Too Much Yarn

What I saw, Who I saw, and what I bought at Yarnover!

This is a sample of Yarnover - it's like a mini mini Stitches...  Next week at Shepard's Harvest, it will be bigger - maybe 5 times bigger than what was there today.  There will be lots more yarn, patterns, roving, and animals.  Today, I only saw one and she kept moving so my photo is blurred:

Here are some shots of the booths.  Darn It Anyway has mostly Three Irish Girls yarn.  I saw Sharon briefly as I was leaving and she was arriving...

Lila & Claudine gave away small tote bags good for projects: (see lady carrying the pink freebie bag)

I met a few blog readers.  Sharon from Knitting My Way Home. 

Sharon sells homespun and this is the very first homespun I own.  I'm going to make a scarf from it. 

Then, Amy from Crystal came up to me and asked if I'm "mapleweave" and she reads my blog... forgot to take a photo with Amy.  We wandered into one of the nicest booths and I bought some MCNs.  One skein of fingering, 2 skeins of worsted, and 1 skein of Lace (yes, MCN lace!) - 800 yards for $30.  It's thicker than "lace" lace.  So I think I can handle this lace.  The company is Sun Valley yarn, I think.  They carried this gadget.  You put your cake in the middle and you pull from the outside and it just turns and turns.  I wanted to use it for dividing my skeins into 2 cakes.  There's a name of this thingymajigy - I'll let you know in the next post.

Jennifer - don't worry, I haven't converted to spinning!

Next, we stopped by Little Gidding Farm.  This is a mother-daughter-run business. Mom, Sue is the expert knitter and the seller. Daughter confessed to be not as good a knitter as her mom.  A sample using their 100% Suri Alpaca yarn is this Brandywine Shawl.

It must use a skein of the yarn ($33) and pattern is $6.50 on Ravelry.  This shawl is knitted, blocked and is $70.  I bought it.  It would cost me more than $30 to pay me to knit it.  And it was the color of yarn I had in my hands when I saw the shawl.  I switched it for a Raspberry color instead.  I can't find the patterns I bought online yet. This is Sue. I insisted on a photo with her so I can show you the knitter of my new shawl!

While I was waiting to pay for my yarn, the lady who is paying asked me, "Are you Mapleweave?".  It was ...it was... I don't remember her Rav ID!  I thought she is my friend so I can find her, but I can't remember her ID!! (edited 5/2 - Elizajane1234 contacted me!  YAY!  I found her! And she is my "friend" on Ravelry!)

I did my best detective work and still can't find out who she is!  Oh, I see my friend Kathy and Susan in the background.  Susan of the Rainey Sisters  is an aquaintance whom I've met a couple of times at a mutual friend's house.  Her husband is an avid cross country skiier and probably biker and runner as well - and those are the activities my husband does.  Anyway, I was wearing my Taygete and I felt lots of people touching my shawl and me.  I received lots of compliments, but I never bumped into Romi to show her the shawl.  Susan liked the colors so much she wanted to make one just like that.  She had me to go the Sun Valley booth (I was right near it anyway!) so she can find 2 close colors to it.  I was so honored!  Susan is a very gifted and talented knitter who wins blue ribbons for her beautiful knitting at the Minnesota State Fair and she likes my shawl!!

OK - almost time to go... let me make the last stop at Briar Rose - I did not get anything there.  I have to do my inventory  because I will most likely be at her booth next week!  She'll bring lots of project bags so I'm going to pick some of those up for gifts.  Just as I was calculating yardage or dreaming... someone tapped on my shoulder, "Excuse me, are you Mapleweave?".  It was RAV valkryie!  We've chatting about meeting as she lives about 45 minutes away... I didn't take a photo with Kelly...  but we did stop to meet the Ravelry crew, Mary-Heather and Sarah.  Deb was my driver today.  We live about a mile away and we carpool to these events.

And that was my day at Yarnover.  Damage? (The Berroco Seduce was regularly $8.95 a skein.  Got them for 3 for $10).

and I collected (well, I had to buy them.  Kathy bought one for me cos I didn't have change) buttons:

I'll have to add these buttons to my bag so you can see the rest of my collection.

I did finish a pair of socks, but I'll save it for another day as this post is way too long as is.  Tomorrow, I'll be casting on a couple of new socks!  And maybe a shawl... nah, I should finish my Sakaki first...

 Sock Summit registration starts next Tuesday!!! Are you going????  Yvonne and I have planned out the classes we would like to take.

I was there...

I stood where the newled weds walked out of Westminster Abbey... That's where I took this photo:

And I can imagine them on this balcony this morning!

I was going to get up and bake some scones and drank tea.  Instead, I knitted and watched the wedding from 5:20 a.m. onwards.  I missed the vows???  Must be at the beginning.  I had it DVR'ed.

I finished my Haleakala socks - will photographed them this weekend as I have an early start at work today.  Also, tomorrow, I'll be heading to Yarnover. 

