Next!

When I typed the subject line of this post, I imagined Hiro Protagonist in Snow Crash saying it after a deadly katana strike, because I'm a huge nerd. I've decided what to do with the yarns I bought at Stitches. I am indeed going to do one of the EZ 100th Anniversary shawls with the red Tosh Merino Light. I decided on the Camping half circle, because I find hearts annoying, and the Gull Wing wasn't quite as visually interesting. I've already started this one, in fact. I should finish the double paw print section on the ride home today. Size 8 needles feel a little clunky to me these days, but this is a fairly solid fingering weight yarn, and I think it'll be perfect for the gauge I want. With the teal Montreaux, I'm going to make the Peacock Feathers Stole. I paid more for the pattern than for any other pattern I've ever used, but it is SO beautiful, and SO perfect for this yarn...how could I resist? I started Camping instead of this one because I was lacking the size 3 needles needed for the Peacock Feathers. I thought about picking up some Addi Lace needles at Windsor Button, but missed their closing time on Saturday, and wouldn't be able to get back there until this weekend. I came to the decision that even if I did manage to get them right away, they'd probably be more expensive than a fixed Knitpicks Harmony needle (even with shipping), and since I know I love the Harmonies, I went and ordered one of those. When it gets here...I just might have to consider working on two projects at the same time! Zut alors! It's funny. Before I started knitting lace, I never wore shawls or wraps. Even when I was starting to knit one, I was a little worried that I wouldn't really want to wear it. Now, I can't imagine not having them as part of my wardrobe. They're versatile, pretty, and they add a fabulous accent to lots of different kinds of outfits. I love my shawls! I realized the other day that I've got quite a few of them now: Aeolian Multnomah Vernal Equinox Gail a.k.a. Nightsongs Wingspan Seascape Not a bad start!

Stitches East: return from Yarnia

So, the Knitting Kumquat and I had our girly-knitter-geek date to Stitches East yesterday. As in previous years, we only went for one day, and just to peruse the market floor. I really hope that the event stays in its current location (Hartford Convention Center) for the foreseeable future, or that if it moves, it's closer to Boston. I'd be really sad not to be able to do this! And really, I couldn't justify the expense of going far away and staying in a hotel and taking the classes, as well as buying yarn! I managed to keep my purchases pretty modest. While I found myself tempted to buy yarn to make a sweater, I told myself this would be a stupid idea, because I haven't yet come up with a pattern. I don't know how much I'd need, and I don't want to fall in love with a pattern and realize that the yarn I'd bought didn't work well with it. But I did decide that I want to give the sweater another attempt. My old Samus cardigan never gets worn because I still haven't put the zipper in, and because the sleeves are so damn big. How did I do that, anyway? Ah well, I wasn't as good a knitter back then, really. While I've decided it's time for me to think about doing something Non-Lace-Shawl in nature, I haven't given up on my love of those beauties! In fact, the yarn I bought is going to be for lace shawls. Amazingly, this year, I did NOT get any variegated yarn! Both of the yarns I bought are hand-dyed, and have a nice sort of heathered or mottled effect, but they are single-color yarns. This will make finding patterns for them quite easy. This season, I have been madly in love with the colors of pumpkin orange, deep ruby red, and deep teal (though not too green a teal). I didn't get orange (though I'm thinking about an orange sweater!), but I got both of the other colors. I've always loved that color of red, but the idea of teal and red as a color combo struck me when I saw Amy Pond on Doctor Who looking like this:

Why yes, there ARE color combinations that an ivory-skinned redhead and an olive-skinned dark brunette can both wear! I went with a slightly darker version of each of the colors. The red is two skeins of Madeleinetosh Tosh Merino Light in "Tart." It's 100% superwash merino in fingering weight.

I got two skeins of that, and plan to use it to make a full-size semicircular shawl, possibly one of the Elizabeth Zimmerman 100th Anniversary shawls. The teal is one skein of Lisa Souza Montreaux in "Portsmouth." It's 70% superwash merino and 30% silk in laceweight. I plan to make some kind of a stole with it, I think.

I cannot WAIT to wear it over my red dress that I love so much, though it will be too cold for that until late spring, most likely. For the record, Lisa Souza has very, very reasonable prices! I don't think I saw any hand-dyed yarns at Stitches that were priced better than hers. I also bought a little mini moisturizing bar in a travel tin from the nice ladies at Bar-Maids. Their stuff has wonderful ingredients, feels lovely, and smells divine (though I got the one with no added scents so as not to conflict with perfume). I geeked for a bit about handmade beauty products with them, which was a nice variation on the yarn-geekery I did all day. All in all, the event seemed a little more subdued this year. It wasn't as loud, and I think more people were gone from the market floor earlier. We managed to get all the way through the vendors, and went back to make our purchases. Some trends I noticed: sparkly and beaded yarns are still quite big. I saw a lot of chunky yarns being sold, including "rug weight" yarns that were about half an inch in diameter! I did not see as many displayed FOs that used extensive and intricate colorwork, like I did a couple of years ago. There were a number of lace shawls, and I counted at least 4-5 Wingspan shawls. My Intolerable Cruelty skirt still attracted a lot of attention and compliments. I'm kind of surprised that it's a novelty to so many people. You'd never know it's been out on Knitty and then Ravelry for years, now! (For the record, I paired it with a cute black and white polkadot blouse and my Vernal Equinox shawl. Now I will remember this for next year, and plan something different then.) Notes for my own benefit: we figured out that last time, we had dinner at Dish Bar and Grill. It was next to the place that we tried first, last time AND this time: City Steam Brewery (I think that was it). Both times, the wait at City Steam was way too long. Dish was not so bad. Good food, good beer. We could make a reservation next time at one of those places if we wanted, I guess.