Big Ball 'O Yarn

I spent some quality time this afternoon with an empty paper towel cardboard tube. Standing on a chair, listening to a podcast and winding my latest yarn acquisition into a big ball 'o yarn. Ahh, the excitement of my life even overwhelms me at times.

This yarn is intended for a clapotis. I've been wanting to knit one for some time now and the hunt for just the right yarn has, at times challenged and obsessed me. I've spent hours, (I hate to think of how many hours), looking at finished clapoti on ravelry, searching out hand dyed merino/silk blends on the web, reading all the blog posts on the multiple Clapotis KAL's.

I came very close to buying Sheep Shop 3, a 70/30 merino silk handpainted blend. I've considered Brooks Farm. Several etsy sellers. Maybe even dye my own. I even, for a short time, considered saying to hell with it and just spend $90-120 for the Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb (but I always came to my senses before getting too attached to a LL colorway).

Well, a couple of weeks ago I came across some hand dyed yarn by Miss Babs, on the Woolgirl site and fell in love with a colorway called Bronze Plum. It's a %100 merino superwash in a 560 yard skein, very reasonably priced. No silk in it, but merino alone is nice too. And since there were only 2 skeins left, I decided to just buy them before anyone else did. Regret, over a yarn purchase not made, is a terrible thing.

It was the first time I ordered from Woolgirl and it was a very positive experience. The yarn came quickly, wrapped in pretty color coordinated tissue paper, tied with matching ribbon, a couple of sample products, and a sweet thank you card with a kitty cat. I'm a sucker for presentation, and cats. Nice!

So I decided today was as good a day as any to swatch. And I recently joined the latest clap KAL, Fashionably Late in '08 so that was a little added incentive to get going. I don't have a winder or swift. I usually just wind a hank of yarn on my thumb and carefully drape the skein over my knees or around a chair. But I thought 560 yards of worsted weight yarn called for an alternate plan, the paper towel method. And in my case, it also involved 4 cans of Progresso soup. Don't ask.

I only wound up one skein. I know I probably should alternate skeins since it's a hand dyed yarn but I'm going to live dangerously and hope there's not too much variation between the 2 skeins. What do you think? I swatched on size 7 and 8 needles, I'm going to go with the 7's.

I also "made" some sock blockers for my finished Monkeys. I'll probably treat myself to some nice wooden blockers at some point (or hint to my family when they're looking for Mother's Day or birthday gifts) but in the meantime I did the DIY thing on a very simple level. I found a blog, Little Sesame Knits and following her general directions went ahead and cut up a gift box. I'll try to find a heavier cardboard or other more attractive material next time I'm at the craft store but these do the trick for now. So here's the finished purl-less Monkeys by Cookie A. in Louet Gems Wild Cherry colorway. They are %100 superwash merino and very soft.

So it was a fairly productive start to March. Come on Spring!
Happy Knitting!

True confessions... or sometimes you just have to treat yourself!

I bought more yarn. This is what happens when I take a day off from work. The yarn store is too near my house and well, I found myself over there this morning fondling the Sheep Shop yarn. I've had my eye on Sheep Shop yarn for a few weeks now. Checking out all the colorways on the company page. Stalking it online at WEBS. And online at Loop in Philly. And even on ravelry, I've been perusing stashes, looking at Sheep Shop. I'm considering it for a clapotis. Sheep 3 is a merino/silk blend that I think might be a reasonable substitute for the Lorna's Laces. But I really wanted to see (and touch) the colors before committing and just ordering online.

Well, I just happened to finally track some down at, of all places, the LYS 3 blocks from my house!! Obviously, she doesn't have all the colorways. But I really liked what she had and think when I get ready to cast on for the clap, it'll be with Sheep 3. Today, just to test the waters, I bought some Sheep 1, 100% wool, in color number G129 and I'm going to cast on for a scarf. Probably this afternoon. It's so pretty!! Oh well, so much for finishing my socks.

The other recent purchase I want to share with you is some Araucania Nature Wool I bought when I went to a knit night at another not-so-local yarn store with my friend Knitting Novice. This yarn isn't really mine, so I'm trying not to get too attached to it. I bought it for my daughter. I'm trying to lure her into the knitting world. She's expressed an interest but isn't sure she's "crafty" enough. And let's face it, if I keep giving her scarves and socks, there's no incentive for her to learn. I love her madly, but I think it's time she made her own hats, scarves and socks. She's 27. Now if for some reason she doesn't catch on.... well, I'll adopt the Araucania.