Buttons for Kauni and Intention Yarn!

Nothing as exciting as yesterday's parade of Kauni, but I did want to show you the buttons I got for the jacket. They are fastened on it in the picture. Aren't they a good match? I really like this whole series of ceramic buttons. The red was my favorite shade, but it didn't come in the 1 1/8" size, so we took the green and blue. Thanks to Katie for her help in picking them out, and good luck to her as she tries to squeeze out a St. Patrick's Day baby tomorrow!

I'm still amazed at how nice the jacket came out. Lee just said to me he really didn't think it would end up as nice as it did, which is sort of what someone said on one of my email lists: are you sure it's the same jacket? Well, good for me. We'll see if the Itchy Shalom also comes out well. Right now I am just hoping I have enough yarn to finish it. I don't have but 400 yards of the Brindle Hill Farm Leicester Longwool, and it may not suffice. Ah well. It sure is SLIPPERY stuff. It keeps sliding off the needles because the yarn and the metal KnitPicks needles are both so slick.

In other news, at long last the first installment of the Intention Yarns club offerings has arrived. I don't usually do clubs, but I like the idea that these are dyed with thoughts of a particular wish going on as they are dyed. This first one is my favorite colors, and called Bliss. It's a wool/bamboo blend, again, my favorite. So it has already made me happy! They also sent a nice button that says "I love Yarn" on it, and some candy and a brown piece of cloth. Not sure what that signifies--there wasn't an explanation, but I could have missed the newsletter or something, since my junk mail filters are a tad "over zealous."

Thanks again to all of you who said such nice things about the jacket. It sure feels good when a project lives up to how you thought it would look in your mind's eye!

Now let's see how the other stuff goes!

A Glimpse at the Final Glory--what it means to be a knitter

Not all that much to report this weekend, but I do have these lovely photos of the finished Kauni Jacket with the edging on for you. Really came out well, didn't it? Lots of photos, but hey, I like them.

Also, here's the photo of the new socks that I promised in the previous entry. I took a better picture now that I am further along on the Charybdis socks. Pretty pattern, pretty yarn. OK!

Sorry the jacket is a little wrinkled--I'd been sitting on the couch. Doesn't the black edging make it look sharp?

Anyway, I had lots of fun at the yarn shop yesterday--I got to help more people than usual, since it was crowded. And it was fun hanging out with the regulars and meeting new folks, both. After a while, Katie and I went to the new JoAnn's Fabric store to get buttons for the Kauni jacket, and so she could walk and walk and try to go into labor. Once I get them on, I will share one more photo. We found a blue and a green ceramic button that goes perfectly with the rustic qualities of the jacket. There were all sorts of really pretty buttons there, so I can't wait to use some on other products. (I already have the handmade buttons for Bridget when I get back to that project, though.)

A number of the usual knitting gang went to a baby shower for our other pregnant friend, Jen, where I think we overwhelmed her family and other friends by whipping out our socks. I was asked if I was able to listen as I knit. Boy howdy, I'd have had trouble in grad school if I couldn't! I think sometimes, when we spend most of our time with fellow knitters we forget the ideas others have about it. I guess most people probably think we all knit stuff and sell it to make money, that most knitters are grandparents (I was asked if I was retired--really need to get that gray in my hair recovered I guess), that Red Heart is "good" yarn, that making socks is amazing and complicated, and that knitting and crochet are the same thing. You just forget what assumptions you can make if the folks around you are knitters.

I should know this. I should remember what it was like when I went outside my little world of "attachment parenting" when my kids were little. It was like a different world. It was surprising to learn what odd ideas people had about me when they found out I held certain parenting beliefs. But I've mostly learned to cope with the wide variety of other ideas out there--I need to hang out with the "outside world" a little more so I don't get so surprised at the ideas people have about me because I knit.

I'll just step out, proud to be in my rainbow jacket that screams out to the world, "I am a knitter," and just say "thanks" when people tell me I am super-dee-superly talented for simply picking a nice yarn and knitting some rectangles then sewing them together! It's just who I am.

