Busy

Well, I haven’t been busy per se… although I have spent the week rekindling my sad ebay addiction.  I think I really needed to not know you could find so many vintage patterns there.  Ah well… at least soon I will have pretty pictures to look at!

I’ve finished the Berroco sweater I was working on, but I’m not happy with it so far.  I’ll try a few tweaks, but I fear it may be destined for frogging.  I think I am too hourglass shaped for the pattern – it’s way too big in the middle.  I’m trying a few things, we will see!

My destashing sale was a success, which is great.  I have a few skeins left, but I think I will ebay them. It gives me the chance to buy more yarn without actually spending new money (ok, without spending much new money.)  So today I have some new yarn pictures for you.

I finally got my WEBs sale order, which I placed several weeks ago.  I got Classic Elite classic silk to use for the Rowan Kasbah collection top I like (I will make the medium to make up for the smaller gauge) and some Berroco Nostalgia to swatch for the A-line tank from the current KnitSimple.  I’m really happy with both yarns!

I also placed an Elann order, because I was interested in getting some of their more summery yarns.  It’s always difficult placing an order without any opportunity to see or feel yarns in person, but I loved the yarns I bought last time from Elann.  I’m happy with most of what I bought, with maybe one minor exception.

From top left: Baby silk in gentle violet, Callista in Tarragon, Lara in Green tea, Sonata in Admiral blue, Peruvian Highland wool in Oregano and Mocha cream.

Initial thoughts?  I love the Baby Silk.  Last time I ordered I bought a quantity of the Baby Cashmere for a scarf (I’m getting around to it!) but they were out of the silk.  It’s so lovely and soft!  This time I got a sweater’s worth, and I’m hoping to find a suitable pattern in one of my vintage books since the yarn is fingering weight.  Callista is Elann’s newest yarn, and it’s a mixture of Viscose, linen, and cotton.  I’ll admit, I bought it just because I’m obsessed with that color green, but it seems like a nice yarn in the skein.  It’s a little less soft than I was hoping (it has more viscose than anything else) but I’ll have to see how it knits up.  Lara is supposed to sub nicely for Rowan Cotton Glace, and it feels about the same to me.  We will see.  I bought the Sonata because I was questioning my feelings that I can’t knit with 100% cotton yarns.  This is a shiny mercerized cotton, not as stiff as, say, Tahki cotton classic, but by no means soft.  I mean, I have no evidence that I can’t knit with cotton.  I’ve made lots of 100% cotton crochet things without dying, so I know I can use it for that.  I’ve been swatching some Jaeger Siena that I love, and it’s mercerized cotton.

The only yarn that I’m not certain about is the highland wool.  It feels about like Knitpicks Wool of the Andes, and it’s certainly a nice yarn for the price, but I just don’t know about the mocha color.  It’s a little more golden than I was expecting.  I have what could be considered neutral coloring.  I can wear both cool and warm colors (which is obvious based on the above selections) but I try to avoid any colors which might blend with my skintone.  I do have a beige sweater that I love, so maybe I’m just being paranoid.  I was thinking about the lacy cardigan from the current vogue knitting in that yarn, but I fear the sweater is cursed for me (I have tried so many yarns!)

I will try to swatch some of these yarns tonight.  I like to get a feel for them, that way I can consider what to make with them later.  I made a new database of all my yarns this week, and I felt so productive!