Gauge, Row, No

I'm good at math. I'm a scientist. I have a Master's degree in Landscape Design and six years towards a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. I get paid to apply my considerable intellect, training, and experience to the protection of the rare species of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (Oh, stop snickering, I do so do that.) Not only am I good at math, I'm good at envisioning three-dimensional stuff. Like how the back of a knitted jacket with raglan sleeves will nestle nicely up against the raglan-sleeved front of the jacket.

That said, explain this:
For the numerically challenged amongst you (and those who get dizzy trying to read a blurry photo with an upside-down tape measure), here are the cold bare facts. Inches along the raglan of the front: 14.5. Inches along the raglan of the back: 16, and that's before I finish all the rows I'm supposed to. Even though I figured out that, for this pattern, I should be knitting a size 41 for horizontal purposes and size 37 for vertical purposes (yes, I'm short and square. Don't rub it in right now) and I took all that into account.

Good thing I like frogs.
So now I have two choices as I see it. I could frog back to the marker, knit the fold row, and make the hem for the back of the neck. This should result in raglans that match, but a wider neck opening than the designer really had in mind.

Or I could frog all the way back (that's 16", remember) to the start of the raglan, use my alleged math skills to figure out a new rate of decrease for the raglan, such that I'd end up with both the correct raglan length and the correct neck-opening width, and knit half the back over again. Did I mention that this yarn, although lovely and soft, gets a bit put out by being frogged and begins to look bedraggled when re-knit? Heh. I suppose then we'd match. Besides, if I never get around to getting my hair cut, no one will see that the top of the back of this jacket looks like a frog has been muddling with it. Although, since somehow I have ended up with about two and a half extra balls of yarn (despite, of course, having carefully bought just enough of this expensive stuff), I could always use a new ball. And then knit up the extra into a cute striped, felted bag. Not that I carry a bag, other than for my knitting, but it's a thought.

Or I could tuck this away in the deep dark closet of UFOs and go buy more yarn. Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary party and sale at my lovely LYS, Emily's Needlework, in Athol, MA, and this weekend is the 45%- and 50%-off closing sale, alas, at Knitter's Paradise in Worcester, MA.

Like there's really a choice there.

My Mind Was Here A Moment Ago

Geez, you'd think that having a week off would give me enough time to finish a project. No, it did not. For that matter, it's been a week since I got back to work and I still haven't finished one project nor blogged even a tad. My mind and my life just seem to be all one big blur - way too much going on.

Of course, if I only worked on one project at a time, I might actually finish something now and then. But no. Really really no. And did I mention that my parents came to visit this weekend? And that I dragged my sainted mother to hear the Yarn Harlot at Webs Saturday?

All of which means I have a lot to tell you about. First, how about this sock: I think I turned the heel two weeks ago and maybe knit ten rounds since. But the heel is turned. Let's have a round of applause for The Heel.

Second, I finished the back of the Debbie Bliss scoop-neck Noro Kureyon cardigan. Why, no, now that you ask, I haven't cast on for the front yet.
Third, I give you two, count them, two front/sleeves for the Sunrise Circle Jacket. AND half the back, even though it's not in the pic! So there!
The front/sleeve on the left hasn't been hemmed and blocked yet, that's why it looks lumpy. I hope.

Fourth, I knit the straps for the felted bag that finally dried once I shooed the cat off it 97 times, and yesterday I felted those straps. They are drying as we speak, along with two hats I felted at the same time (different pillowcase), as the hats were too big on me. Now, alas, the hat on the left is too small for me.Fifth, when Mom and I went to Webs Saturday, I bought more yarn. [Surprise!] Yarn for four different summer tops, two cottons, a rayon/nylon blend, and a cotton/rayon/acrylic blend. Evidently I'm in a blue-green mood. Mom resisted entirely. She said something about there being three unfinished sweaters up in the attic that hadn't been touched in, oh, 8 or 9 years, so maybe she shouldn't start something new. Evidently, my knitting fever came down through my dad's side of the family. [Note to self: check attic for stray unloved yarn when next I visit the 'rents.]
Sixth, some of you may not realize that there is not a damn thing to take one's parents to do on a rainy Sunday in late April in western Massachusetts. Finally, we settled on going to Magic Wings, a butterfly conservatory in Deerfield (it was great!) and then on to the Montague Book Mill, where I bought three used knitting books.
So I guess I have been busy on (too) many knitting fronts.