When it rains, it pours!

I'm not talking about rain, though.  Although it snowed here in Minnesota on Wed, April 20!!  Thank goodness it melted by the end of the day.  My daylilies, poppies, irises are out so they'd better not be killed by the frost.

OK - I am not talking about rain, but I'm talking about yarn.  This week, I received a motherload of the stuff.  10 days ago, I blogged about when I didn't get new yarn, I didn't blog.  Well, today, I feel that I have received a ton of yarn this week and I'm almost embarrass to tell you about it.  I have a compulsion, which some of you may also have, but is smart enough not to share.  Today will be the last day I will share with you what I bought - because the next two weekends, I'll be weak.  I'll be at Yarnover and Shepard's Harvest and I'll be weak to my knees.  I'll buy yarn I don't need.  I just need to have them.  With no project in mind.  And I can't be cured.  I will keep the yarn until I no longer love them and then, I'll destash them.  That's just me.  So, enjoy these while you can.  I will only share yarn when I start a project.  But I will continue to take photos and upload to my flickr account.  You can also peek there.  And of course, if you're my friend in Ravelry (ID Mapleweave), you can also check "friend's activity".  OK...

We start off with Hazel Knits Sock Club April shipment.  It came with a lovely sock pattern from Melissa Goodale.  The pink one is Camelia and the green one is Lilypad (the inspiration is from the cover of Cookie A's Knit Sock Love book):

The same day, Wollmeise sent from Tash in London, UK arrived:

I don't even remember the names or maybe I do:  Die Auster, Neptun, Magnolie Medium, Blue Bells, and Spice Market.  Spice Market is one color I've always wanted so now, I can be satisfied.

Sanguine Gryphon came in 2 packages because they didn't combine... but they are 2 separate orders 2 days apart.  But  here they are:

I know, they're boring... The first two are Sundowner Moth, the next two are Experimental Love Children, and the last 2 are Nonsense Mutation Buggas.  One is Rhinocerous Beetle (how can you go wrong with that?  Maybe it's not as black?) and Green long-legged Fly (this has to go - I'll never use it!).

Then, today, I met my friend, Chris for lunch at PF Chang's.  She picked her Cherry Coke to drink and the glass dropped!  She was still holding the top of her glass and the bottom half broke off.  The management was kind enough to pay for our $46 lunch tab.  I saved some money while she paid by wearing her drenched sweater!  So I stopped by the neighboring russell+hazel shop.  There is a yarn shop across the street, but I drove past it with my limited self-restraint.  Instead, I drove to StevenBe (remember I met Kendra there last month?).  At the local yarn hop recently, the shop had exclusive Madelintosh yarn.  I wanted to check them out (although they ran out of the StevenBe Blue color).  They did get a new shipment of Pashima.  I came home with 2 skeins each of these:  Lapis and Filigree. Recently, I've been wanting to knit shawls and I'm limited when it comes to yardage.  Pashima only comes in 360 yards so I HAD to buy two. I think 720 yards may be enough for a shawl and a pair of socks!!

When I got home, my Fiberphile package arrived!

And that's all the yarn I have to show.  I have been knitting!  I finished the leg of my second Haleakala.  And I'm almost 1/2 way of my Sakaki shawl:

So, I hope that you have a wonderful Easter weekend and may you find time to knit!  I'm going to remove my yarnwatchers points as soon as I publish this post!  Is Jennifer going to keep up with her points?

A new project and it's not blue!

I'd been itching to cast on a new project and the winner is Sakaki by Romi/Rosemary Hill.  This is using Bugga in Honeybee.  I'm in my brown kick lately so I'd better take advantage of it before Blue comes home.  I'm using Triangle beads instead of Hex beads - I hope that is ok.  The beads are brownish-green.  It looks really good in real life.

Bugga order from this week arrived.  This is Red-White Leaf Beetle.  It's the type of shade that my friend, Debi likes.  Maybe when she sees this on my blog, she'll place an order from Sanguine Gryphon (although she said she had placed her last order EVER from them!).

This is a Skinny Bugga in Experimental Love Child.  I put in the comments that I would like anything in blue.  Elf Rachel responded that she's sure they have blue ones.  Does this look blue to you?  I'm not sure what they were trying to dye to come up with this, but nevertheless, it's still nice.  I'll ask on the SG board for opinions what is the closest color... It reminds me of Longhorned Beetle, but there are more orange and purples in it..

This is Skinny Bugga in Dragonfly Tattoo.  I already have it in Bugga, but really like it and felt I NEED it in Skinny as well...

This is the Bugga version that I have from the week before.. They are quite similar...  this is just a slight variation - the Bugga is just a teeny bit lighter.

