Fiber Friday

I can be the biggest yarn snob ever at times - especially when it comes to mohair. But it's kind of a reverse snob thing since most mohair, for me, is so lovely to look at, but against my skin, not so much. Kidsilk Haze? Love it, love to look at it, hold it, knit it. Can't put it up against my skin. I have a whole bunch of Alchemy mohair in the stash that I guess I'm hoping will transmogrify into something else or everybody I know will be receiving fuchsia scarves for the next few years. This little gem however, is a goat of a different color. Crystal Palace, Kid Merino. I suspect its saving grace is its 44% micro/nylon content which you'd never guess when fondling this yarn. It still has the perfect amount of "mohairy-ness" to give it an airy look and feel, and merino wool to give it "uummph" and well, face it, something to actually hold on to the stitches. I bought it (on sale, important to remember) with this in mind. I probably won't do the Stevie Nicks ginormous bell sleeves, but the rest is OK. I think. And I don't think I would stand there looking so - uhm, frumpy if I were all dressed in pretty pink clothes. This is an Alchemy Pattern called "Femme Fatale". Oh, I get it! She's trying to look mysterious! Nope - I've seen the rest of the Alchemy pattern models, they all look frumpy and weird. Crystal Palace Kid Merino

28% Kid Mohair, 28% Merino, 44% Micro/Nylon

Color #4669, Blush; 240 yards

Retail price $5.70 Sale price $2.85 (Yeah baby!)

Thank you all for the kind words yesterday regarding my friend Helen. I feel very fortunate to have had the time I did with her and I know that I benefited greatly from the experience. I've been told that Brenda and I are welcome to go sit and knit in the bistro area anytime we want to. They have awesome cookies there so I'm thinking there's a Friday morning outing to the Sunrise Center in our future.

Have a great weekend. Wish a Happy Father's Day to the dad's around you.

Fiber Friday

Have It Your Way

Up until now, I'd been unfamiliar with the practice of re-skeining my hand dyed yarn. Like the originator of a great recipe always leaves a little something out so that the imitators will never be quite like the original, Chris was holding out on me. She's so like that. So, as if you haven't heard or seen enough about our recent hand dyeing session, I give you some of my yarns in three different ways.

Dyed, dried and skeined.

Pull skeins

Re-skeined

Re-skeining involved putting the skein back on my yarn swift and winding it into a pull skein. This was an unnecessary step; however, I wanted to see what the skein looked like in a pull skein, or cake. From there, I wound the yarn back on to a niddy-noddy. My niddy-noddy is home-made, made of five pieces of PVC piping and two "T" connectors. The goal of re-skeining is to get the sections of color to mix better and not just appear as big globs of color in one section.

I definitely think re-skeining is worth the effort, especially if the yarn is a gift. Even if I'm the only one whose going to look at it, I'd still re-skein it though. Do you have a favorite?

See you Monday.

Fiber Friday

It's kind of like this but with out the lines.

It's a lot like this but your colors will mix much better.

Andromeda

50% Silk, 50% Merino, 219 yards, 3.5 oz /100 g skein

Un-dyed

Andromeda is a single strand yarn that knits like butter. These 3 precious skeins were given to me by Jeanne way back in January when we celebrated our birthdays together. We're the same age - right Jeanne? I've been saving these for a very important day - tomorrow. The Usual Suspects will convene at my house for our first dyeing session.

Oh, the possibilities!

Amy, Miss T, the invitation is always open for you to join us. Have a wonderful long weekend. Take a moment at some point to remember those who have served.

See you Tuesday.

Fiber Friday

Alchemy Yarns, Monarch

70% cashmere, 30% silk; 156 yards/skein;color 36c Dylan's Blue Depths

Just how does a person forget that they have this little gem in their stash? You barely feel it when you pick it up in your hands. When you brush it against your cheek or neck you can just tell it's destined for some lacy goodness that you wear for only those most special of occasions. Like -- walking the dog, driving carpools, reading knitting blogs, going for coffee. You know what I mean.

It's dance recital weekend for Kathryn - five dances, two shows. Perhaps she'll let me share some pictures next week. She's pretty shy about these things. Join me in wishing that she "break a leg".

Have a wonderful weekend. See you Monday.

Fiber Friday

I have some recent fiber acquisitions to share this week. Amy and I made a trip to the Yarn Garage (yea - he's for real!) yesterday. It's a trip - both in terms of how far away it is from the western suburbs and the shop itself.

You could spend a the better part of an afternoon just wandering around the store, and still not find all the little gems they have packed in antique cabinets and dressers. Tons of hand dyed from the big guys and local artists as well.

I came away with this with no real project in mind (snicker):

Colinette Jitterbug Sock Yarn:

Colourway Alizerine #119

Since we had to pass through Burnsville on our way home we decided to stop at Zandy's for a quick look around. A polar opposite to Yarn Garage, it was an equally enjoyable shopping experience. Zandy is charming and personable and was actually sitting and knitting with a customer when we came in to the store. She helped me pick out and then eliminate colors for a project. Any guesses?

Tahki Cotton Classic

Various colors

And because Becky called me the other day to tell me that the new Interweave Knits had arrived at the shop, well there's this:

Classic Elite Sundance

Color 6204 Cool Blue

It's always good to have your summer projects lined up. Especially on the 11th of May.

A few parting thoughts for the weekend: Tigger would like to thank everyone for their comments yesterday. He'd like you to know that he was neither drugged nor hypnotized for the photo shoot. He was a willing participant in the modeling. From kittyhood he has enjoyed playing dress-up with Kathryn and her friends. He'd appreciate it if you'd all keep that tid-bit away from your cats.

If you know anybody in the San Diego area who might be inclined to watch the Padres baseball game this evening, my niece Dana, who happens to be turning 11 years old today, is singing the National Anthem at the opening of tonight's game. It's part of a Catholic School's thing and she is singing with group but I'm just sure she'll be the best. Have them tune in!

Have a great weekend. See you on Monday.

Fiber Friday

I saw this idea over at Shannon's. There's a group of folks who post lots of pictures of their favorite yarns, yarns that are special to them, yarns they've spun.etc. I'm way to lazy to join that ring so I've just co-opted the idea and the title and plan to to the same thing but only here.





Noro Blossom; color no. 6. I probably have 10 skeins somewhere down stairs. They are destined to become this sweater. In fact, the rolled skeins, which you may be able to see peeking out below, were already the front and the back of this sweater before I realized that counting and keeping track of rows really did matter and no amount of blocking was going to get the pieces to match up correctly.

I love the texture of Blossom - but only after it's been knit into a fabric. It's as if you have to see it for what it could be, not for what it is as it sits in front of you. I often wish I could be as patient with people.

See you on Monday.