And the Harlot? Funny as hell. One hundred and fifty knitters, maybe more, agreed with me. There were so many attendees that Webs had to move the event to a reception room at a nearby hotel. I even took a blurry pic of her, I swear I did, but my camera sold it to the paparazzi before I could download it.

But even better was this sign in the foyer outside the hotel's reception rooms:
See? There are others in the world just as crazy as us. And they can't even wear their obsession!

I wore my red Baci Einstein coat to the Harlotry, and many, many people complimented me on it. Love it! Plus, I saw someone at Webs holding up buttons to her almost-finished Sunrise Circle Jacket in a tweedy green-and-white, and one of her friends had on a shorter version of the Einstein Coat in purple - really really nice. [Have I mentioned I like purple?] Makes me want to knit another version of each of those patterns.... since I have nothing else to knit.

[Come to think of it, there's a seventh knitting project I've made progress on - turning lovely natural-colored wool into freaks of nature via Kool-Aid. I suppose I'll post pics some other day, but trust me, the Fleece Artist has no competition from me.]

According to the Cat-o-Meter...

This is almost dry. It would have dried more quickly if I hadn't used plastic storage boxes filled with water to block out the corners. Yup, they leaked. I've decided this isn't going to get canvas strapping swaddling this from below, like an L.L. Bean tote bag, because I don't want to muss up the pretty pattern. Plus, then you'd notice that I didn't quite center the pattern. Instead, I'm going to knit straps and felt them, then sew them on. I'm really not looking forward to knitting twice 30 inches of I-cord, so I might just cast on the long way, knit 4 or 5 rows in stockinette, and then try a sorta three-needle bind-off without the third needle. We'll see. Stay tuned.

In other news from the knitting front, progress is slowly progressing on multiple fronts. (If I stuck to one project at a time, I'd finish something once in a while.) (Not a chance.)

Bending round the armpit of the right front of the Sunrise Circle Jacket.
The sock has made it around the bend, as well.
This? Most of the back of a knit-from-side-to-side Debbie Bliss cardigan in, you guessed it, Kureyon.
And since I'm on vacation this week (which explains why I spent most of the day at my computer writing an article on rare dragonflies, and then went to a late afternoon land protection meeting, but never mind, never mind, each to his or her own weird notion of what constitutes a vacation)... What was I saying? Ah! For your enjoyment, I bought these when I went grocery shopping tonight.
That's right, tomorrow I'm going to A) repaint the basement near the sink; B) clothe some naked wool in decent spring raiment; or C) find my inner Pollock. I've never done this before, so perhaps it'll be all three. Till then, let's make tracks...

Take One Old WIP and Stir

I may have mentioned that I have a hankering to knit a felted rug. Last night I decided that the colors of Lopi I had on hand weren't colorful enough - it's spring, give me lime green and delicate pinks and sky blue - and I thought: ah ha! I can frog that Classic Elite Fair Isle pullover that's been a WIP forever and use the Lamb's Pride Bulky to make a good thick rug.
So I dug this out. This is a Kristin Nicholas design called Scandinavian Family; I had completed most of the body up to about the armholes I'd say. It was Lamb's Pride Worsted, not Bulky, but close enough, I say.

Well, I couldn't do it. Sure, I could steal the rest of the skeins for another project, I could abandon this WIP mid-stream (hell, I had abandoned it for maybe 10 years already!), but I couldn't bring myself to rip all this work apart. Note the hem; I'd already sewn it down on the inside. I had woven in most of the ends. It's Fair Isle - nope, couldn't do it.

But I did have this mischievous idea creep into my head. What does this pullover look like to you?

You got it - a felted knitting bag!