A Birthday Treat

Thanks for all the comments on the Kauni Jacket. I spent last night doing the black crochet edging on it. I used some Cashsoft Cotton left over from a hat, and it looks wonderful. I also did a stripe of decorative crochet a couple of inches above the sleeve edge. It looks pretty good. Crocheting around the collar was a challenge, because I wanted the “front” of the crocheting facing outward all the time, which meant I had to switch directions on it. At least I found the little line I had skipped in the instructions, which said to sew the collar down. It’s a little bitty one, but I got it down! Tonight I plan to wash the jacket, with some fabric softener to soften the wool a bit, then just shape it up a bit. I think that’s the best way to deal with garter stitch—no hard blocking. I do need buttons.

I did want to share what a nice time I had on Saturday at the yarn shop. My big plan was to buy a cake and feed whoever showed up. It turned out that Sue Ellyn, a lady I help with knitting, had her birthday on March 3, so she chipped in for the cake, too. I went out to get an Italian cream cake for the few people who were there, and when I got back, more folks had shown up, with presents! I got some very nice cards, including another of Jen’s beautiful handmade ones that she stamps, colors and embellishes. She also made me a cute knitting bag in a neat spiral pattern, and inside it were two balls of KnitPicks Felici yarn in lovely subdued greens and blues. A really nice color combination unlike anything else I have. The yarn is nice and soft—their stuff has improved. Plus I got me a fine gift certificate to the new JoAnn’s Fabrics where Suzanne TCL works (hey, I need buttons!), AND some earrings. I felt like I actually HAD a birthday after all that. I also got Sue Ellyn some roses and a card, because she’s been really sweet and is always so kind to the people at the shop. I guess I need to open gifts for it to be a “real” holiday.

Now, I say that, but what did poor Lee get for HIS birthday (it’s tomorrow)? I didn’t even get to wrap it, because he met the FedEx guy, who gave it to him. It plainly said “I am a food dehydrator,” on it, so there went the surprise. I did get some strawberries today, so we can try it out for birthday treats!

I digress…what I wanted to say is that kindnesses like these birthday treats, the baby showers, and all that…they all remind me what fine and generous people tend to make up the knitting community. We are all so different, yet we share so much! I am so glad to have made some good friends over the past few years, and also enjoyed so many strangers and people passing through. If you don’t have a knitting circle, group or club, try to find one. Even if everyone’s a different age or socio-economic group from yours, you will find knitting truly brings people together, which then facilitates learning about each other in all areas. A good thing. And THANK YOU to Jen, Deana, Nancy, Pat (and the yarn shop staff) for making it such a nice birthday.

Here’s another good thing, a link to a lovely story about knitting in Peru that a friend sent me. It will cheer you up to read about another culture’s use of your favorite hobby! It really seems to empower women there.

It's a Jacket! Just Not Done Yet

Though it was a busy weekend, it ended up being a weekend where there was a lot of knitting time hiding here and there. So, I actually finished all the knitting on my Kauni jacket! Lee was in photography mode, so I even have action shots of Suna doing mattress stitch (two very, very long seams to try to keep even—my back is now reminding me of how I have to lean over to do that stitching!

In the stitching photo, I would like to point out that the beer bottle does not belong to me. Liquor and precision don’t go together, so I did not imbibe. The beer was a fine reward for planting a bunch of plants, which Lee did!


This picture shows one long seam sewn together while the other is waving around. Note that the horizontal side seems longer. It shortened up once I seamed it.

I had a bit of trouble with the small shawl collar. In fact, I don’t like the collar much at all. It would probably look less awkward in the yarn the jacket originally calls, for which is self-striping sock yarn, but even after I carefully plowed into my leftover skeins to finish the little collar flap that is left at the end of all the other knitting, there was nothing I could do about the fact that one half is blue and the other is yellow, nor of how hard it is to hide the seams. I seamed the collar parts so that the “right side” has seams, because the “wrong side” is what folds over to be the collar. Even my neatest mattress stitch still has an edge. So, I tacked the collar down and will probably end up with a little tack to keep it ending at the same spot on each side. You can sort of see the collar in the picture of the back of the jacket.



