In the end, I couldn't quite go for Lacey Lamb. I had decided to go in a different direction with the color for the lace stole, light blue (obviously) and Purl didn't have the light blue in stock and I just couldn't get behind any of the other colors. Plus Lacey Lamb does seem to be so relentlessly even. I was yearning for something with a little more texture, or a slight variation in color.
So I went through the store collecting all the blues I loved until I came to... yes, cashmere-silk. My budget doubled one fell swoop, but actually, now that I look at it, Handmaiden Sea Silk (used for the Hanami Stole for my mother) is almost the same cost for a skein of similar yardage. It's just the cashmere seems so... fancy.
To tell you the truth, making this decision and purchase is a big relief! I am reminded of my mother's complaints that she encouraged my dad to take up golf so he would be less stressed about work, and instead he was getting stressed out about golf! Not that I was stressed out exactly. Obsessed, more like. Which lace stole should I knit? And with what yarn? This was several days of internet research in the making!
Of course, none of these photos really show the color quite right. There's a little more green in it than the unwound photos show, but not as much as in the wound photos.
I've been in a crazy mad shopping mode lately. I think it's a combination of my birthday month, spring breaking through, and some physically minor but emotionally more significant medical things going on (think good thoughts for me on Monday). I am not usually much of a shopper, but lately I have been yearning things. Beautiful things. Ravelry and Etsy are dangerous dangerous places for someone in this state of mind!
Anyway, here is a round up of my recent obsessions. Perhaps in listing them I can put them to rest! I've decided that I'm going to try and make April a blackout month in terms of shopping for non-essential items. It will be a month to enjoy the things I bought this month.
Lace stole: As you all know I have spent hours trying to figure out which lace stole to knit. I'm not sure why it has been so hard. It seems to me that absolutely stunning lace stoles are in huge abundance and it's impossible to pick one. Are other items the same way? Not in my experience, I can tell you that. Perhaps it's because I decided on the type of project and then had to find a pattern, rather than seeing a pattern and deciding to knit it. Perhaps Ravelry just provides easy access to an overwhelming overabundance of choices.
Lauren from Kittens and Knittin made a good suggestion - go for the Print O' The Wave stole already seeing as I favorited a million different versions of this project on Ravelry.
For those of you not on Ravelry, here are the ones I really like: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. You know, just a few.
The trouble is, I now feel that a lace stole/shawl is an essential for all women, and it is my duty to provide one for every one I'm close to! I really am going to need to start up a sweatshop in order to accomplish this... and even though I've pretty much committed to Print O' The Wave (depending on how it swatches up), I still have a wandering eye. Just this morning I saw the Storm Water Shawl and thought wow. Yes, again with the blue. Even though many many Print O' The Waves on Ravelry were knit using Handmaiden Sea Silk, I wanted to try something different, but perhaps I'll treat myself to sea silk stole later on.
By the way, here is the Lanas Puras Melosa Lace Weight I was going to use until I found out they only had 1 skein left...
Yes, I ordered it anyway. I am sure I will find a beautiful use for it!
Clapotis: Speaking of shawls, I'm also getting the feeling that every woman needs a clapotis. You can see where I am really running into a problem, right? Yes, my clapotis and I have had a little tiff, we will be reconciled soon. I have my other two skeins wound up and ready and I think I am going to go ahead with every 2 rows in one or the other to get rid of the pooling.
I can see why Clapotis are addictive, especially on a larger gauge yarn when it will go quite quickly.
Blues: yes, I seem to have become obsessed with blues lately, which is a really new one for me. I have never craved blue more, not regular blue but sky blue, robin's egg blue, turquoise, teal etc. Perhaps it's related to loving the beach and the sea or being near any kind of body of water, even though I really don't particularly find the need to be in it. The cashmere-silk purchase is the first major physical manifestation of this obsession, but I am finding myself drawn to lots of blues, and I had to stop myself from simply buying all the pretty blues I loved at Purl (and how come most of them seemed to be very pricey bamboo yarn?!)
Cashmere: well, I seem to have taken care of this obsession, at least for now anyway, although in an unexpected way. It all started when my husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and cashmere seemed like the most appropriate yarn gift to ask for. He ended up getting me a spa gift certificate (nothing wrong with that!) but that hasn't stopped me from looking. I linked to it already but Nicole from Stash and Burn has the most beautiful Koigu Cashmere in her stash, and if String (the sole vendor of this yarn who just so happens to be in NYC) had this colorway still, I probably would have been completely unable to resist. (Now there's a yarn a lot more expensive than what I just bought!)
Anyway, I was originally thinking that I would a little cashmere treat could be used to make a cashmere cowl and then, oh my, I saw this gorgeous shoulder warmer on etsy which takes the concept one step further and... I want one! In robin's egg blue! Cashmere! We will see (and more on this etsy store shortly).
By the way, I did find some potential cashmere on etsy, and of course Purl carries an extensive cashmere selection in many weights and colors too. I think I'm going to wait on this one.
Well, except for the other cashmere-silk I bought on etsy!
To be honest, I have no idea what I am going to make with this, other than perhaps some easter egg ornaments for next year. I was just completely unable to resist the beautiful spring colors!
