GORGEOUS yarns (or, why I haven't blogged recently)

It's hard to do much else when you've got not one but two yarns that are difficult to put down!

First up is this scarf that I'm knitting for my friend for her birthday. I knew I wanted to knit her a cabled red scarf and found this amazing Elsebeth Lavold Angora at the LYS. It's unbelievably soft and the red is a gorgeous vibrant shade. I'm using the Warm Fuzzies scarf pattern from SnB Nation - it's a mock-cable rib that I love because the wrong side is ribbed so it looks good either way. My friend's birthday is in early March but I'm making good progress. The cable part is very simple, just two stitches.




Next up is a sock yarn - Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Green Mountain Madness. The color is unbelievable - my photo below just doesn't do justice to the amazing shades of green and blue. It feels so soft too.



Since taking this photo I've moved all the stitches onto a circ because I'm giving Magic Loop a shot. After needles falling out TWICE and several "dig through the couch cushions/knitting bag/purse for the missing DPN" I decided to pick up the ML booklet and the new circ.

So far I really like ML - adjusting stitches and needles only twice in a round is definitely making the work go faster. I also like the fact that I can pull the needles through so that all the stitches are on the cable, less chance of dropping any.

So DH and I recently purchased a set of bedroom furniture. It's beautiful and I love that we no longer are cramming clothes into too-small drawers. But one of the big benefits is that one of the old dressers was moved to the guest bedroom - and it was completely empty...until now!!



Yup, that's it, my rather meager yarn stash! I'm not sure that even qualifies under the definition of 'stash'!

Two firsts! Socks and a Felted Bag

I have two FOs to share - the first is my very first completed pair of SOCKS! Woo hoo!



Pattern: Knitting Pure and Simple Beginner's Sock Pattern
Yarn: Plymouth Encore

This was a great newbie sock pattern. It was needle-by-needle instructions which really helped me understand the basic construction of a sock. And the fact that the pattern called for worsted weight yarn was nice too because it went very quickly so I could see what I was doing.

I was so excited about finishing them that I cast on for Jaywalkers but for some reason they were clearly too big so I frogged them and will try a smaller needle size. I did an in-the-round swatch so I'm not sure what happened. I used US3s for the swatch and the first attempt so now I'm going to try my 2s.

Next up, my felted bag! It was the Kitchen Sink Bag from Two Old Bags and I used Cascade 220. I started this bag about a year ago but it kept getting pushed to the back burner. Finally I completed it and felted. But now that I'm looking at the photo I'm realizing it really does need another trip through the washing machine, the stitches are still visible.



Pattern: Kitchen Sink Bag
Yarn: Cascade 220

One last thing, I just want to talk about what a great LYS I have! I go to Wool and Company in Geneva. They have a great selection of yarn - almost every time I see a brand of yarn on the internet or in a magazine that I want to try it turns out they sell it.

So anyhow I stopped in last week with my 2-year-old DD. I know what you're thinking - 2-year-old in a yarn store? But she is well-behaved - there is a crate of books and toys and she will sit and play quietly.

I needed a substitute for a yarn that had been discontinued - DH wants a brown scarf. So I asked the two women working in the front and they started to make numerous suggestions showing me all types of yarns. Then one of the women remembered a yarn that wasn't out yet on the floor that could work and went in back to retrieve 3 balls of it for me. That yarn (Lang Tosca) turned out to be the winner!

I was so grateful for their help - I was able to get what I needed and get out of there quickly!