Quick as a wink, I knit four more rows of purple on the top and bound off. I took the hem out, cursing my tidy little stitches all the way, and resewed the hem to itself all across the bottom, then folded and sewed down the corners inside to make a neat, squared-off bag bottom.
Off to the washing machine! with a quick stop en route at a few felting patterns, since the only felting I've ever done before was a smallish Lopi swatch that was just thrown in with the sheets. This time I slipped the nascent bag into a pillowcase, boiled a large pot of water to add to the washer's hot cycle, agitated for 20 minutes total, checking at 10 minutes, nope, not done yet, rinsed briefly, spun even more briefly, and voila!
Tomorrow's escapade: finding a zipper and strapping to match, and sewing them on.

I am well pleased with myself tonight. That doesn't always happen, you know.

A Little Spring Gardening

You gardeners out there - you know how you get out the first nice days of spring, poke around seeing what survived the winter, rake the leaves off the flower beds, and generally survey your realm?

Well, today Earle and I and several other people went to a very small - 1.5 acres, if that - island off the coast of Massachusetts and cleaned it up in anticipation of rare Roseate and Common Terns returning to nest at the end of the month. It was supposed to be lovely - low 50s, calm winds, sunny - which it was by the time we left the island; first thing in the day, however, it was overcast, cold, windy, and downright raw. Nonetheless, we set to work, mowing down and raking up last year's weeds, shooing off Canada Geese that wanted to nest there, and admiring the two pairs of American Oystercatchers that had just returned.

Note how the presence of a hand-knit hat makes me look ever so much warmer.
I forgot to ask Kathy and Ian if they had knit their hats - nice patterns, eh?
The not-so-idyllic island itself:
To top it off, I got about half a Sunrise Circle sleeve knit on the way to and fro, since Earle drove. All around, a good day.

Sobriety Sets In

I suspect this is the kind of post many Stash-Flashers are making this week - you know, I hereby resolve to not buy any more yarn until the following conditions are met:

1. I've finished all my WIPs.
2. I've put up for adoption all the yarn stash I don't really want.
3. I've knit up every remaining yarn in my stash except the partial skeins.
4. I've lost 50 pounds.
5. I've lost my mind.

Bah, I say! Not realistic, no fun, and, let me repeat, no fun.

On the other hand, I'm not feeling the desire for any more yarn in particular (except cotton sock yarn for Earle), so I thought I'd outline a reasonable set of goals for the coming knitting year, that is, until April 1, 2007. Here goes:

1. Finish half of my current WIPs. Now isn't that a sane goal? First step: Catalog the current WIPs.
2. Get rid of yarn/patterns/books/etc. that I don't want. Lighten my load.
3. Make various promised or dreamed-of gifts for loved ones. See below.
4. Knit ten hats for Afghans for Afghans, or the local Warm the Children campaign.
5. Try new techniques. Specifically, try entrelac (my dismal-failure Knitting Olympics project may qualify here); beaded knitting; and felting. For the beading, I'd like to make a simple beaded-edge cardigan from Rowan's Vintage Knits. For the felting experiment, I want to make a knitting bag modeled on the canvas, zippered one I use all the time.
6. Make a shawl, from stash.
7. Design and make (that means finish!) a sweater for myself, from stash.
8. Learn how to spin on a drop spindle.
9. Weave a scarf on the rigid heddle loom Earle gave me.
10. Learn all (most of) the ins and outs of blogging. Maybe I can even learn how to put this list on the side-bar and record my progress, or lack thereof.
11. Hang out with knitters a lot. Maybe even knit while doing so.

Presents for loved ones:

• Cotton socks for Earle, preferably by his birthday in mid-May. He specifically requested cotton socks. I have no cotton sock yarn (I think); therefore - shopping!
• Afghan for Mom, by Christmas. I've never knit my Mom anything.
• Socks for Dad, for Christmas. Ditto.
• Scarves/hats/socks for various friends and family who didn't get knit gifts this past Christmas (ran out of time), for this coming Christmas.
• Yoga mat bag (Namaste) for Jen.
• Afghan for Jen (same Jen) and Jason, who are getting married in September.

And achieve world peace, while I'm at it. Snort!

However, I will point out that today I finished and blocked the first sleeve/front of my Sunrise Circle Jacket. And I turned the heel on my first sock in ten years. So there.