The back is another thing I hope resolves itself. Even the Asian lady on TV in the photo looks like she can’t believe how that jacket looks. Definitely the horizontal side is about an inch wider than the vertical side. I think a lot has to do with the different ways garter stitch stretches depending on orientation. That’s probably why the vertical side is a bit longer than the horizontal, too. My current thought is that once I block the jacket (which I will need to do anyway, to try to soften the wool and maybe get out some of the twigs that are still in it), I will be able to block it to the right measurements.


That brings me to fit—I did it! The jacket fits just right. It’s supposed to be fairly snug, and it looks like it will meet up exactly in the front, like it should. I am guessing it will fit a little better once I lose the post-wedding ten pounds I am working on, but it is fine now. After poor old Bridget, I am glad to see that I actually CAN get the right gauge and stick with it. Forgive my weird shiny face in the photo. It was a warm day and I’d been sewing under that wool jacket for quite some time. Not my best look, for sure.

I look forward to having true FO photos for you soon. Look forward in my next post to photos of birthday stuff, and a report on how nice my knitting friends are.

Book Review of Knitorama and Not Much Else

How I wish I had something exciting to share with you today. But, all I’ve been doing knitting-wise is continuing down the front of my jacket. I might even finish this weekend, since I am almost to the end of the sleeve, whereupon the rows will be a lot shorter. I did get to the end of my third skein of Kauni, and was thrilled to discover I only had to wind off a few yards of the fourth skein to continue in the striping sequence. I want the front to look pretty, so of course I didn’t want to mar the stripes!

But, wait, I have at least one book to talk about.

Book Review: Knitorama

Yesterday was my birthday, and in addition to the yarn from last weekend, I also got a knitting book. My older son, who forgot to get me anything for Christmas and has had it “mentioned” to him a couple of times, texted me last week, suavely, and asked if I had a book called Knitorama. So, wow, was I surprised or what to find that book sitting on my computer Wednesday morning! He was leaving for the state debate tournament, so he wouldn’t be home for the actual birthday. I was quite impressed at his new and improved technique, probably spurred on by his girlfriend, but that’s fine. He also gave me a really funny hand-drawn card in the format of an SAT question. I’ll always treasure that!

So, I have a book to review, at least! And what a major hoot this book is. It’s from 2005, so many of you may already have it. It was published in England, which may be why I hadn’t seen it. It’s probably not something I would have bought for myself, but once I got to reading it, I began to enjoy the humor and whimsy of both the writing and the projects, very much! The whole book (by Rachael Matthews) is full of photos of young people dressed up in an imaginary “retro” style. Or maybe it’s just “artsy.” They are all holding their knitted items with a glee only found in 50s and 60s ads. And the items are just plain cute. The only pattern I had heard of before is the apple cozy. Yes, a cover for your apple. I’d thought it was a silly item, but when I showed it to the woman who sits next to me in choir, the one who only eats raw food, she got quite excited by it. So, you never know.

Other projects you’ll find in Knitorama are a knitted cake, hand grenade, book (with pages that turn), and the all-time favorite in our family, the crocheted glass of Guinness. I’d thought I should make one for my ex-husband the Irishman, but Tuba Boy texted me most vehemently (if you can do such a think) that HE wanted it!). I happen to have all that naturally colored organic yarn in brown and cream that would be perfect!

I’d say that the most casual knitter or even a non-knitter would enjoy this book, just for the fun writing style, the very beautifully staged illustrations and photos, and the overall light-heartedness. And to top it off, the book is simply well done. The pages are thick and have rounded edges. The publisher, Spruce, did not scrimp on production, which I am predicting will be the rule in the future, the way magazines are getting smaller and on ickier paper, it can’t be far behind for books. I love books, even if I AM Mrs. Internet User.

