Secret Pal Contest: Oldest Yarn in Your Stash

To be fair, I've only been knitting for five months, so my stash doesn't have much of a history. Even so, as sad yarn goes, this one is a doozy. Isn't she a beauty, in all her salmon pink glory?

This is only the second skein I ever bought. The first was a chunky blue wool. I bought it with a pair of 10mm needles with the plan of making a scarf. Instead, I got ambitious, started learning stocking and rib stitch and practicing increases and decreases, and the end result was that I made something resembling a blue whale far more than a scarf.

Thrilled with my success, I ran out to my tiny local crafts shop. This shop only carries acrylics, but I didn't even know what that meant at the time. It was yarn! That was good enough, right? This one was on sale, and I was quite certain I could make something fabulous from it. Yes, only five months ago I believed I could make something beautiful from one skein of salmon pink acrylic. Ah, I was so young and naive, back in those distant days of 2006.

None of that, of course, explains the current state in which the yarn finds itself. These days, my yarn is carefully stored in one of my dressers. Three drawers of my dresser, to be exact. At that time, I stored it carefully in...plastic bags. Ahem. Now, one day, I returned home to find half of it laying on the floor, one long strand trailing behind it. I followed that strand up the stairs, to the landing, around the corner and up the rest of the stairs to a rather exhausted looking pile of pink fuzz.

Through careful investigation, I have narrowed down the potential suspects and believe I have found the culprit. Would you trust this cat?



Some day, perhaps, I will get rid of this yarn, but at the moment I have quite a soft spot for this pink mess.

Blocked, not blocking

The depressing thing about keeping a knitting blog is how dependent it is on pictures to keep it interesting. When all your projects hit a dead end, and there are no new pictures to post, it becomes painfully obvious that you are making no progress in your various endeavors. At least, such has been the case for me this week.

Sahara ground to a halt when I decided that it needed short- or elbow-length sleeves after all. The yarn (Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran) was far too heavy to really work as a sleeveless tank. However, I don't have the DPNs necessary to finish the longer sleeves. The lovely Kate sent me several at Christmas, but apparently the package is taking a detour through Kathmandu on its way to me, as it still has not arrived. The poor, lost needles. So, Sahara is in knit limbo, which would bother me far more if I had any hope of wearing it before October.

Then, there is Soleil. The required yarn, Elann Sonata, was part of the massive yarn haul my mom brought last month. I started happily swatching on Tuesday, only to discover that the mercerized cotton is so tough on my hands that I end up knitting far more loosely than I normally would. I'm down to 3.5mm needles and still too loose. I'm facing the dilemma of raw fingers from too tight yarn or cramped hands from too small needles. I'm rooting for option C, in which I throw the damn swatch in the washing machine on high heat and hope for the best.

No need to despair just yet! I have drawers full of yarn and patterns aplenty. I have...Highland chunky wool. Highland silk/wool blend. A bunch of Wool-ease. Noro Kureyon. In wool. Handpainted...alpaca. I am, it would seem, more than ready for winter.

I do have my Turkish silk, though the aran weight doesn't match many summer patterns. I also have about 9 skeins of Lana Grossa cotofilo, a cotton blend. I bought that one off Pavi Yarns, a truly wonderful online shop with rather horrible colour representation. The lovely soft green I intended to buy ended up being more in the neon family. I might be getting desperate, though.

In the planning state is the Lauren shawl by Rowan. I don't have 15mm needles and will be using smaller yarn, but that won't stop me! I've had enough knitting roadblocks this week! I will likely use 10mm needles, more stitches, and see what happens. It's a shawl, after all. I don't exactly have to worry about proper fit.

So, one week, no progress. But here is a slightly overexposed picture of my insanely cute cats. You can't have a knitting blog without pictures, after all.

Secret Pal

I'm joining in Secret Pal 10! Any excuse to buy more yarn, right? But first, the questionnaire:

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I am something of a yarn snob and love soft, touchable fibers. Silk, cashmere, alpaca...mmm. Since I am not independently wealthy, however, I do tend to buy blends, though I avoid acrylic whenever possible. Really, I'll knit with anything that feels good and looks pretty.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I have a Lantern Moon needle case that I love. Since I bought complete sets of bamboo circulars in three sizes, I'm rather swimming in needles and had to devote three dresser drawers just to my circulars. The extra straights go in a vase near my bed (I do most of my knitting in bed).

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
Only since December 2006. I'm a newbie, but I really just took to it. I started my first jumper two weeks after I learned how to knit. I figure that, so long as I know my knits and my purls, I can figure out any pattern. I'd describe myself as an advanced beginner/slow intermediate. I can do most of the intermediate work; it just takes me a few more tries than someone who has been doing it for years.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
I do! It's actually on amazon.com, since I'm an expat American living in Sussex. It's something of a mess, as I remember I have it once every six months, add everything I'm obsessed with at the time, and then promptly forget about it. I still want everything on it, though. It can be found through my email address, majea7 at gmail dot com.