George and Sophie are just green-eyed devils, because I won't let them lie on the jacket while it's blocking.

A Little Webs Browsing

The enormity of my stash is beginning to hit me. Nonetheless, I valiantly struggled to Northampton yesterday to see my friend Sue, whom I haven't seen in a while. We laughed, we talked, we knit, we ate, we shopped.

But before I even got to Sue's, I stopped at the giant Sal's Boutique along the way. I have in mind a felted rug of Lopi yarn, and I thought I could find a few Icelandic sweaters to frog. None there. But I did find this, half wool, half acrylic, in graduated colors:
And this, ramie/cotton/nylon, in a color that is much nicer in person:
Note the fern lace on the front and sleeves of this sweater:
Add them to the frog pond.

On to Sue's! Sue is one of those people who just immediately grasps new concepts and runs with them further than I could ever imagine. She's making her first quilt - here are pics of blocks-in-progress:
Some of those fabrics are from my stash, but I never would have thought of putting them together like that. I kept hinting that my birthday is at the end of June, but Sue doubts she'll be done by then. Maybe Christmas?

On to Valley Fabrics, where Sue bought another cotton for the quilt and I noted the presence of great buttons, beads, zippers, and a heap o' fabric, should I ever get bitten by the quilting bug again.

Then to Webs! The good news: I didn't need a shopping cart to carry my purchases (yes, they really have them in the warehouse). The even better news:
Twenty-three skeins of Cascade 220, the felting kind. Yup, it's time to learn to felt.
Ten skeins of Dale Sisik, in navy tweed. I can't resist tweeds, particularly when they are this good and this cheap!
A beginner's spinning kit - a Louet top-whorl drop spindle, the instruction book Spin It!, and half a pound of gray domestic wool roving. This is exactly the kind of wool Earle, the former Cheviot owner, loves; I see a hat in his future. The far distant future.

Finally, after searching unsuccessfully for the Harlot's newest book in at least two bookstores and three yarn shops in the past couple of weeks - success! I can round out my collection:
And when I finally got home again, late that night, long after Earle had gone to bed, there was a box waiting for me - two skeins of sock yarn from Crown Mountain Farm, dyed by Dicentra Design:
I feel replete. Or is that overwhelmed?

Stash Locally, Expand Galactically

“I thought that a stash is like the galaxy - limitless, yet still continuing to expand.”
Somerset , posted on the Knittyboard, 26 March 2006

Come in, come in! So nice to see you! Please excuse the mess; I just moved here, you know, and I haven't quite unpacked yet. But I unpacked the yarn first, of course, so let's take a tour. Mind you, the yarn is unpacked, but it's not yet organized, so there's no rhyme or reason to this tour. Really, it has more to do with what box the yarn was packed in than anything else.

That's Trendsetter's Dune up there, lovely, fuzzy, glittery stuff, for a sleeveless top for me. Not that I ever go anywhere where wearing a glittery, fuzzy top is appropriate, but I can dream, right?

Oh, and would you please take off your guilt? I don't allow guilt into the stash; it ruins the savoring of good yarn, don't you think? Here we go!

Cherry Tree Hill's Oceania. Glittery, but not too much. I tried using this for the Sunrise Circle Jacket, but the fabric wasn't quite stiff enough to do justice to that pattern. Darn, I'll just have to find some other pattern to use with this yarn!You all know WEBS, right? That storied treasurehouse of discounted yarns? It's about a 45-minute drive from me. Well, they had a warehouse sale, oh, at the end of the summer, I think it was, and among (many) other purchases, I picked up two enormous skeins of this shimmering pale blue rayon boucle. Very fine yarn (see below). I don't know what I'll do with this, but for $4 a skein, how could you expect me to pass this up?
A bowl full of Paternayan tapestry wool. I've had this a long, long time, left from my needlepoint days. Last fall I pulled these skeins out of the Paternayan stash (um, yes, there's about twice this in all) to use on the Color on Color scarf from Scarf Style, but I ran into some gauge issues and haven't returned to the fray.
One of my latest scores: 14 balls of Filatura di Crosa 501, in a blue-white tweed. Note the red sticker; that meant 40% off the already reasonable price of $5/ball, at Wicker & Wool in Gardner, MA. It's all wool, a total of 1904 yards. I have no idea what I'll do with this, but there's enough to do something substantial. I even got the store's swatch of this!

