Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Oh, What Yarns!!

This is going to be a BIG post, with lots of new yarns (ahem, shuffle, blush) . There were quite a few sales on sock yarns in April, and I sort of fell into a lot of them. My credit card is being ouchy, and I am going to be really, really good again in May. Especially since I rather spent both April and May yarn 'budgets' in April. I could tell you a 'yarn' about how it was my Evil Twin who made these purchases, but I'm more of the 'I cannot tell a lie' persuasion, so yep, I have to 'fess up that 'Me did it!'

There are a good few new needles in the stock here Chez CBM, most of them being the KnitPicks Options. I didn't buy the kit, but I got tips in sizes 4-9, some cables and 2 each of the sock-sized circulars. I don't often use sizes larger than 9, and for those I already have a good selection of needles, besides my beloved Denise set. I am finding that the KP needles are not replacing all of my other needles. Like the Addi Turbos, they just don't work with all yarns, being too slick. And I still reach for my Denise needles for all sorts of things, especially those which are 2-sizes larger for binding off. I'm storing the KP in a couple of their 2-item pouches, in a nice 3-ring binder that wasn't doing anything else. The KP holes are the same as most compact planners, but the pouches are wider.

OK, to the new yarns. First are two special treats, gifts from generous friends. First is a skein of gorgeous Sundara yarn, in the Cherry Blossom colorway that she created for her first anniversary. I received a gift certificate, and I spent part of it on this special yarn.


Then a skein of the wonderful new Fleece Artist Sea Wool, in the Marine colorway. I tried to get a good photo, but perhaps the link will give you a better view of the lovely greens, blues, blue-greens and lavender/purples. In the variegated colors, scroll about halfway across. This was a most unexpected gift, and believe me, I went "SQUEEE!!" all over the place, with a few happy dance bits thrown in.


The green you see, 6 skeins (1200yds) of Classic Elite's lovely Provence cotton, I bought while trying to find the 'right' yarn for the Wren-a-long many of my Elann friends held. The Berocco pattern was done in Berocco Zodiac tape yarn, and I didn't like any of the colorways, even at the huge Elann discount. So after many auditions, I gave the vote to Provence, and, if it was the nice subdued spring color you see here, all would have been happy. But it is considerably brighter, just enough that I don't feel comfortable with it. The color is Basil, a new color for 2007, and neither the color on WEBS (where I bought it) or on the Classic Elite website(bottom of the page) shows the brightness and the little bit of too-much-yellow (IMO) that makes me unhappy with it. The yarn itself is top-grade plied cotton, with a lovely sheen. If anyone wants to give this yarn a new home, please LMK. After this disappointment, I relieved a lot of stress when I decided that the omens were not in favor of a Wren in my wardrobe.

I have to confess that Little Knits is a real problem for me. Sue Little has so many lovely closeouts and bargains that I have to stay away from the website. During April she had a huge sale on sock yarns from Opal, OnLine, Cherry Tree Hill and others, many at nearly 50% off. So, since sock yarn "doesn't count" against Knitting from the Stash (KFTS) resolutions, I crumbled. I got 2 skeins of OnLine's Not-so-Winter and 2 of their Sierra yarns. Each skein is enough for a pair. Then the Cherry Tree Hill solids came up, and I bought some of the lovely deep red for a small shawl and some of a nice walnut-y color for DH. He gets the Sierra sock yarn, too.



Last but not least, Chez Casuelle had a sale on Lorna's Laces, nearly all of their yarns, whatever she had in stock. There wasn't much of a discount, but any new stock of yarns from Lorna's Laces are going to be at a significant price increase. She had quite a few colorways I haven't seen before. So I gave in to the temptations. Two of the yarns I wanted disappeared from my order as she filled orders (grr!), but I got the pretty Buck's Bar for socks, and the really lovely Baltic Sea in enough for a good-sized shawl.

7 comments:

Madge said...

Awesome stash enhancement, CBM, just awesome!

And we shall not even talk about my April stash enhancement.... *sigh*

Okay, we'll be good this month, right?

jillian said...

Great stash enhancement! Whewee! Yeah - Little Knits makes me just break down sometimes too. I try to resist though. So, why is LL prices going up?

Suzann said...

WOW you got some beautiful yarns there. Great quality yarns too. Great buys and they will give you a lot of pleasure working them, except for the green. I find green is a color I have to see in person. Just about every green I have gotten online has been off. I don't think monitors have mastered green all that well
I am just off to wipe the drool off the keyboard :-}

Joan said...

It's going to take me more than one sitting to absorb all the new yarn!

PS.. I always reach for my Denise needles first unless I need the sharp point, which is the KP's for me. Love my Densise needles! (Have 2 sets for knitting on 2 circs.)

Cindy G said...

Oh lovely yarns! Can't wait to see what some of them become.

Molly said...

I'm envious CBM. I wanted to pluck some of those beautiful yarns right off the screen. As to the loose sock, may I suggest a slipped stitch sole? You use an odd number of stitches and slip the first and last and alternating stitches just as you would on a slipped stitch heel. When you near the toe, work about a half inch of plain knitting then rearrange the stitches so that you have the same number for the instep and sole before beginning the toe decreases. It makes for a nice and snug sole and a slightly concave sole but once the sock is on you'd never know. Bring the green yarn when we get together, maybe the color will work for me.

Life's a Stitch said...

Drooling!
Li