Here’s a link to the Ravelry page on the book, where you can see samples of the patterns and learn more about it. You can also find it on Amazon, so check it out. It doesn’t even cost too much.

Thanks, Tuba Boy, for the fine gift! And good luck in the tournament (it isn’t over until Saturday night).

February Yarn Crawl Report

I promised I’d share the results of my yarn crawl this weekend, so here we go! My friends Deana and Dawn and I braved some incredibly gusty winds to head east, once again. Many kudos to Deana for driving, because I don’t think I’d have done as good a job as she did. It was nice to drive on the back roads, and even nicer to have good conversation and some real laughs. I appreciate them for putting up with their token heathen so cheerfully!

NOTE: I will re-do this post with the images centered later today--I am out of lunch hour time to re-do the photos.

Our first stop was Yarnorama, in Paige. They are approaching their one-year anniversary, which is impressive for an LYS that is in the middle of nowhere, and not really “local” to many people at all. They have closed the café part of the store (darn it), but still seem to have plenty of yarn, and even (ahhh) some new stuff.

The first new thing I got there is this yarn, called Haze, from the Queensland Collection. I got this rather subdued colorway, because I am trying to knit more things that go with a lot of clothing, which means neutrals. The colors are rather lovely together, though. What’s interesting about this one is that the yarn is 60% corn viscose and 40% cotton. I think corn does better in a blend, because this feels pretty good and really resembles a fine cotton more than anything else. I like the matte sheen. I plan to make this really cute DROPS bolero kind of sweater with a crochet trim. I do hope I got enough yarn. I bought three skeins.




Another thing I bought with a project already in mind was this stuff. Yeah, I am a sucker for a self-striping yarn, and I’d hoped to find this one somewhere. It’s called Poems and is from Wisdom Yarns. The colorways it comes in are nice and happy, quite reminiscent of Noro’s colorways. But the yarn is much softer and is sort of two ply (it is mostly one thick ply, but there appears to be a sturdy binder thread running throughout, too). The texture and feel remind me of Berroco Foliage, the one that pilled so badly on me, but it’s 100% wool. We will have to see how it works out on the project I have in mind, which is a best made of a sort of mitered rectangle. It’s in the Noro Revisited book where my funny-topped hat came from (I’d link to a finished version on Ravelry, but no one seems to have completed that pattern—it figures, as I seem to be a leader not a follower lately with projects). I got 5 skeins of this stuff, and as you can see I got a more subdued colorway with just a few pops of color.







That is all I was going to get until I touched a sock that Susan, the LYS owner, was making out of this stuff. They also had a beautiful sweater made from it at the shop (one that would be VERY time consuming on tiny needles). This is a merino laceweight, it says, but really is more of a fine sock weight yarn, Lace Merino from Ella Rae. It comes in some really pretty colors, but once again, I went for a neutral. The yarn is very, very bouncy and soft—all the best qualities of a merino yarn! I got some smaller sock needles, since my 00s are all bent up, and I think I’ll make socks from this yarn with a nice tight gauge. I do think these colors are very pretty, in a quiet way. It’s from SWTC, called Jezebel. I got it to be the “dark” color for those Simply Southwestern Socks I mentioned last week.






After we left Yarnorama, where we’d had a very pleasant time indeed, we motored on over to Brenham to see how Fibers is doing. It is doing fine, but I can see that they have sold a lot of yarn and not restocked. It’s not quite as overwhelmingly tempting as it was last time. But we spent a long time there, much of it because Deana’s 5 skeins of pretty slinky yarn took a while to put into balls. But, the ladies persevered and got it done. Deana got lovely white yarn to make a shawl from the Wrapped in Comfort book (I ordered it as a birthday gift to myself, too, because the techniques in it are really fun). Dawn got a nice shawl pin, too, a wooden one.

