Catching My Breath

Whew! This has been the busiest week I've had in a long time. Go here, go there, do this, do that, shopping, errands, appointments and, and.... That's not to say it hasn't had fun moments, but I've had very little quiet time, except after 10pm.

The best part of the week was getting together for lunch and a mini-yarn crawl with a friend in West LA. MT and I met via the About.com Knitting Forum, and though we only manage to get together 2 or 3 times a year, we always have fun. We stopped in at a new LYS in Santa Monica, Compatto, with a rather upscale and unusual variety of yarns. Their website isn't up and running yet, but here's a link to an article about them in the LA Times. Nicely done small shop, friendly staff and extremely friendly dog. They are carrying the coveted Lantern Moon circular needles, and I did indulge in a size 7US, my most-often used size. Knitters, these needles are wonderful, a delight to knit with, and the cable never kinks.

Then we dropped in at Stitches from the Heart, a charity that provides knitted goods for preemie babies. This is the charity's only shop, with all the profits going to the charity, and they have a lovely assortment of yarns for adults and for kids, including some yarn lines that I've never seen anywhere else. I picked up 2 skeins of yarn for a baby gift, as well as 2 skeins of TLC Cotton Plus for another gift project; I've been looking everywhere for a good red cotton and a pure white in the same yarn, and found it here. I did NOT buy for stash enhancement. This is the 'specific project' exception to my Knit from the Stash 2007 resolution.

I do have a fair amount of knitting to show off, though. Last weekend I pitched a mental fit and dropped all of my 'should knit' projects for long enough to make a pair of fancy wool mitts for myself. I used Berroco's Lacis pattern, though I did a bit of modifying to fit my hands, adding a few rows of 2x2 ribbing at top and bottom, and eliminating one increase in the thumb area. These are made in Elann's Highland Wool, inl Dusty Teal. The mitts are knitted flat and then seamed; a really quick project.


I also finished a baby gift; though it's for a newborn, it's more of a 9-12month + size. I started with a pattern designed by the LYSO at my favorite LYS, Unwind Yarn, and then tweaked it. The pattern was written for Artyarns' Supermerino, but I used an acrylic/wool blend, and needed to adjust for a non-blockable yarn. Plus I hate to seam, so I altered the directions to knit in the round to the armscye. The Yarn is Classic Worsted LP from Universal Yarn; I love the way the long print (LP) makes the stripes look. This is a yarn I found at the Stitches from the Heart LYS, and it comes in several very nice colorways; their website has info on stockists across the country. This pattern used one skein (197 yards). I can't get the rich colors with my camera, so you'll have to take my word for it being a lovely assortment of greens, from a rich foresty dark green through a light teal.

I finished 2 more scarves for the Red Scarf Project. The RSP is accepting donations of scarves through January 31, so if you haven't sent a scarf, you still have plenty of time. My seniors' group should have about 4 dozen scarves to contribute, and I know that they are rather tired of knitting red! I have one more started, and should have it finished this weekend. The bright red is Lion Brand's Woolease, using the mistake rib stitch, and the darker one is Paton's Shetland Chunky Tweed. I really like working with the Paton's; it works up fast on size 9s, and this corner-start garter stitch scarf was a perfect mindless knitting project. While waiting some 40 minutes at the dermatologist's yesterday, I think I finished 6 inches, lol! (I also enabled a newbie knitter a bit, telling her about Unwind, and about how much fun we have knitting at my seniors' group. She said she didn't know any other knitters but her sister, and seemed pretty lonely.)

Speaking of my seniors' group, I'd better get a move on to get ready for a lot of noisy, fun show and tell. Yes, knitting and crocheting happens, but with 15 or 20 of us, we do talk a lot, lol!!