5. What's your favorite scent?
I'm not really a perfume person, though I will wear oils or other, non-chemical sorts of things. I especially love amber and ginger, and tend to fall in the 'floriental' category. At least, that's what the nice woman at Nordstrom's told me.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Sometimes. I don't turn down chocolate, that's for sure, but I rarely think to buy it for myself. I'm more of an ice cream and baked goods sort of person. Mmm, ice cream sundae.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
Are you kidding? Other crafts would only take away precious knitting time. Spinning seems like it might be interesting if I had more time, but at the moment it doesn't really appeal.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
Anything. Really, anything. I'm something of an idiot when it comes to classical music or opera, but that's not the fault of the music. I particularly like the 'alt country' genre, although I hate that name. And yes, MP3s are fine.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I love rich jewel tones and earthy naturals. Red, purple and green are my favourites, and I have a particular soft spot for all shiny things. Shiny is a colour, right? I'm not a big fan of blue or orange, and pink is only okay in small doses.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
'Family situation' sounds like some kind of horrible pregnancy euphemism. I don't live with any other people, if that's the question, as my family lives in the US and my partner lives in Kent. I do have a small, furry family: two Bengal cats that are completely, utterly mad.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Scarves, yes. Hats, when it's cold. Mittens, when it's freezing. Ponchos, never. Why would I choose to wear a tent that adds ten pounds to my frame without feeding me ice cream first?

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I love knitting tops and seem to always have at least one on the go. Jumpers, tanks, t-shirts, etc. Scarves are great as presents, though they can get boring. I think I'm going to start knitting shawls next, as they seem rather appealing.

13. What are you knitting right now?
I'm just about to finish Sahara, and am debating whether to start Soleil or Green Gable next. Of course, I'm already hitting the pattern books to line up my next six projects.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes, I think so. It doesn't happen very often, but I like it when it does.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
For the most part, I do longer projects on circulars, shorter ones on 10" straights. I have a lot of bamboo and occasionally find use for metal needles, though my particular preference is the Lantern Moon rosewood ones. When I claim my calling as a lady of leisure, I will invest in a complete set of those. Maybe the ebony or blond wood ones, as well. I am fascinated by the Namaste glass ones, but fear them. I've given up on birch, as I seem to break every set I touch.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
No, but someday I will. Oh yes, I will.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
December. When I first learned to knit, I started a bunch of scarves in various textures, patterns, etc. About halfway through, my skills had improved so much that I was appalled by the initial work and abandoned them. Someday, I will frog them and give the yarn new life.

18. What is your favorite holiday?
I love Christmas. Food, wine, family, presents, days off work...it's perfect. At least, until you have to go back to work in the dark, rainy days of January.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Really, no. Perhaps I should develop some interesting and eccentric collection as a conversation starter.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Lots of them! I'm a fan of some of the Rowan magazines, particularly the last one based on Morocco. I'll have to hunt that link down. The others I want are on my Amazon wish list. As for yarn, I'm pretty much dying to try all of it, although Koigu is especially tempting.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I haven't done any Intarsia or Fair Isle work yet. That's next on the list.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I haven't knit any socks yet, and I managed to break the set of DPNs I bought to knit my first pair (see above re: birch). As soon as I get another set, I'll try again. I'm an Amazon with very big feet, also. I'm actually embarrassed to say how big, so let's just call them 'really long and skinny', okay?

23. When is your birthday?
16 September.

What I did on my Easter holiday

1. Redesigned this page. I realise that most people read blogs through Google Reader these days, but I still wanted to do my part to prevent another eyesore from occupying valuable Internet space. Plus, I like playing with all the pretty colours. I might have used too many pretty colours, in fact, but I can't be bothered about that right now.

2. Went to Istanbul! It was fabulous, and I'd post pictures if I wasn't 99.9% certain that everyone currently reading this blog also reads my personal LJ. If I am wrong, let me know and I will happily post my Spice Market photos again. Really, I just love those photos and will take any excuse to look at them, although they do cause me to crave Turkish delight something fierce.

How about some Istanbul flowers, instead? I was there during the tulip festival, and since the tulip is the official flower of Istanbul, they were showing off their mad growing skillz. I decided that I was quite possibly a fabulous nature photographer who only remained unappreciated due to the fact that I never actually took nature photographs. I corrected that by shooting every flower I saw. Since this is a solid example of my floral photography skills, perhaps I did not miss my calling after all.

Now, I did an awful lot of shopping in Istanbul, but had no plans for stash enrichment. Then, just outside the Spice Market, I happened to notice a tiny little shop. I've had walk-in closets bigger than this shop. I wasn't about to quibble over the size, however, when the shop sold yarn. Lovely Turkish yarn, even. Now, I know my stash is already out of control, but it was a souvenir, right? And when I found out that I could buy an entire bag of 100% silk yarn for £5, I didn't even attempt self control. Shown here are two skeins, though the colour is very washed out. Imagine I shot these during the day or took the time to play with hue/saturation in Photoshop for a better sense of the colour. I bought three bags, total -- there is a gold one kicking around my room somewhere, but it seems to have wandered off. I suspect the cats.

