awesome version. But I don't really like the sweater I have going in Cotton Tape right now, so I wll probably rip it out and try this one. This is the most summery sweater of the bunch, so I will probably get started on it first.
Last but not least, I have lots of yarn in the stash for smaller projects like these comfy-looking Log Cabin Socks from Handknit Holidays - I hope to make lots of gifts this year, but I'm trying to spread it out throughout the year - no-stress knitting, you know!
But just seeing ALL these project I have planned: What was I thinking? (I know what I think now... it's time for a yarn diet. Until at least two of these projects are DONE!)
Posted by zarah at 7:01 AM | Comments (8)
May 12, 2006
MS&W Yarn Buys
IMG_0964.JPG
Originally uploaded by kerner.
My yarn purchases ar Maryland Sheep & Wool were all about the Tess Designer Yarns. MmMmMmmmmm.... I do love merino. But this -->
This is Hand-Dyed, superwash merino! De-luxe yarn at a very nice price. I've heard other people complain about the selection at the Tess booth this year because they didn't have many yarns that were multi-colored. I guess each person has their own tastes, but I love the hand-dyed yarns that are only ever-so-slightly vareigated. This is 1500 yards of dark green/dark gray yarn, which should be just enough for a nice sweater for my husband. I still owe him a sweater after the Great Sweater Debacle of Birthday 2006. I don't think the poor guy even got a replacement gift after the sweater went horribly wrong. So, I am going to TRY AGAIN. NEVER GIVE UP. Yep, that's how my daddy raised me. =) So, if anyone has knit a nice men's sweater in worsted weight yarn, please let me know.
Here's my only other yarn purchase at the festival - some soft and colorful sock/baby superwash yarn. I have several friends who are expected babies soon, so I might use it to make a little baby sweater.
Posted by zarah at 6:55 AM | Comments (7)
May 10, 2006
Maryland Sheep & Wool
I didn't travel all the way to Maryland just for the festival - I just happened to be in DC at the same time it was going on. As soon as I found out, I was determined to go. Finally, about 3 days before the event, my husband finally relented and said I could go. I excitedly called Lolly (who had already volunteered as my tour-guide-for-a-day in DC) and arranged transportation to the event (strangely enough, the DC Metro doesn't go there!). Lolly's friend Jenna and her boyfriend were driving to Columbia MD where we would meet up with Lolly for the short trip out to the fairgrounds.
Jenna picked me up on Saturday morning (right on time) and we headed onto the dreaded Beltway. I got a full dose of DC traffic, since we ended up stuck on the highway, completely stopped, for around an hour. The traffic sucked, but the silver lining was that I got to know Jenna a lot better.
We started out with shopping - there was a lot of yarn, to be sure, but I was looking for something unique (can't buy it at my LYS) and a relatively good bargain. I fell in love with the Tess yarns, which are "somewhat solid" hand-dyed yarns with a good selection of colors and reasonable prices. They also have really nice multicolor superwash sock/baby yarns. I think one of the reasons I liked the Tess yarn was because it was in its on tent, and I was having sensory overload in the exhibition halls.
Susanne was nice enough to give me a ride home in the early afternoon, since I had to meet up with my husband at 6pm.
Tomorrow: MSW yarn purchases and a vacation knitting update!
Posted by zarah at 7:24 AM | Comments (7)
March 27, 2006
The end of the birthday flowers
In a rather unusual turn of events, I got TWO bouquets of flowers for my birthday last week. I brought them home from work with me on Friday, and managed to take some pictures before they wilted.
I also dicovered the digital macro function on my camera: ooooh... super-close-ups!
I realized that most of my flowers match March's Project Spectrum colors: pink & red! So I'll be featuring a new flower photo each day this week to send out Project Spectrum in style!
I mentioned in my last post that I got a gift certificate to my LYS, Simply Fibers. I picked up this Cascade Quattro (Cascade 220 with multi-colored strands) on sale (I actually have 4 skeins, but they kept falling over.) I think the yarn show owner is trying to make room for more summer yarns, so I bought all there was in this color. Any good ideas on what I can do with 4 skeins of Cascade 220? I'm thinking possibly a sweater vest for my husband? (Can anyone pull those off anymore?)
