Cotton stash

I had to try this Arucania hand painted cotton.  I'm dreaming of mixing it with black for a yummy cotton afghan.

New stash

Cottons from Rowan, cotton from Great Adirondak, silk and cotton blends from both Rowan and Noro and a pure chunky linen from Louet Sales.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

New stash

Silk by Filatura de Crosa and bamboo from Alchemy Yarns

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

In the studio - stash from Webs

For those of you who have yet to be introduced, Webs is a wonderful yarn store in Northampton, MA, a.k.a. www.yarn.com A few friends and I have a habit of meeting in Northampton to catch up with one another and enjoy a communal day of shopping and hanging out. Webs is always on our itinerary.

The one huge pleasure that I love most is that not only do you get to shop a rather large yarn store that serves both the knitting/crocheting crowd (and I'm sure at least a few tatters) but the weaving crowd as well. They've left the doors to their warehouse in the back open so you can wander back and pretty much have a go at the whole stock. It's not pretty, but the bargains are neck deep and higher. This visit I was very pleased to see the younger set making thrilling discoveries in the warehouse. I hope to see more and more in future.

Several overstuffed lounge chairs are a welcome site for many a weary shopper and husband, and I think they help make the atmosphere casual and very friendly.

This stash is a small compromise of shopping pleasure and the knowledge that I just got two rather large bags of free stash from a friend. I got that cone because my companions discovered the $5.00 cone sale shelves and...I just couldn't help myself. That and I'm a crocheter and one can never have too much crochet cotton on hand.



Taking about 18in lengths of each yarn in the new collection, I'm creating this diagonal garter stitch scarf. It's an unusual combination of pinks with a lot of blue and greens with a lot of blue and some just plain blue, and I'm liking it a lot.

Mixed fibers, cotton, wool, silk, nylon, microfiber, rayon, linen; diagonal garter stitch, size 10 cable needle, 30 in (too long!)

Stash

Since I'm the in process of sorting all my stash, I thought I'd take some photos of recent acquisitions. I knitted up a little swatch of the Rowan Classic Natural Silk Aran, which is a blend of silk viscose and linen. I used a size 7 [4.5mm] needle and it doesn't have the drape that I want. I'll go with a size 8 needle for a more loose fabric.


I also crocheted some with a size E [3.5mm] hook. I like the filet much better. I have images of little crocheted thingies floating in the filet and a ruffle around the edge, so we'll see what happens.

Stash

Kidlin - my new favorite yarn. This is straight from the shop: Saratoga Needle Arts in Saratoga Springs. I rode the bus up again today and have been strolling. I'm still absorbing the dhosa from the Indian restaurant and enjoying a lovely mild summer day.

With these two rosey pink colors and the colors I already have I'm looking forward to something very special

Stash

Willow, by Tahki; the fiber content makes me giggle: 66% Linen 34% Cotton I'm wondering how they come to those exact percentages.

I'm getting a substantial amount of linen yarn, so I'm wondering what sort of interesting textiles I can create with that fiber, maybe mixed with both cotton and hemp. At this point I have quite a wide variety of colors and textures. So I'm wondering both about intarsia, which I've been practicing, and my usual mixing by rows. I'm also starting to think about wall hangings and doing either mixed media on top of the fabric or some sorts of beads and embroidery embellishments.

Stash

Rowan Chunky Print; color: "Shriek"

I couldn't help myself and got another grab bag from Webs. This is my most problematic yarn, so of course I tried to start working with it immediately. I made a beanie that's a k4 p1 rib and the inherant wildness of the yarn makes it nice and exciting. Then I thought about making a "set" of beanie, scarf and gauntlets. So I started a basketweave stitch on the scarf: Nice and exciting. I think I'll do the gauntlets in garter stitch. Because of the chunky weight it knits up very quickly.

The other yarns in the grab bag are yummy and inspiring, so I'm sure they'll end up in the blog too.

Stash confessions

When I was standing in line at the Web's tent sale this summer, oggling the great buys that my fellow shoppers had nabbed, I sniffed when I heard a newbie saying "I have a *drawer* full of yarn that I haven't used.

