Monday, September 25, 2006

Yarns and Swatches and Snoozing, Oh My!

Of *course* I succumbed to Elann's new offering of Baby Cashmere! But in a restrained sort of way, getting only some camel-colored tan and a gorgeous color that's sort of aqua-blue, with a hint of celadon. Yum, yum. Love the days those white boxes arrive! Sknitty is becoming a major enabler, alerting us to a 20% off sale of Fleece Artist yarns at Little Knits. I looked, but I did only 'catch and release' shopping. Oh, that Godiva, or the Sea Silk, or .... Sigh

Last week JM and I were thinking of a KAL for a lace scarf. Me being the novice, helping my newbie friend, ha ha ha. She was much taken by Knitty's Branching Out pattern. This is marked 'Tangy', which is Knitty's version of 'advanced', but the copy on the pattern says it's excellent for a first lace project. IMO it is NOT for beginners! Besides the expected K2tog and SSK, there are also K3Tog, SK2P
(sl l,k2, psso) and S2KP (sl 2,k1,psso). It would take quite a while to get the pattern semi-memorized. I swatched it in WEBS' new Valley Yarn, Longmeadow, which is 60%cotton, 40%microfiber. Nice yarn, and it seems much softer knit up than in the skein.

I thought of the Liesel scarf, which is similar but rather
simpler. I'd previously tried starting this pattern, but it fell into the UFO pile. So I frogged the old start and re-swatched. Strange, but after finishing the Kiri shawl this summer, the lace patterns seem easier to do than a year ago. More confidence, I think. This is done with Rowan's Cashsoft DK. I still think this is a bit too challenging for a first lace project. I'll have to keep thinking of ideas.

I'm getting drowsy here, with furry feline 'sleepy-bugs' being wafted my way! Midnight (by the window) and
Shadow are really soaking up the sun. Being black, they get to be 'hot cats'! BTW, Hot Cats is some of the best catnip ever! Don't be surprised if your cats rip open the package, lol! Ours will dump the trash can for the cellophane.

5 comments:

Grace said...

bad Barbara I didn't catch and release but i did manage to avoid the sea silk, I succumbed to Debbie Bliss full bags of Merino Aran in teal and green---but Dear Tom said if it was my favorite and only 2.70 a skein how could I pass it up

jayne said...

CBM, I know you're getting me back for all the yarn enabling by putting me onto that Little Knits sale. Of course I had to look and quickly became ensnared in the endless full bags of DB merino goodies. Like Grace, I did not leave unscathed. But 24. for a whole bag of chunky?? 27. for a whole bags of merino DK??? I resisted the Fleece Artist because I recently acquired some of that. Hope you enjoy your revenge, LOL!!

CatBookMom said...

It's teeth-gritting time here! I know the DB is gorgeous and so pettable. I know that I don't need more wool. These concepts are nearly 180% in conflict. Enjoy the merino! And no, not revenge. I'm drooling all over Elann's Sierra Aran colors, due up this week. Not so soft as DB, but oh, so beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Barbara, you can and do knit lace! I think your swatches look very good. I hadn't seen the one in the cream color, that's beautiful. Thankfully, I missed the Little Knits sale. I decided it was better for me if I didn't look. ;-}

junior_goddess said...

Thanks a lot, I won't look either.