I have no voice today – I took the weekend off from church, and I may be off from work tomorrow if I don’t at least regain my speaking voice.  But even so – today is an exciting day!  Since I couldn’t work, I visited one of my favorite thrifts and found a lovely black cashmere coat from some indeterminate era (the label makes me think 1950s.) I tried to take a photo, but black is so difficult!  It has a lovely rhinestone detail around the collar.  We also visited a new (to us) coffee shop, and saw a house.

The house was very nice, and we are considering it, but honestly it is a bit further north than I would prefer.  I am somewhat nervous about crime, and I want to make sure that we buy a house somewhere where I will not have to be nervous about my safety.  I know I’m paranoid, but it’s with reason… I have been mugged more often than the average person I know, and I’m not looking to continue the trend.  If we have to wait, we have to wait… I don’t want to move twice!  The house was so perfect for us otherwise, but I feel uneasy, and I want to follow my instincts here… I was really enthusiastic about it, but then I kept having this nagging bad feeling.

Last night, since I was feeling totally lousy and was totally unable to sleep, I rewarded myself with some swatching.  I got to try out some new and exciting yarns, which always makes me feel better on a lousy day!

Reynolds Whiskey – swatched for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan.  Some people say this yarn is scratchy, but I don’t see it, and how great are the colors?  This swatched at barely over 6 st/in on size 3s for me… slightly smaller than the pattern calls for, but that might be a good thing… I will have to do math and see how it would work out!

Valley Yarns’ Williamstown – swatched for the Drops Swing Jacket.  This is a very soft yarn.  I hate to call it a tweed, because I don’t think it is exactly… more like a really nice wool/acrylic blend with some random colored bits thrown in.  It’s really nice to work with, and I have no complaints other than a desire for the tweedy bits to be a bit more color coordinated with the yarn.  I swatched at 5 st/in on size 6 needles here – I will either go up to a size 7 or knit a size up on the jacket.

Valley Yarns’ Sheffield- Lake – This yarn feels luxurious.  The yarn is super soft and knits up very evenly.  This swatch is on size 6 needles and shows 4.75 st/in. The angora gives loft to the yarn, but it isn’t overly fuzzy.  I did see a few tiny pieces floating in the air, but it did not get on my sweater while I knit with it.  I remain a huge fan of the whole Valley Yarns line… if you haven’t tried them I really recommend it – they’re a great value, especially with the discount, and I find the quality to be higher than many discount lines

Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool – I’m testing this yarn out as another sub for Felted tweed.  I was able to get 5.75 st/in easily using size 3 needles.  I like that it’s nice and lightweight like felted tweed, and that it looks vaguely tweedy.  I think this is a winner!

Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino – All the sweaters I’m planning lately seem to call for sportweight yarn.  This swatch is for a Phildar Sweater, one with eyelets (thus the holes… although I’ve messed up here!)   I’ve used Cashmerino aran before and been unimpressed, but Baby Cashmerino is a totally different feeling yarn.   I’ve heard that it does not share the pilling problem that it’s larger cousins have, and I hope that’s true!

 

These swatches are both attempts at stash busting.  The yarn on the left is Valley Yarns Colrain (still lovely!) for this lovely Drops Cardigan, and on the right is Cascade 220 heather in Cordovan heather, for the minimalist cardigan.  I just can’t seem to decide on a yarn for this jacket, but this one may be the closest so far!  I bought it to make the nantucket jacket, but alas it did not work out, so now I need to use it up!