Another acquisition from the same sale: Filatura di Crosa Dolce something (unreadable - Avalon, maybe?). 100% cotton, a total of 2178 yards. The balls that appear mostly white are in reality pinkish. I have a summer v-necked cardigan in mind. Check back in 2014 to see what I've made.Two skeins of Classic Elite's Fame, a rayon/silk blend. Nice, but I haven't the foggiest idea what to do with them. Thewy've been in my stash for quite a while now.
Handmaiden's Ottawa in the Dragonfly colorway, two skeins. I thought this would work for the Sunshine Circle Jacket, but the gauge is all wrong. I don't know how I confused 18 stitches in 4 inches with 22 stitches in 4 inches, but I think it had something to do with the sale sticker on the Handmaiden. It's really lovely stuff, though, deserving of a nice close-up.

I don't want to talk about it. There's only one, however.

A few random Lopi skeins, plus two Salvation Army Icelandic sweaters, intended for frogging, if I can bear it. I have a design for a felted rug floating around in my head, and doubled Lopi, felted, gives a really nice, thick fabric. Nine skeins of Kureyon, bought at Webs' recent sale. This will become a Debbie Bliss-designed cardigan - scoop-necked, with the body knit side-to-side to create vertical stripes.
My mom's birthday was two days ago (all together now - Happy Birthday, Mom!). This is the very beginnings - see those orange squares hanging off the needles? - of a log-cabin-style afghan for her, for next Christmas, since I obviously didn't get this finished in time for her birthday. The afghan squares are going to be cut in half diagonally, either light-and-dark red, or light-and-dark blue, both with orange centers. Then I'll put together the squares so there are big red or blue diamonds spreading out from the center. That's the plan, anyway. I thought I ought to include this in the Stash Flashing, as it's mostly still just stash - various random balls and skeins gathered over the years, a sale here, a new yarn shop there. You'll see a few more like this. Ten skeins of Rowanspun 4 Ply, in the color Turkish. Cucumbermart was selling a bag like for $20, free shipping from the U.K. I think this will become Kim Hargreaves' Fleur, from Vintage Knits - a simple one-button, rounded-edge, beaded cardigan.
Handmaiden Sea Silk. Indescribable.
Three colors of slubby cotton, I think originally from Webs. Not really my cup of tea any more. This may go bye-bye sometime soon.
Random Noro Kureyon skeins, because one of these days I want to make a throw out of squares of this. The idea came from an afghan that Afghans for Afghans auctioned off on eBay to raise money. It was gorgeous!
Pop Art!
Three skeins of lovely Penfrydd wool, from Colrain, Massachusetts. I'm not sure Penfrydd is still in existence, but this yarn is good stuff, so I hope they are still out there somewhere.
Filatura di Crosa 501, wool, four balls of olive green and five of dark fuchsia, bought on sale recently. These colors work together even better in reality than in this photo, and I have grandiose dreams of making something sophisticated out of them, maybe with a little cable or two.
One lonely skein of Green Mountain Spinnery's Zephyr Mohair. Maybe I'll dye this, assuming that's possible, and make myself a little scarf. Someday.
Remmber what I said about checking your guilt at the door? Well, this is where all my guilt lives. This is Liam's baby blanket. Liam is three and a half. The blanket is half done. Need I say more?
Classic Elite Waterspun, in gray and light teal. The Yarn Harlot came to speak last year at the great Sheep Shack in Holden, MA. Once she finished, of course everyone lined up to get her to sign her books. Me, I headed to the sale corner and scored this. Then I got Steph to sign my book. First things first, you know.