I’d been looking for a particular kind of sock yarn, but didn’t see any exactly like what I want, so I may end up ordering from DROPS, skeins of the yarn my Kauni Jacket is supposed to be made from. I did run across the skein of semi-solid blackish purple yarn you see above.

Now, this isn’t to say that I found nothing much at the store. Ha, I wish. I discovered a beautiful pale green (the colorway is called shallot) 100% bamboo yarn called Bamboo Soft from RYC Classic. Actually, I discovered the book with a pattern that called for the yarn first. Ooh, it is one pretty book. All spring stuff, and apparently so new it isn’t online anywhere. I fell in love with a lace-patterned vest that looks so light and delicate, but not too frilly for me. I better like it, since it called for 8 balls of some not-very-cheap English yarn! The book also had some nice cotton sweaters that I’d consider, too, and some over-done picture-knitting bags that I didn’t like much. Still, I think this will be a great project. I hope some day to get to it.


Current Knitting Binge

Which brings me to knitting. I got a lot done on the Kauni jacket over the weekend. Only a few more rows and I will be finished with the back. I ran into a weird issue where the yarn suddenly switched colors, then returned to where it should be. It was like they but in a splice, backwards. But, I undid the ties, re-tied it, and though there may be a slightly too-long red section, the colors now keep flowing. This jacket is reminding me of the Baby Surprise. I don’t think it’s going to look “right” until it is sewed together. Then I think it will be just brilliant! It’s really pretty in person. Maybe I’ll get good knitting time in this week and get it done! I’m 75% through almost!

Kauni Jacket Progress

As promised, here’s a photo of the Kauni cardigan’s progress as of Sunday evening. I did manage to drag my knitting to a bar and knit while waiting for my son’s band to do their inaugural performance at an open mic night. It was sweet to see the rockers in their 40s and 50s applauding their hearts out for the 15 and 16 year olds playing 60s rock. And at least I got almost to the end of the vertical half of the jacket! Glad it’s garter stitch so I could knit in the semi-darkness.

The photo is a bit blurred, which should teach me a lesson for only taking one picture that night. I must have moved my hand. But you get the idea. Don’t the stripes look fine? One thing I did to make the cardigan symmetrical was this. On the back, I knit through to the purple part of the striping. That was I think 2-3 inches past where the cardigan divided for the neck. Rather than just picking up on the front from that point on the yarn, I re-wound until I got to the next place in the skein where the shade of red I left off on came in, and made a new little ball, attaching that when it came time to finish the front. Now the front striping will perfectly match the back. There are a few more stitches in the front, so I may go further into the purple on the front, but the sequencing will be the same. If I run out, I know I’ll still have more from where I ended on the back, so I can keep going. That little bit of extra detail makes me happy. I may end up with two partial skeins at the end, but the garment will look good.

And, further good news is that I am positive I have enough yarn for the project! Since I will have two whole skeins left for the other (horizontal) side, I will be able to keep the striping pattern flowing no matter where the first skein ends, too. All good. If I am feeling up to it, I hope to finish the first side and move on to the second this evening.

I Can Knit a Rainbow!

Kauni Cardigan Sleeve
Originally uploaded by sunasak

Thank goodness I have knitting. When everything else in life seems to be out of my control and I feel like I don’t even understand the English, my knitting is there to comfort me. And even with all my recent backtracking and re-knitting, I still feel like this activity is something I am competent in and that I can be creative with—with some modicum of control (admittedly, some of the stuff I can’t control, like how stripes come out, is what I like best). My knitting was the definite highlight of the weekend.

I got a bit done on my second Converging Ribs sock. You will be pleased to know that my instructions work so far. I’m almost finished converging, so it will be a simple task to finish it, when I stop obsessing over Kauni.