These skeins arrived with no labels, so I have no idea how long they are or what the recommended gauge is. It seems to be approximately an Aran weight, so I'll soon be swatching as I try to figure out what I'm actually going to do with this yarn. Something pretty for summer, I'm thinking.

3. Almost finished Sahara! I had almost no time to knit while on holiday, so the work was delayed, I still need to knit the sleeves, sew the neckline and weave in the ends, but I am definitely approaching the finish line. I had a tremendous number of setbacks working the diamond rib pattern around the neckline and the hem, but that is entirely due to operator error and is not the fault of the pattern. It did slow things down a bit, though. I hope to have it completed and blocked by the end of the week.

And now, alas, my holiday is over. Only 11 weeks till summer break! Ahem. Not that I'm counting, of course.

Sahara

I love this pattern. Love it. Okay, the provisional cast on was a beast, and it never properly unzipped when I needed to release the stitches, but that's a small enough thing, and nothing a sharp pair of scissors couldn't fix. The rest of it has been a pure joy. There is an awful lot of stockinette, but with enough increases, decreases, and joins to make it interesting. I already want to knit it again.

About a week and a half in, and it's just past the waist decreases and has been joined in the round.


I did another two and a half inches last night after taking the photo. This is my first time knitting in the round, and I'm loving how quickly it knits up once it's joined. If I was a normal sized woman, I'd already be on to the hip increases, but I'm an Amazon, so I'm going to add another inch and a half before starting those.

The most satisfying part was taking it off the needles last night for its first try-on. It fits! It fits! No frogging necessary! The neckline seems a bit worryingly low at the moment, but the lace detailing should sort that out. Sadly, there will be no knitting today. I had to leave it off the needles for easier packing -- Sahara is about to go to Turkey with me. It's been such a good knit, it earned that adventure.

The yarn is Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran in Forest, and it really is a luscious forest green, richer than in the picture. It's certainly not hurting my enjoyment of this knit. I'm really rather giddy about how well this came together. Knitty giddy, a very special state.

The stash grows, exponentially

My mother is a wonderful woman. Not only did she bake cookies and read to me as a child and do all sorts of wonderful mom-type things, she has also become my yarn pimp. After all, here I am in the UK, earning those wonderful pounds that are worth so many US dollars, but I've not been able to splurge on yarn due to the exorbitant shipping costs. However, since she was visiting soon, I gave her my elann order and asked her to squeeze a few skeins into her suitcase.

A few skeins. Ha! She not only put in my requested order, she tripled it and called it a late Christmas present. When she arrived on Friday, fresh off the San Francisco-Gatwick flight, she had with her two suitcases, one of which was at least 80% yarn.

Am I not the luckiest girl in Knittyland?


Such riches! I am now the proud owner of:
1. Elann Sonata (100% cotton, and soon to be transformed into my next project, Knitty's Soleil.
2. Peruvian Highland Silk. Look at that colour. I have no idea what it is going to become, but it will be luscious.
3. Araucania Atacama, a gorgeous, GORGEOUS handpainted Peruvian alpaca. I'm not sure I want to knit with it. I may just keep it on my shelf and stroke it from time to time.
4. Peruvian chunky Highland wool. I think I'm ready for all my winter knitting already.
5. Finally, Lion Brand Wool-Ease, and lots of it. She apologised for the acrylic blend, but it's perfect to create a jumper for the boyfriend, if I ever decide to brave the sweater curse. As it is, he's going to have to wait a bit longer. I have lots of other knitting to get to, first. LOTS of knitting.

Introduction

Oooh, the first post. Somehow I feel as if this should be brilliant in some way, to set a fabulous tone for the wit and wisdom that are sure to follow in the coming months. That might also be seen as false advertising, however, so I'll just jump right into the middle.

This is a knitting blog. There is, in this world, no shortage of knitting blogs, and and I am not going to revolutionise the format in any way. The odds of anyone reading this other than a few friends are slim to none.

But the thing is, I love to knit. Love it. It soothes me, interests me, rewards me. I love the yarn, the needles, the patterns, the various bits and bobs. I love it all. I need a place to share this love, to loudly proclaim my obsession to the tiny part of the world that does stop by this blog.

I only began knitting December 2006, when I needed something to keep me busy while I was recovering from an operation. I haven't stopped since. I'm still rather rubbish at it, to tell you the truth, but improving steadily. I look forward to being able to track my progress, so that I can look back in a year's time and think, "Damn! I really had no idea what I was doing, did I?" and then happily return to my detailed Fair Isle sweater. Hey, it's my blog. I can fantasise if I want to.

That's enough of that. Let the knitting begin.