Assorted Trekking XXL sock yarn. I tried to learn the two-socks-on-two-circs method with the balls at the bottom, but gave up in frustration.
Gorgeous, isn't it? This is hand-dyed mohair (kid mohair maybe?) from Watercolor Wool in Alna, Maine. I bought this when I lived near Damariscotta, Maine, and Pine Tree Yarns was my LYS. Yes, that Pine Tree Yarns - the shop of Elaine Ekesen, author of Dyeing to Knit. Hooray for my old friend Elaine! Here's a little bit of plain wool, dyed by Elaine. In my random yarns photos, you may catch glimpses of other yarns dyed by Elaine.
Ten balls of Spotlight Cotton, total of 920 yards - a summer top, maybe?
Thirteen balls of Elann's Sierra Aran in red. I haven't the foggiest idea why I have this.
Four balls of Elann's Sierra Aran in green. I wanted to make a cabled-turtle scarf for Julie for last Christmas, but ran out of time.
Mosaic, from S. Charles. Wool/acrylic/polyamid. For gloves for me, to match the coat that will no doubt be worn out by then.
I used to live up on the coast of Maine, for a couple of years. There is a great yarn store in Camden, the name of which escapes me now, but I bought these 13 balls of purple, tweedy Missoni there in August of 1991, on sale. Another decade or two of ripening, and I figure this will be great knit up. Can't hurry good yarn, you know.
Once upon a time, long, long ago in another lifetime of mine, I went to Florence, Italy, with my then-boyfriend and several other friends. I'd never been to Europe before, much less Florence, and I just loved it. Someday I'll go again - want to have a knitters' retreat there sometime? Anyhow, we went to a yarn shop, one of my friends translated for me, and I bought this assortment of mostly Missoni yarns. Someday, I'll knit up a pullover for myself from this.
The label I can sew into the sweater I knit from the Florentine Missoni yarn.
Casablanca ribbon yarn and Plymouth Orient Express nylon/mohair blend, enough for a Magic Grid pullover, pattern from Knitters magazine, sometimetime in the past decade.
Six assorted colors of Lamb's Pride Worsted, partial skeins left from knitting a Kaffe Fassett coat. This might become a felted bag some day, or not.
Three cones of Harrisville Highland wool. Yep, there they are, all right.
Sometimes I wonder what gets into me. This is a two-pound cone of ecru cotton. You may see this on the Knittyboard swap thread sometime soon. Start planning those Christmas washcloths!
Purple Colorado yarns, wool/acrylic, bulky. I can't resist purple, especially inexpensive purple.
Stash of another sort, many given to me by my mom, from her stash and my grandma's and my mother's friends' stashes. This is history and legacy, people, worthy of respect. (No, they didn't give me their yarn. They are sane people; sane people may give away their tools, but not life itself.)Mrs. Haviland, my mom's neighbor, even donated her needle case, the one that was so good and cost so much (in the early 50's, I think) that she couldn't bring herself to tie the ribbons, for fear of mussing them. I, of course, being of the disrespectful younger generation, tied them immediately.
Cashmere. Laceweight. In the Everglades color. Three cones, totaling 450 grams. Someday I shall be worthy of knitting this heavenly yarn. Get your own at Colourmart.
You know how when you find something you like so much, you can hardly breathe and you just want to pay for it and get in your car and perform unnatural acts with it before someone says you're not worthy of such bliss?

Really? You've done that? Why, I never!