Yes, the thing in the photo has me totally thrilled. Indeed, that is a sizable garter stitch rectangle (with some increasing near the top). But wow-ee that was one fun rectangle to knit. I couldn’t wait to see how the next color would show up. The rectangle is actually the first sleeve of the Kauni jacket (again, it is this pattern , and the green squiggles on each end of it are the first three rows of both the front and back of the vertical side of the jacket.

Of course the striping pattern is going to change considerably now that there are three times as many stitches per row as there were before! I can hardly contain my excitement at the idea of the skinner stripes, and how they will look. Then, when we go to the other side, there will be medium stripes on the horizontal body piece, and thinner stripes on the sleeve. Hee hee. This makes me practically giddy with excitement. Or it would if I wasn’t still feeling overwhelmed from a challenging weekend—one in which I passed by a chance to go to a yarn shop. Yes, I was mere blocks from Hill Country Weavers and didn’t go in (I am so strong in my resolve that, even if I had gone in, I swear I simply would have purchased a longer circular 2.75 cm needle for this project). And besides that, thanks to non-fiber life interfering, I missed seeing the Ravelry founders at the Knitting Nest! That was a real bummer, but family first, as they say.

But wait, have I gone on and on about the yarn I am using enough yet? I don’t think so. This yarn is a great choice for this pattern. No wonder people love it so—how versatile it is! Here’s the cardigan that Stephanie Pearl-McPhee made that got people all hepped up about it. Now, the wonderful Kauni has its issues. Kauni Effektgarn 8/2 is not the softest wool ever plucked from a sheep—which makes sense for a Shetland-style yarn. And there’s lots of grass and twigs in it, but, like I said about Sari Silk, at least it’s exotic grass from another continent (the yarn’s Danish). I really am enjoying watching it knit up, though. And there is so much yarn on the skein! What you see in the photo is about half a skein’s worth, maybe less. I have four skeins, so I’m sure I’ll have enough.

Wishing you holiday greetings, whatever holiday you happen to be celebrating, or have celebrated in the last few days. There are so many to choose from! I send Valentine Love to you all!

This Makes Me Inordinately Happy

Kauni Multicolor
Originally uploaded by sunasak

What just happened makes me so happy that I am posting twice in one day. I think I got an inkling of what must constitute my happiest knitting moments.

I was taking a break and looking through the new patterns on Ravelry, because I just like to do that. I'm always on the lookout for that perfect shawl, mitten or cardigan (the obsessions of the moment). I'd been looking at some DROPS designs, from the most prolific Scandinavian pattern makers out there. I'd seen a crazy little pullover from sock yarn that I liked, but as Dawn the Wednesday Wonder had pointed out, it was not a design for "fluffy" people. I was reluctantly coming to the conclusion that perhaps even I am a bit too fluffy for all the stripes in that pattern (I'm linking to a picture of it here , since they own the photo).

Then today, lo and behold, they'd posted another sock yarn sweater, this one a very simple cardigan, half of which was knit vertically and half horizontally. The stripes were busy, but less so than in the other pattern. (Click here to see what I mean.) I debated whether I should purchase 5 balls of their sock yarn to make it. I actually DO want to buy some of their yarn, to thank them for all the nice patterns. But right now, I have that New Year's vow to use my stash nagging away at me.

So, I wandered off to my quite hefty Ravelry stash page to see if there were anything in there that was a) self striping and b) over the 1220 yards I needed for the pattern. I looked at my red and blue Jojoland Melody, which I have way more than enough of. But really, I want that to be a shawl, which I already have one of yer wonderful patterns picked out for and everything. Then...there it was. The yarn I had bought from the place in the Netherlands, because I loved it, but that I didn't want to use to make that same sweater the Yarn Harlot had made. The rainbow-colored Kauni. The beautiful, wool, fingering weight, rainbow Kauni.

What you see in the photo is just SOME of the coloring in this yarn. It's a whole rainbow of nice, long repeats. Perfect for...A CARDIGAN.

And that was my happy, happy moment. The moment pattern and yarn came together in my mind and made something as-yet unrealized, but beautiful. I had a match!