This is Golden Orb Weaver.  I really like the original one I had - the blue was more intense.  Had this skein came the first time, I would not have ordered another skein this week:

With the original one (less Golden):

I sent out 4 skeins of yarn to Tash today.  These left my stash:

Bugga Bomber Womb:

Bugga Shelob:

Bugga Violet-tailed Bluet (will I regret this???):

and Socks That Rock Lightweight in Bella Coola:

I'm going to count them now so I can add the new yarn Tash sends me.  Today, +4 - 4 = +0.

I went to Michael's today.  I did not buy yarn, but I bought a bag.  Would you buy a bag like that?  Only dummies like me would buy it.  And it's not wide enough for groceries!  If anyone asks, I'll say it's my yarn!

 

 

1 Down, 22 to go

Yes, I still have 22 socks in progress!  Not all of them are on needles, tho...  Some are just singles and I haven't got the interest to knit the second!  So I finished the SKA Mystery.

What's different between the 2 socks?  Maybe this photo will help?

I used Bugga in Sharpshooter Leafhopper.  Up next (baring no interest in casting on a new shawl) is the second Haleakala sock.  Here are the 2 skeins of Three Irish Girl Adorn socks I bought recently at my LYS.  This is Zephyr:

And Irish Sea:

And this is some special color for the Yarn Hop.  My friend Yvonne designed the pattern for the shawl that was a free pattern.  This, I believe is Springvale DK:

Going to make a pair of socks for a friend of Alex's. She's been asking me for years and I decided I will knit her a pair of socks for her Graduation. It's DK so it should be fast, right? 

I read about this woolen coffin on someone's blog and I thought it's very interesting.. Do you care that much that you had to be buried in a Woolen coffin?  Maybe if it's lined with Bugga:

Here's the full story.

Plus 3, minus 1, net +2.

No New Yarn, No Blog Post

I'm starting to notice that when I don't get new yarns, I'm not updating my blog.  See?   Another reason to acquire new yarn!

Actually, I'd been rather busy at work so I haven't been knitting much (or shopping!).  In addition, I'm working on my taxes.  I'm all done with the exception of finding receipts for charitable donations. I'll have to get my W4 adjusted so I don't have to pay so much during tax time.  On Saturday, I attended an all-day scrapbooking crop, working on layouts to complete Alex's album before the Graduation Open House.  Last weekend, there was a 9 local yarn shop hop.  I only went to the one I usually go to - the one I have to drive by everyday.  I wanted to go the rest, but I know I'll buy yarn I don't need (see?  I have some restraint).  But, I convinced myself that I'm going to Yarnover on April 30.  The vendor list includes stores that will carry Three Irish Girls and Madelinetosh.  Also Briar Rose will be there and new this year, The Plucky Knitter.  I always miss the Plucky Knitter's updates so here's a chance to collect some more!  And to also pick up some for gifts for the upcoming year!  (oops!  I just remembered I did get some Three Irish Girls yarn at the yarn hop... yarn is still in the car.  Will photographe them another time!)  Then, the following weekend is the Shepard's Harvest Festival.  Last year was my first time there... I'll be sure to take MANY photos!!

The only package I've received in the past week (since I came back from vacation) is the new yarn from the Cookie A sock club.  It is a new yarn from Lorna's Laces.  The yarn base has not been named.  In fact, if you're interested in winning 12 skeins of this yarn, go to the Lorna's Laces blog here to participate in the contest in naming this yarn.  This color is called Boysenberry Jam:

OK - I finished the Haleakala Sock (yes, just 1!!).  Here are many shots of the sock.  The yarn is Bugga in Death's Head Hawk Moth.  Lovely color and it's not even blue! 

I'm now working on the 2nd sock of the SKA Mystery.  These are the socks for SKA March:

Then, there are 2 other singles I haven't finished.  Both cuffs have been started!!

I have destashed 2 of my Bugga load from the week before.  Well, actually, it's part of a 4-skein trade to Tash for some Wollmeise - I know, they're over-rated, but the colors!! Tash is in London, UK.  The yarn shop she brought me to in London now carries Wollmeise.  So, until I finish the SKA Mystery, I wish you good production with your knitting!

Wordless Haul...

OK... I can't do one of those wordless posts.. so I'll chat a little.  Those were the yarns waiting for me when I got back last night.  I'll be adding them to my stash page.  But, some knitting progress...

I'm working on the gusset now on these:

I found a yarn shop!

Needlecrafts Cottage is located 1 mile from where we are staying.  Instead of taking the streets, I chose to take the walk along the oceanfront - the oceanside trail that is pedestrian-only - plus bicycles and skateboards.  Along the way, you see lots of dogs, surfers, and some people taking prescription weed (HAHA!)

Here's Roxie:

Here's Crystal Pier, near the turn I took to go to Needcrafts Cottage.

The shop is small, but the owner is very hospitable.  The sock yarn selection is pretty good, considering the size of the shop.  I had to come home with this skein of Malabrigo Sock Yarn, but not for socks (so, zero points!).  The color is really much nicer in person - more purpley and less blue.  It would be a good color for a shawl.

Here are some more photos of the store.