Yes, all you seasoned knitters out there know what I mean. All the knitting writers and bloggers have written about it, contemplated it and just given in to it. Stash is unavoidable after you truly fall in love with yarn.

I've been guiltily stashing art and craft supplies since 1977, so it has sort of been not a surprise to acknowledge that I have a lot of yarn. But...I have a *lot* of yarn. It's not crap, either. Also not terribly expensive since I get an extra little thrill from scoring at yarn sales, scrounging sale bins and wandering around shops until I find the sale areas.

Lately I have been wondering about my increasing efforts to slow down on collecting. This is serious. I've never thought so hard about cooling it in 30 years. Could it have been tripping and falling into the 10 very large shopping bags crowding the studio floor? Honestly, I felt like one of the characters in the classic scene where the protagonists end up sliding down a long chute into the whatever-it-is thing that begins to attack a few minutes after everyone settles down and stops screaming.

Where was I?

I was vacationing for a couple weeks, knitting all the while, so when I get the camera and my work together in the same place, there'll be more photos. I was crocheting also, using this wonderful hemp yarn, in a raspberry color [this photo was altered to get close to the color]. It's a little bit fatter than crochet cotton, and I'm knitting it now also, with a size 3 needle. My plan is to sew some beads into it as well, to give it a little flash and weight.

So while you're waiting for photos to show up, get yourself to Franklin's Panopticon and enjoy his reports of Stitches Midwest.

In my knitting bag

I've been browsing around on Men Who Knit and Women Who Knit and came across a What's in your knitting bag?" post.

I don't really have a knitting bag. I think my equivalent is my "in progress" bin. It's so full of projects that I quail at the thought of trying to describe all of them. But I'm trying to get ready for a local street festival called "Art on Lark" so I'm running flat out to finish lots of stuff.

While down at the Woodstock Wool Company a couple weeks ago I picked up one of their mondo skeins of beautiful pima cotton. They dye it there, and the colors reminded me of Florida, where I spent the winter. I'm making it a derivation of Sally Melville's "Shape it!" scarf, and the colors of the yarn are the most beautiful in the long, slim rows, almost like ikat woven color changes. Me likes!

Webs - a Day in Paradise

I'm close enough to be able to go to Webs, the terrific yarn emporium in Northampton, Mass. Yesterday was a special day because it was my first day trip to webs since late summer last year. And it was a doozie. Not only are they in the middle of their normal anniversary sale, but they are having a two-day tent sale as well. The weather cooperated, although it looked threatening all day. I got into town a little early, so I went to a favorite local cafe just down Pleasant Street and waited eagerly, dreaming of all the yarns I had previewed on the store's website the day before. The tents were up, and local spinners were set up around the grounds with their wares as well, making it a true mind-expanding experience for the yarn lover. And the bargains were there. I'm a fan of cones, because I love to be able to get through a whole piece without having to tie together the small balls of yarn, and Webs has 'em. The sale prices weren't the 50% discounts and greater like some of the other yarns, but it was still easy to get an amount of tweedy silk/cotton yarn it takes to do a long sleeve sweater for US $20.00. There were luscious cones of mohair upon which I merely drooled because by the time I got to them my HUGE tub was full of yarn. And so on. I shopped for two hours and it was all good. It's always impressive to go back into the warehouse and shop, but with loads of prices dropped down for the sale it was mind-boggling to try to choose.

The lines at the cash registers were long. At first I was sort of non-plussed because I really wasn't feeling well. But as I settled and put my bin on the floor and began to observe what was around me I was delighted to see the numbers of knitters, weavers, spinners and fellow travelers milling around, touching, chatting and generally having a blast. Small groups of what were probably knitting circles were clustered around various displays, individuals were studying colors and textures, the buzz of people thinking of new projects and fun times ahead was energizing.

My latest skein from Woodstock Wool company. Their dying technique renders subtle variations in color. 

Knitting blogs - oh my!

