I was supposed to be on a stash Knitdown for 2008. That has gone just a tad bit to the wayside. It's so hard to resist the new yarns out there. And as I learn more about what I do and don't like - I find new yarns and sigh. I have found out how to destash on Ravelry, that allows me to at least get rid of some of the yarns I've fallen out of love with or no longer need.
Knitting! At Peace of Yarn, Cindy showed me an Evelyn Clark shawl in Noro Kureyon Sock. That was it - I had been waiting for a yarn to make a replacement Flower Basket Shawl. I didn't want to use Cascade 220 again. It made a lovely first shawl, just didn't want to cover the same ground again. I wanted something light but practical. Noro fit perfectly - and the colors were better than the first version. It knit up very quickly and I love how it turned out.
I will have to do a few more as gift scarves - quick and pretty.
I wanted to do another Evelyn Clark pattern after this one, and started her Angel Lace Shawl with JaggerSpun Zephyr. But wasn't feeling the lace-weight love. I have several L on the needles, and they can get tiring for me after a while with the slipperness and small needles. So I frogged it and started it again on Kauni. Ah yes - it's scratch but soft. I can feel the lanolin in the wool. I think a good Soak will soften it up. I'm excited to see how the slower color progression of Kauni works out. I've been dying to use my Kauni but didn't want to launch into Fair Isle right now. I'm saving that for later on during summer vacation and longer knitting times.
Speaking of vacation and knitting - we took a quick trip to Myrtle Beach. Colin had a conference to attend, and I didn't want to have the kids at home so we went down with him. My sister and her husband tagged along to. We stayed with my friend Rita - AKA Trouble - over Mother's Day weekend. Everyone who knows me knows of my knitting obsession, and Rita found a new knit shop for me in Myrtle Beach!!!! Every time I'm at the beach - I'm disappointed because the two that are there were not close to where I have stayed. This new one is in a perfect location and very cute. I love some of the yarns she had too!
And the owner - Phyllis - is really nice. Willing to help with anything. I will definitely make a return trip!
I picked up Lyndon Hill - a lovely Cotton/Silk fingering weight yarn. I also picked up some Cotton Bamboo she had on clearance. But she had so many other new yarns I hadn't seen - a lovely Linen/Silk Blend. Yummmm! And the Cotton you see in the photo that the owner is in is a lovely - kettle dyed, thick/thin cotton. So soft. If I knew of a project for either of these yarns, I would have picked them up. But I didn't have any projects for them in mind at the time. Oh - I also saw Cascade's new sock yarn. It was also nice - good solid sock yarn (tight twist it seemed to me) in a variety of colors. I can made 100 pairs of socks with the sock yarn I already have - so I passed it buy - but it's in the back of my mind if I need a good solid color sock yarn that is not already in my stash.
Rita also introduced me to my new favorite Summer Sweet spot. Rita's! Not my friend Rita's - but they share a name. They have Italian ice and Custard. And they create this drink that blends the two.
With the creamy custard, and the flavor filled Italian ice. Yummmmm! I do not want to know how many calories are in this. Igorance is bliss.
On the way back I swatched a bit of the Lyndon Hill - I had one ball of the Watermelon color that was on clearance.
I love the lace it produces! It has the structure of cotton - but the silk gives it a softness and steps up the luxury of the finished fabric.
I got back to several online yarn purchases. A nice treat! One I have to talk a bit about is the new Knit Picks Lace packs. I picked up two - the blue/green and rose/pink. I think Knit Picks lace is one of the best buys on yarn around. Generous yardage @ 440 a hank. For prices ranging from $1.99 to $4.99. And lovely colors - much better than their other yarn lines in my humble opinion. There are some creative ideas out there to use the various yarns together in the packs. I'd like to think of something like that to do. But even if I just get 5 gift scarves out of each lot - I think it's still a great buy and a lot of knitting fun.
Well - that's all for now. I'm heading to Seattle next week. It's been great to have a traveling break - but I'm looking forward to seeing the Eastside Knitters again and having my required trip to Weaving Works. With the frequent shopper cards Shiori gifted me - this trip promises to be more fun than usual! I'll have to snap a couple of pictures of the shop - so all the non-Seattle readers will know what to look for when you are in Seattle. :)
