Sunday, January 01, 2006

Fiber, fiber everywhere . . . .

Am I the only person who likes to leave her yarn on the coffee table so I can admire it at will? No? Oh good, I thought it was just me. I mean, really, who wants to buy such gorgeous yarn and stuff and then put it away where no one can see it? That's just crazy!

Missy and I went out shopping on Friday--she was getting cabin fever after having some awful viral bug after Christmas. We didn't go to Guthrie, but we did go to an LYS on south side. Maggie's playing Vanna White in this photo:


(That's the only photo I was able to take with her in it--she went running for the bedroom after one shot. She seriously hates having her picture taken--see the look on her face?)

From left to right we have Cherry Tree Hill Jumbo Loop Mohair in Champlain Sunset, Mountain Colors Bearfoot Superwash Sock Yarn in Ruby River, and a skein of American Buffalo buffalo yarn in Bison (a Christmas present from Missy--thank you, thank you!).

I've never knitted mohair before, but this yarn has been calling to me for ages. The colors absolutely glow, and I think it will make a striking scarf for a black coat (of course, I have to buy the black coat, but that's not the point).


(Maggie's come back now since I quit taking photos.)

The Mountain Colors yarn is awesome--the color is amazing (this is a litle dark, but not much):


And the buffalo--what can I say, WOW! What I wouldn't give for a sweater or jacket out of this yarn, but at $49 a skein (what can I say--Missy's a REALLY good friend), little things are all I can afford. There was a pattern for some lacy fingerless gloves in a recent Interweave Knits that I'm going to make with this. The coolest thing about this yarn is after you finish your project, you put it in the washer for a few minutes and then throw it in the dryer, and the fabric becomes so soft, it's almost like cashmere.


I also bought some Berroco Suede in a lilac color and Berroco Plush in white to make some Ugg boots for Missy's soon-to-be addition to the family (I call her Mozilla, but I don't think Missy likes that name too much).

Unfortunately, when I brought these home, it was a while before I was able to fondle them as much as I'd like. The problem lies with the yarn store. Don't get me wrong--this is a lovely shop with yarns that I haven't seen anywhere else in the area. Mountain Colors, Blue Sky Alpaca, Cherry Tree Hill, Lorna's Laces, Opal, American Buffalo--she has some wonderful (and expensive) stuff. The problem is that her shop is in a very small office "strip mall" area and must share ventilation systems with the other offices. Apparently one of her neighbors allows smoking, and the smell has drifted into her shop. We probably spent 30 minutes in there, and when we left, we smelled to high heaven as well. Being a nonsmoker and not being around people who smoke, I've become really sensitive to cigarette smoke, and it made me crazy. I had to hide my yarn purchases in a corner until yesterday, when I took the 3 skeins pictured above and soaked them in Eucalan and vinegar and hung them out to dry. It seems to have done the trick, but I still need to do the 2 Berroco skeins.

I know the shop owner is probably caught in a lease situation, but I wonder how much business she's losing because of this problem. We've gone down there a few times, and there's hardly ever anyone in the store when we're there. With all the wonderful yarns she has, I would think she would be really busy.

I honestly don't know if I want to buy anything more there. I hate not supporting a small fiber business in my community, but I'm not sure my eyes and throat can take shopping there any more. (Seriously--I just handled the yarn labels for a few minutes and my eyes are burning like crazy.)

Anyway, the rest of the day was spent shopping for wine. We went to several stores that we hadn't been to before. Missy, being pregnant, controlled herself quite well; I, on the other hand, bought ten bottles before we were done--quite a haul. I really need to buy that new wine rack now.

Anyway, there are more photos! This is the Trekking XXL yarn that was also a Christmas present from Missy:


Those are Colors 100 and 104. I had tried to buy some of the 104 for Missy's birthday in October, but it was right after Rhinebeck and everyone was out. I blame Claudia (see October 19th entry) for this, because I think she bought the Trekking that was meant for Missy (it's a long story involving the website where I was trying to buy the yarn, but they went to Rhinebeck and sold all the Trekking--you get the picture). There's also a story about no Socks That Rock yarn this Christmas because of the Yarn Harlot, but I'm not going there--I don't want to start an international incident.

These are 2 skeins of 100% wool hand-dyed sock yarn from Sunshine Yarns on Etsy, colors Watermelon Patch and Winter Berries:


Very nice yarn! I'd never heard of Etsy until a couple of months ago, but they have some nice things there.

Lastly, this is some fiber I bought on Ebay a while back in a dark cranberry color--I guess this means I need to start spinning again, huh?


This photo is light--the color actually reminds me of those chocolate-covered cherries for some reason.

I guess it's pretty obvious that I love reds. Maybe I should have named this blog "The Red Blog" . . . .

So I have a day and a half before I start my new job--can I tell you I'm a little nervous? I don't know why, maybe it's more a combination of nerves and excitement. It will be great to start something new. For my friends who are reading this--don't take this wrong, I will miss you horribly--but you all know how much I needed this. I'm glad it's a short week--maybe it'll be a little easier to ease into things. Even with the nerves, I think that things are pretty good for me about now--I hope it stays that way for a while. It would be a nice change.

That said, I have tons to do tomorrow. I need a haircut and lots of little things. All this shopping sure cuts into my knitting time!

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home