I was back at the Woodstock Wool Company yesterday. That's because it's a swell place to hang out and knit, think about knitting and talk about knitting. Heidi and I had a really good conversation about knitting and business.

The most fun tip I got yesterday was to go and look at Queer Joe's knitting blog. Woo hoo!

The knitting I did at the WWC was part knitting and part selecting yarns. As you can see from the photos I've become enthralled with making textiles that are composed of many yarns. So yesterday I was pulling balls from a bag of about 30 different yarns and snipping lengths of about 2 to 3 feet. I tied together the snippets, intermingling various tans, light greens and other color tints with a Euroflax tan. It'll be somewhat similar to the "moss" shawl that I did in March and posted here in the blog. I'm using the "mossy" yarns again, so it'll be shaggy. But I think it'll be my last really shaggy shawl. It's time to move on after this one last fling.

Woodstock Wool Company rocks

I was reminded that I actually blog about knitting when I admitted that I have a knitting blog on Sunday. I was at one of the most wonderful yarn shops in the world, the Woodstock Wool Company. http://www.woodstockwoolcompany.com/

I love to go there and knit when I'm in Woodstock [New York]. I always find yummy yarn and this time I picked up a beautiful lavender linen by EuroFlax. I'm going to try a very thin, lacey scarf with it.

I'll get out the camera and get some pictures up soon because I was working on yet another one of these mixed yarn shawls that I truly love while sitting around the "living room" in the shop. As usual, I met a few complex and wonderful people who also knit. I'm knittin' my fingers to the bone getting ready for our local art fair here in Albany.

What to do with yukky yarn?

So far in my yarn buying experience I've turned up very little yukky yarn. The little I have was ordered through the web, so I couldn't touch or see it. Instead of returning it, what I've done is use it with other yarns.

For instance I got a green worsted yarn that had no life. I tried knitting, I tried crochet, and it just wasn't happening. Then I tried a strand of brown with flecks of orange in it along with the green, and it was very appealing.

Another yarn was just screaming loud, yellow orange with greens and reds in it. I've put together a scarf with long rows, alternating the screamer with a compatible red, and it's handsome after all.

Knitting explorations

The knitted linen cloths that I'm making for gifts are coming along nicely. I'm using very old plastic circular needles in size 4. They were in the collection I inherited from mom this past summer. The linen is not bleached, so I am washing it until the rinse water runs clear,, which seems to me to be quite a lot of washing.

I recently ordered one of the grab bags from Webs, one of my most favorite yarn stores, located in Northampton, Massachusettes. I go to the store when possible, and also have been very satisfied with my orders until now. The order form instructs us to put our grab bag color preferences in a special instructions section, which I did, then I got colors not even closely related to what I requested. They were willing to take it back, but frankly, I'm too lazy to mail it back to them. It's a royal pain in the neck for me. I should have called in the order and asked a lot more questions.

But now that I'm really looking at the yarn, after I got over the initial disappointment, it's interesting. *sigh* So I'm putting things together with it and "making do" with what I got. It's a lesson learned, and it won't by any means cause me to stop shopping at Webs , because it's such a fabulous collections of yarns, plus an excellent source for true bargains.

Highland wool

I need to tie my hands in order not to shop on the internet. So, without those ties, I've been doing some wonderful shopping! Today my highland wool arrived from Elann yarns, and I'm delighted with it. I splurged and bought over thirty of the colors. Now I am blending four of them happily with a Noro yarn that changes from color to color while adding texture. I'm putting a shawl together. Yippee!

Shopping for yarn

This fall I've enjoyed shopping for yarn in places other than chi chi shops. A spinster has been spinning at my local farmer's market for years and I finally bought some of her worsted weight yarn. Wow. It's good stuff. I'm making a triangle shawl using four of her colors plus some chi chi novelty yarn. Yummy.

I also tried the New York State Sheep and Wool Fesitval which was a trip and a half. Sheep, goats, lamas, alpacas and of course the kids were fabulous. It seems like the gamut of products from our woolly, hairy and furry friends when on forever. The angora bunnies were my favorites. But the knitted and woven things people were wearing was at least half the fun.