I have TOO been knitting!

Um…yes I have, no really I have, stop saying that my sweater is like 6 inches longer than it used to be. And the stash! I have made huge improvements! I am much closer to SABLE than I was last spring. OK so very little has actually happened here, I’ve made some progress on Tubey and I started and abandoned a mitten and I bought yarn, and I made some trekking progress that I need to frog because I wanted to use a patterned rib and um… the blue sock is too boring and messed up for words. AND I bought yarn. Did I mention the yarn? That was the biggest thing about stitches for me YARN. I got some great stuff out of my class and I loved the knitters and the knitting celebs. I especially liked the author of This Book, who is from the Twin Cities and well, the book is really cute. Wendy reviewed it a while back and she can likely say more than I can, especially as I have no copy of the book. Let’s see… Oh I was gonna say things about stitches.

So we drive as a family to Chi-town (a.k.a. we bicker for seven hours while various children sleep, read, knit, watch movies, and listen to iPods. We listen to RENT (because Mom and my youngest sister and her best friend, who is practically a Kelly Sister, went to it the night before we left) and Dad is miserable. I am miserable as well because my sock is lost and I have no good travel knitting, I did bring Tubey for the car so I make it through that alright, but I have no socks with me . Then we get there and well, I find out I get to sleep on a chair for two days, ya-hoo. Anyway at this point I’m tired, I have no sock, and Big Brother is coming on in a few minutes, which also means that the market is opening in a few minutes. Guess what I did. That’s right, I went to the market and was anxious the entire time and had my sisters text me as soon as Kaysar got voted out (I was quite sad). Anyway we saw lots of great yarns and I was on a mission while I was there. I had not brought swatches or swatching yarn with me so I bout a couple of skeins for testing and because they were possibilities for rouge because the class was Celtic Cabling. I really liked the class and I felt like I learned a lot. I really liked both yarns, Lamb’s Pride and Cascade 220, the Lamb’s Pride has more of the fuzzy homespun feel to it and I like that, but there is always Knit Picks (a.k.a. CHEAP YARN). The there was the market I think I really just need o run down the purchases as I remember them, they are all so phenomenal.

Trekking XXL in color 77, I have been really liking blue in my knits lately, well actually this has just really been a year of blue I have decided that a real true blue was not Navy and I actually could enjoy wearing it (this is as opposed to my aversion to Navy as a result of 11 years in Navy Catholic School Uniforms). Anyway the Trekking is becoming a pair of socks with a cool rib that I chose some time ago and need to check to make sure I have right.

Lambs Pride in Aran, for Celtic Cabling Class, I really liked this yarn, the price point is the only thing keeping me from ordering however many skeins of yarn I need to knit Rouge and rolling around in it start knitting.

Cascade 220 in Cream, also for Celtic Cables, it has been said that Cascade 220 is the perfect yarn. It really is the perfect yarn, which means I really have issues with it. I am just not a fan of perfection, I really like the more unfinished quality of lambs pride for Rouge, when I do a more tailored look though, Cascade all the way.

Regia in Color 5211, I had to get someone who speaks German to decipher the label for this one, but that is the colorway. See above for my discussion of blue. I like blue. As a matter of fact it is one of my favorite colors and I can tell you why… but I’d rather if someone fed my ego to guess, I will give you all 10 posts to come and guess why blue is one of my favorite colors and I will give you 10 hints. Prize… well you’ll get the glory of winning and maybe I’ll send you an e-card.

Stitch Markers I forgot mine, these are purple and lime green, I like them.

A mound each of Blue-Green and Red Merino roving need I say more, well too bad because I am, the yarn is sooo amazing. It is beyond incredible; it is so fantastic that there just aren’t words good enough for it. It feels like wool, amazing silky smooth wool. I can’t think of higher praise than that.

4 Oz. of Lime Green Norwegian Wool

And

4 Oz. Silver Grey Merino I can’t help thinking that Slytherin colors look cool together, they just do!

An Ashford High Whorl Drop Spindle it’s very pretty, but it is M.I.A. along with 2 oz. of silver grey merino. Muy Mal.

A few red-gold silk hankies Amy has me hooked, well hooked is the wrong term, but only in that it denotes crochet and I have no interest in Crochet (well, except for the river vest, but that is a completely different story), but anyway I now am in love with silk. ‘nuff said

A New Go.Knit pouch again I was suffering from my complete and total lack of sock knitting supplies (ok I had needles, but they were too big for the trekking in the end anyway) so I caved and bought a lovely Hot Pink Go.Knit pouch. I LOVE them they are the epitome of knitting wonderfulness.

Other things I am sure I forgot yep If I remember/find any of it I’ll be sure to tell you

Part of Mom’s X-mas present but she reads this blog so I can’t tell you anything.

And Finally the BEST THING EVER

A whole bag (that’s five skeins) of Artful Yarn’s Jazz in Ella this is only the most wonderful yarn ever in a great color for me and named after my favorite Jazz Singer (possibly my favorite overall singer, I really love Ella Fitzgerald). This yarn is discontinued and the only place in the world where you can get any is Webs, and they had a booth at Stitches. Now the reason you can only get Jazz at Webs is because when Artful Yarns discontinued the yarn Webs bought everything they had left of it, including the five skeins of my dream yarn currently residing in my stash. I am now on the lookout for a great pattern for this tweedy alpaca wool blend, because I think I may look really bad in it unless I find the perfect thing. I want a sweater, nice and plain I think. I want this to be something I can wear to recitals and juries and things, so it needs to be nice. Needless to say I am rather excited about this yarn.

So I think I’ve rambled on enough about things, I need to write an essay anyway.