And I think that magical moment of matching yarn to pattern is better than buying yarn, better than choosing a pattern, better than getting gauge, better than the actual knitting of the project, and a long sight better than sewing pieces or blocking!!

Ahh. I will go home and print my pattern and touch my yarn. Maybe I'll even swatch this one AND the revision for Bridget tonight!

I forgot to say this little tidbit about Bridget: I have ordered some hand-made buttons for it. I sent Wednesday Wonder Georgia Morgan a sample of the yarn, and she's going to make me buttons! Won't that be nice?

Kaylees Are Complete and I MUST Stop

Completed Pair of Kaylee Socks
Originally uploaded by sunasak

Yay, I did finish Kaylee (or Bee) socks last night. I wore them a long time, too. So comfy--they will be great around the house socks. I like how the color pooling flows across the socks in this picture, too. The Fiesta Boomerang yarn was such a joy to knit with--wow, it feels just great and has a little sheen to it, too. And this is one of the most fun patterns I ever knitted--dropping all those YOs then tying them back together is fun! And it was easy!

I've told nearly everyone I know what a great holiday gift a pair of socks like this would make! So, maybe I'll make a pair for my sister, who so far is getting tan and gray disco socks (that sock yarn from a couple of years ago with shiny silver threads in it).

I started a pattern from Knitty, Thuja for Lee's dad. These look like they will take just a day or two each, if I have time to knit. I am using size 4 needles and Cascade 220 superwash in navy blue. Nothing too wild for an old German/Texan farmer with cold feet! And they must be machine washable! I may even make him a couple of pairs, since he requested socks to keep his feet warm around the house. Then I'll make him a pair out of sock yarn, in case he likes that. I have located all my "manly" colorways.

Yarn Overload

Why I MUST stop is in the title is that I got my package from Astrid's Dutch Obsessions yesterday. Oops, I went over board. There are at least TEN balls of sock yarn, plus enough of the amazing stripey Kauni EQ Rainbow for that lovely stranded sweater so many people are knitting (thanks to the Yarn Harlot Lady), AND a 1144-yard hank of some incredible Kauni EG-260 lightweight wool (not laceweight, I don't think) in blendy stripey bright violets that wants to be one of those Victorian Lace Today scarves. So I think.

Why on EARTH did I get TEN balls of sock yarn? Well, here's what they are:

1. 4 Trekking Seasons balls--winter, spring, summer and fall. Had to get all 4, right? If you visit the Astrid home page, you will see what these will look like knit up, and I think you'll agree it's a nice variant on self-striping yarn.

2. 3 Trekking Autumn Fire series -- again, must have whole series, huh?? (These are quite fun, too)

3. Some Opal yarn with Bamboo, in the softest greens (it is greener than the picture shows). I love bamboo, and soft colors.

4. Regia in browns, rusts and blues, but what is cool is that they swirl and look like Jupiter when knit up, according to the package. Well, I just have to see THAT. I guess these are the Planets series. No, I looked it up--it's the Galaxy series in Jupiter Terra. I did manage to just buy one colorway. Even Lee said it looked cool.

5. That sock yarn with pom poms on it. I think it's Regia Pon, too, yeah this is it. I got white with blue puffs. Again, you can't get it here and I just wanted to see how weird it looked in person. It looks weird.

So you see, I nnneeeeeedddeeeddd all those yarns. Yup.

I will try to take a picture and stick it in here, but I was so embarrasses that I sorta scattered the yarn hither and thither so it didn't make a large mass, staring at me saying, "You are one sick yarn buying woman, Suna."

Note that this was ordered BEFORE My Man Lee got laid off. I am sticking with my yarn buying moratorium. All I have bought since then was the yarn for his dad's socks.

Funny PS!

My online friend Michelle posted this cartoon. If you don't get to read newspapers (I read mine online, and never get to the comics), check out the knitter's moment of fame!