OK, I admit that this yarn does it for me. Three cones from Webs of beautiful thin wool in scrumptious blue-violet. I was so nervous buying it, on one of my first trips into Webs' warehouse, that I never asked exactly what it is or how many yards per pound or anything useful like that. I do know I have enough for anything I can possibly imagine.
Four balls of Reynolds Saucy, for a summer top.
Great texture here. In the upper right, you see the original yarn - a blue wool boucle from who knows when, who knows where. The rest of the photo - one-fourth of a dolman-sleeve jacket. By the time I finish, dolman sleeves will be back in style again. I hope.
Darn! The price tag didn't show up in the photo! It says 10 skeins (of Debbie Bliss Wool/Cotton) for $28.00. How could I pass that up? And from my LYS, too!
Berroco's Foliage, with a cone of black Harrisville Highland Tweed in the middle. I'm planning on making a Barbara Breiter Bolero jacket out of this. Supposedly.
Madil's Eden Print, 100% bamboo, with the beginnings of a Clapotis. I'm not sure this will work well for a Clap, but if not, I'll make myself a little summer top.
Red and blue Baci, from S. Charles. Incredibly soft merino with something artificial, I don't remember what. I knit myself a Sally Melville Einstein Coat out of the red while I was laid up with my broken leg, and it came out beautifully (except the yarn is too soft for seaming, so I need to redo the shoulder seams). I cannot tell you how comforting it was to have yarn this nice going through my hands while every other part of my body hurt. So when Webs marked it down even more, I bought 20 balls of the red and 10 of the blue. One can never have too much beauty in one's life.
Phoenix Soy Silk, for a yoga mat bag for my yogini friend Jen.
Valley Yarns Rainbow and Lamb's Pride Superwash, for a Sally Melville Simple Cardigan, for me.
I like red, have you noticed that? This is Rowan 4 Ply Soft. I was having a bad day, I don't even remember why, so I stopped into my LYS to cheer myself up. I bought the book Knitter's Stash and this yarn to make the Heavenly Camisole therein. The day suddenly felt much better.
I don't spin. Nonethless, here's some merino roving I bought this past Christmas, when my mom took me to Arasapha Farm outside Philadelphia somewhere. I couldn't resist this - don't you just want to lose yourself in the lusciousness of that pink?
Back to red; did I mention I like red? I have two big cones of this 70% cotton/30% linen red yarn, bought cheaply at a Webs sale. It's pretty thin stuff, so I think I'll have to use two or three strands together. Maybe a Christmas tablecloth?
While we're on the subject of red: I have five plastic storage boxes, with various yarns sorted by color, usually only a ball or skein of each. I used to be enthralled by Kaffe Fassett-style knitting, since I came to knitting from quilting, and I found I could just collect a ball here, a skein there, all on sale, of course, and have enough for a sweater or coat in no time flat. I still have enough random yarn for MANY Fassett-style projects, as you can see below.

I'm not really one much for yellows; you can see the bottom of the box here.

Phildar Maharadjah, wool/acrylic/viscose. These are only three of the 16 balls of this in my collection; I have five different colorways.
Four balls of Patons Kroy sock yarn. I didn't buy this for socks, but one of these days I might make this into multi-colored socks of some sort or another. Actually, what I've been thinking is making a series of socks, each one (not pair, mind you, but each one) different but related to the others. For example, Sock #1 might have pink ribbing, pink heel and toe, with green and purple stripes for the body. Sock #2 would have a green heel and toe, purple ribbing, and pink/purple striping on the body. Sock #3 would introduce the blue color. And so on. That would get rid of the second-sock syndrome, and if one sock wears out, you don't have to trash a whole pair. It can be a new trend in sock-making!
A lovely unidentified cone. There's a note somewhere with more info, I think.
Navy blue Gjestal Naturgarn No. 1, from Elann. I had planned on adapting Elann's hooded vest pattern for Earle, but alas, this yarn didn't work into the right kind of fabric when it made the right gauge - too limp and holey, not really sweatshirt sort of fabric at all.A tweed-stitch afghan I started about 8 or 9 months ago, in the hopes of using up some of my stash. This is the central panel of six or seven. Below is the yarn destined for the afghan - looks a lot like my random purple skeins above, doesn't it?

I hit a very bad pothole a couple months ago, on a rainy night, merging onto a major interstate at rush hour. Blew out the side wall of my tire and bent the steel rim. The next day, I went to the next town over - Gardner, MA - to get everything fixed. Afterwards, I said to myself, "There is a yarn shop in this town you have never seen. You just had a bad 24 hours. " So, I took myself to Wicker & Wool, and lo! Wool in the Woods Cruz, rayon in the colorway Bashful. I felt much better about life.
Finally, a fuzzy pic, but good yarn - a wool/silk blend, 2.14 pounds of it from Webs. This is the kind of color I lose myself in.

Well, look, we're all done with the tour. There's a few more yarns (a little Jaeger Trinity, some Rowan Felted Tweed, a few random balls), but they just refused to have their photo taken - something about a bad hair day. And you look pretty done in yourself, how's about a cuppa tea and a little knitting? I do have just a few things to finish up myself.