Posted by zarah at 6:54 AM | Comments (3)
February 22, 2006
Sock love
Do you love Socks That Rock from Blue Moon Fiber Arts? Join the Sock Club!
Link from Whip Up
Posted by zarah at 2:41 PM | Comments (0)
February 6, 2006
Attention Ozarks knitters - Fiber Fair this Spring
12th Annual Fiber Fair - May 20 2006
Sponsored by Highland Fiber Artists, this event will be held at Webster County Fairgrounds located at N. Marshall St. at Banning St in Marshfield, Missouri from 10am to 4pm (rain or shine). Booth info: $10 for 8x10 pavilion space. Contact for vendor information. Estimated attendance: 300-400. Show & sales of fiber producing animals, finished items produced from animal and plant fibers, supplies for dyeing, knitting, spinning and weaving, education demonstrations, workshops, children's hands-on booth, fashion show and more. Free admission and parking. For more information contact Helen Grace Muzzy at 950 Fellowship Rd., Marshfield, MO 65706 or call 417-859-7840.
Posted by zarah at 12:21 PM
February 2, 2006
I'd like a heaping bowl of YARN, please!
Posted by zarah at 10:00 AM | Comments (5)
November 8, 2005
Pretty please?
I ran out of yarn for the socks I'm knitting for my husband -- I bought it from a bargain bin and there's no way I'm going to find any that matches. Luckily it's just the toes, so even if I have to knit them in bright red, I'll just tell him it "adds character." Anyhoo... I was wondering if anyone out there had some spare worsted weight superwash yarn -- any color will do! I just need enough to do two sock toes.
I'll send a surprise to whoever can help me out.
Posted by zarah at 10:00 AM
October 25, 2005
Possum, it's what's for dinner
I really like the yarn I'm using for the Man Socks. It's a pretty color and not too slippery for superwash. I started wondering what was giving it the soft and slightly fuzzy texture, so I checked out the label a little more closely then I did when I was swiping it out of the bargain bin at my LYS.
The mystery ingredient? Possum. That's right -- I'm making socks out of possum fur. (Well, only 30% possum fur, but still!) Now, I don't know what you think of when you think of possums, but I think of roadkill. Apparently it's quite a "luxury yarn," (and it does seem nice to knit with), but I just keep thinking: what's next, a scarf out of raccoon? Perhaps I just need to rename my blog Hillbilly Knitting.
Posted by zarah at 10:00 AM | Comments (2)
October 7, 2005
Simply Fibers, My Dear LYS
I got the Fall Newsletter from Simply Fibers* today! I am very excited. They are finally going to be open on Sundays AND they will stay open late one night a week. This is great! New classes... new yarns... even longer hours for the knitting group. I will definitely have to stop by on Thursdays after work and knit awhile. Did I mention a 25% discount of the "Yarn of the Month"??? And they're even having a Christmas party where we exchange knitted ornaments!
I don't buy all my yarn locally, but I do try to support my local yarn shops by buying books and patterns there. The prices on the internet are great, but sometimes you just can't beat touching and seeing (and sniffing?) the yarn in person.
*Located at Campbell & Sunset in Springfield MO.
Posted by zarah at 10:32 AM | Comments (1)
September 23, 2005
Yarn question
Has anyone tried the Peruvian Baby Silk from elann?
Posted by zarah at 10:46 AM
September 20, 2005
New yarn from Santa Fe
It may not look like the kind of mohair you normally buy at your favorite yarn shop, but this is authentic handspun hand-dyed mohair. It doesn't have the fuzzy halo I normally think of when I think of mohair -- instead, it has big curls coming off of it like a curly-headed baby. I could only afford one ball of this stuff (plus the yarnseller at the Santa Fe Farmer's Market only had one ball in this color) so... I need some suggestions of what I can make that is worthy of my new acquistion.
Posted by zarah at 6:20 PM
September 1, 2005
Schoeller Stahl Merino Stretch
Help! I am knitting a sweater for my husband with Schoeller Stahl Merino Stretch, and I am almost sure I am going to run out before the sweater is done! I bought it from elann, but now they are sold out of the color I need. The color is "coffee" -- no. 1307. Please email me if you happen to have an extra ball lying around.
Posted by zarah at 10:25 AM