My in-laws leave tomorrow, so hopefully my online life will return to normal soon. Until then, here’s the sad and happy and elated story of my weekend.
On Saturday night, I was all set to steek the ladybug sweater. The hems are sewn, everything is blocked, it all looks adorable. I even knit a swatch, so that I could practice my stitching and steeking.
I daydreamed about showing the cute finished set to the knitters I was meeting at Stitches the next day. I plugged in my mother’s old sewing machine, got it threaded with some help (okay, I watched my m-i-l do it :), turned it on, and stepped on the foot pedal…
…nothing. Some time in the last 5 years, the machine has stopped functioning. So the ladybug sweater is on hold until my wonderful friend in San Jose loans me her machine. So very sad! Since the knitting for the ladybug sweater is done, though, I cast on for something new–the Peapod Baby Set (link in the sidebar) by Kate Gilbert. I’m doing it in the recommended Cotton Cashmere, and even in the pictured green. I finished most of the hat on the drive back from Stitches and it’s blocking now–totally adorable.
Stitches was simply amazing. My class with Lily Chin on short-row bust darts was one of the coolest experiences ever. There’s no mystery to the process anymore, and I feel totally capable of modifying any pattern I knit to fit me perfectly. I really just can’t describe it–take a class from her any way you can, you won’t regret it.
But you really just care about the loot, right? 🙂
The shopping was less overwhelming on Sunday, and I definitely found myself able to purchase a good deal more than I could on Friday. I stayed with a luxury fiber theme. This is 11 hanks of Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk, in a gorgeous navy-violet color. This is the first sweater-yarn I’ve ever purchased without a specific sweater planned. I feel like I’ve crossed some kind of barrier and it will only get easier to buy yarn from here on out, and soon I’ll be hiding it in the cupboards.
400-odd yards of Jade Sapphire Cashmere-Silk, in the Forest Glen colorway. Definitely going to wind up as a simple scarf, maybe something like the Chevron that’s going around the blogs?
One solitary hank of Fiesta La Luz, stunning turquoise color. I bought it to get over a discount threshold and wound up getting this for around $3. I have NO idea what I can get out of 200-ish yards of this stuff. Maybe I’ll just ball it up and take a yarn portrait, a la Brooklyn Tweed, and then pet it until it disintigrates?
I stopped by the Habu booth and couldn’t resist this wool-linen blend. The color and feel are so perfect. This is the second sweater-yarn I’ve bought without a pattern in mind. Maybe a tank, something long and reasonably figure-skimming but drapey? We’ll see!
This is the first yarn I’ve ever purchased that I’m honestly not sure I could knit. Women’s size 6 thin wedding band included for scale. It’s 100% silk, it feels like slipping into cool water, smells like tea, and is the most amazing indigo color I’ve ever seen. It’s seriously as thin as thread. It’s my “dream yarn”. Maybe I’ll knit with it, maybe I won’t. But I couldn’t leave it behind.
So that’s the haul! Quite a bit to knit through, eh? I love each and every bit of it, though. And now I have to share my triumph with you, even if it feels like boasting. I wore my Forest Path Stole to Stitches, and got many nice compliments on it. It’s always really special to hear nice things about my knits from knitters, who really know the effort involved.
But one compliment in particular on Sunday sent me flying through the roof–I don’t think my feet touched the ground for the rest of the day. I brought my copy of Victorian Lace Today to the XRX booth to get it signed, and after Ms. Sowerby signed my copy, she noticed the shawl. She exclaimed over it (!), pulled over another person in the booth and showed it off to her (!!), asked where the pattern was so that she could knit it herself and made a note (!!!), complimented me on it again (!!!!), and moved on to the next woman in line. I was beside myself and I’m sure my face was a rather fetching shade of red to go with the cream shawl. I had to ask my friend later if it had really happened, and thinking about it still brings a goofy smile to my face.
Well, that’s enough rambling. Hope you all had a great weekend, and happy knitting to you!
Amy Herzog Designs