Oooh, perhaps a chevron scarf!
Tortillagirl's etsy store: So yeah, love love love! And yes, I ended up indulging in this handmade bag. Becky is an accomplished knitter as well as designer, and as far as I can tell, mostly blogs at fluffa. I love the linen jacket she knit for her son - scroll to the bottom to see adorable FO photos!
From her store, I also really like this and this bag and this and this clutch... but I do have some restraint you know!
Concentric Circle Scarf: yup, I bought this too, after seeing it on Alison's beautiful blog six and a half stitches. (I suppose one could say I am also obsessed with grey...) I'm hoping it arrives in time for my project's grand opening next weekend. I'd like to wear it with my new shirt from the other day and a black pin-striped suit, possibly the skirt version with my new boots (see below). Serious and professional yet stylish, that's the note I'd like to hit, which I find can be hard for women in architecture. You don't want to look too interior design-y (no offense to interior designers) but you don't want to look too boring either or whacky either.
Skirts and boots: Speaking of which (see, my obsessions all seem to be inter-related), if you've been following along on twitter, I went on a shoe shopping spree earlier this week. Ok, it was a pretty restrained spree, plus everything was on sale and was not too expensive to begin with.
You see, I have a beautiful pair of knee high leather boots that my mother got me for my birthday a couple of years ago (I am wearing them here although you can't really see). The thing is, I really can't do heels. I just can't. I really need comfortable shoes. It's funny because my mother wears heels all the time, and growing up, my sister and her friend used to play dress up and teeter around the house in her shoes. I guess it's telling that I did not engage in this activity. Perhaps that's why I can't wear heels! I mean, I can wear them for special occasions, but not when I have to walk further than from a parking lot to the place ie not if the subway is involved, unless of course I carry them in my bag and change, which is a pain in the neck for every day use.
So earlier this week I thought to myself that it was a shame it was still too cold to wear sandals but it's warm enough that if I had a comfortable pair of knee high boots, I could start wearing skirts to work (I hate wearing stockings, and even if I didn't, I don't have a comfortable pair of shoes to wear with stockings). and then I thought, hey, maybe boots are on sale as it's the end of the season, and sure enough they were! So now I have a comfortable pair of boots and I have been wearing skirts to work. As I said on twitter, life really is better in a skirt!
Noro Silk Garden: oh my goodness I am completely obsessed with colorway 249 as seen here and here (see many projects in this colorway at ravelry and flickr) and which I have already mentioned as being shown here (and can also be seen on ravelry and flickr) and hey look, the two are combined here!
I think I could see my obsessions with Silk Garden and Clapotis dangerously combined. Also, I love the Y-790 dress shown here (scroll down).
Baby Surprise Jacket: well, I've talked about this one before and this is another combination obsession - I am particularly obsessed with Silk Garden Baby Surprise Jackets! You can see many of them on ravelry and flickr. You can even find them in my favorite colorways eg here (oh so gorgeous!) and I think here although the colorway is not given but is that not the cutest?!!! There are so many that are so beautiful though. Look here, here, here (I have this yarn!), here, here, here, here, here and well you get the idea. (Again, these are flickr or blog links. For ravelry links, check under my favorites.)
Yes, just slightly obsessed, but wait until you see this... the BABY SURPRISE SNOW SUIT!!!! Could you not just DIE from the cuteness?!!!! The funny thing is, no one on ravelry has tried this with a variegated yarn yet...
Blonde Chicken Boutique: This is another etsy store that has captured my attention lately (damn you Ravelry ads!) I linked here before but oh my, what deliciousness... I pretty much want to buy everything here. Tara also blogs here. Particularly interesting was a recent post about photography because I think she takes amazing photos of her yarn and it was through her inspiration that I recently started photographing my yarn in "piles" (see above), even though I've seen Purl do this for ages (for example with my cashmere-silk) and I think that's one of the reasons their yarn always looks so great online too.
Anyway, I restrained myself to 2 skeins as a treat for myself, Green Eggs & Ham and Fruity Pebbles and even though I didn't mean them to, they look great together, and also with the cashmere-silk!
Which brings me to my last obsession for now:
Light box: I really should make myself a light box. The stainless steel counters of our kitchen do not make for the greatest back drop I know, and I can't always be bothered to wait for a good day to go outside. There are instructions here and here... and many other places I'm sure. This is one obsession I haven't yet researched to the fullest! Yes, these are just some of the things that go on in my mind. Are you exhausted? I am!
I'm dizzy from all of the beautiful yarn and see how clever you are, to put words in between the yarn pictures, trying to divert attention. LOL! Green Eggs and Ham! I feel faint!
I had problems taking photos of my stitch markers and finally broke down and bought an EZCube light tent. Instead of 20 shots of the same thing I only have to take 2 (just to be sure). Now I don't have to ask DH to help me hold the lights. :-)
Posted by: Laurie | Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 09:52 PM
all best on Monday
Posted by: michele | Sunday, March 30, 2008 at 12:32 AM
Lace is so addictive!
Thanks for the links on the light box. I always hate when its raining outside and I want to take pictures.
Posted by: Lauren | Monday, March 31, 2008 at 11:38 AM