beautiful things

Fetching

I have realized the benefits of non-project specific stash! Last weekend, I became suddenly inspired to knit something for my sister-in-law's au pair. Her year here is coming to an end and I thought it would be a nice thank you/going away present. Fetching from Knitty Summer 2006 caught my eye on Ravelry and after looking at everyone else's projects (well, not everyone - even though Ravelry is still in beta, there are currently 353 fetching projects posted!) I decided to cast on using my Manos handspun multi in mulled wine 118.

And they are done!

Fetching fingerless gloves

Date:
June 24th - June 28th, 2007
Yarn:
1 skein of Manos del Uruguay handspun multi in mulled wine 118
Needles:
40" US #5 Addi Turbo circulars

Pattern:
Fetching by Cheryl Niameth, from Knitty Summer 2006

The story:

The pattern calls for US #6 DPNs but I knit these in the round. My #6 Addis were otherwise occupied, so I swatched with #5s and seemed to pretty much get gauge, so I went with it.

I've been knitting with cotton and silk and alpaca so it was a change to actually knit with wool, but I loved it! This is definitely a "savor every stitch" yarn. And I loved the post at Knitting Troll called Michelle del Uruguay that says... that will be my name when I marry this yarn...

Actually, it was from this blog post (found through Ravelry) that I realized that the cabling details were not going to be as striking as in the specified yarn, especially the green version shown at the top of the pattern. But I swatched it up and it looked pretty anyway, so I went for it, and am very happy with how they came out. I'll probably knit a pair for myself in my beloved wildflowers colorway of the same yarn.

One thing that was weird is how the yarn pooled a little one the left glove (you can see a subtle spiral) but not on the right. Why would that be? It was the same skein of yarn.

The pattern was quick and easy, and a good subway knit. (I even knit standing up on a very crowded subway during rush hour!) My only criticism is that the left and right hand were not designed to be completely symmetrical, even though the cables were, so I adjusted the thumbhole location (last 7 but 1 stitches instead of first 7 stitches) and picot bind off (I think I bound off 2 stitches instead of 5 before the first picot).

Finished shots:

Flickr set is here.

Yarn-y goodness

Oh my.

So guess what arrived in the mail today? My Koigu! Not that I've been obsessively tracking it on the UPS website or anything...

It is beautiful. It is possibly more beautiful than I was expecting. I love it and I'm wondering if I should immediately order more...

I must say that I love it more than any of the Koigu I saw in the store. See for yourself!

Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino in p115:

I was going to rush home and start knitting with it but, seriously, I almost can't bear to undo the skein and wind it into a ball, let alone knit it! I just want to pet it!

Speaking of not being able to bear to knit it, here is the Manos I bought the other day.

Manos del Uruguay handspun multi in wildflowers 113 and mulled wine 118:

Isn't that just so so pretty? I especially love wildflowers (the lighter one) but both are delicious.

And finally, here is the Sublime Kid Mohair and Artful Yarns Virtue, also bought last week. You can see why I'm dying to buy some glass display jars now, can't you? I might have to buy a swift and ball winder too, so I can wind pretty balls.

Sublime Kid Mohair in pistachio 22 and venetian green 27 with Artful Yarns Virtue in fortitude 5 and temperance 6:

Spring evening

I do so love spring.

And there's nothing like popping down to Soho after work on a beautiful spring evening and stopping by a bakery on the way to pick up a nice ciabatta that only cost 75c! Now maybe that sounds normal to you, but I guess when I buy fancy bread I'm used to paying about that much for a dinner roll and several times that for a loaf.

Granted it's not as amazing as the ciabatta Elizabeth brought with her to Philly...

Speaking of Elizabeth, she requested some handwarmers, and as no one else has asked me to knit them anything, she has been bumped to the top of the queue! Also, I am in Blue Sky Alpaca withdrawal, not to mention a holding pattern with the bunny while I wait for the stuffing to arrive. I did start to knit up what I hope will be a really cute dress for the bunny out of my banana silk yarn (same yarn I sent to my KTE partner).

I think it's going to come out nice, and the color I'm using (denim - the photos don't do it justice) is so so pretty, but it's so coarse and gnarly compared to the buttery smoothness of the alpaca that I am craving something else. Under other circumstances I think I would enjoy knitting with this more. This was a case of picking the best of what I have (which isn't much) for this project rather than picking a project to suit the yarn or vice versa from the infinite choices the world has to offer.

Anyway, the handwarmers - I had a hard time making a decision on the yarn. Elizabeth selected a particular pattern (the "fingerless garter mitts" from One Skein also shown, ooh, cute, look, interesting stripes here). The thing is, I just couldn't find anything in the specified sportweight and her requested color (crimson) that I liked. Actually, I couldn't find anything in crimson that I liked so I broadened my interpretation of crimson to be... purple!

Yes, I fell in love with Manos del Uruguay handspun multi in colorways 113 (wildflowers) and 118 (mulled wine) (the Purl site doesn't have wildflowers but you can see it here. Both colorways are shown here).

The thing is, it really isn't the right yarn for this project, as it's much bulkier (worsted to chunky). Not only will this require serious ammendments to the pattern (like, divide everything by two!) but it will really just be an entirely different end result.

So, dilemma. Do I get the gorgeous yarn that is not really right for this particular pattern, or get the right kind of yarn but without really being happy with color. I had to rush my decision in the end as the store was closing, and decided to go for love. I mean, what's the point of knitting with something you don't love? Even if it is for someone else, or maybe especially if it's for someone else. I didn't get the wool wound into balls so I could always return them or... use it for something else.

Which, by the time I got home, I had decided to do, because what I really wanted for this project was some Koigu as I am still totally obsessed/in love with these. However, Purl didn't have anything I considered to be even close to crimson or as appealing as the Manos. But their website (different stock) does! So, I have ordered 1 skein of Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino in colorway p115. Yummy! Plus it's the right yarn and kind of crimson-y.

Another friend wants a scarf... oops, I guess she was the first to make a request, so I think I might use the Manos for that instead... that's probably a more appropriate use of the wool. Yay!

After all that, I'll probably just keep knitting with the banana silk for a bit but it's nice to know I have some options for my next project. I also want to look for ideas for my Noro Geisha skinny scarf - just straight garter stitch or something more interesting?

Here are some banana silk yarn photos:

The three colors are celery, natural and denim. The photo on the left was taken in natural sunlight, thus the vast difference in color. I did a quick 18 st swatch and overlaid it on the yet-to-be-stuffed bunny to get an idea for how it would look.