beautiful things

New Seasons shipment... spoilers!

I'm not sure it's really possible to remain unspoiled about a Sundara Seasons shipment but anyway, here's some blank space if you are...

So yes, the latest Seasons shipment arrived at our house yesterday... and I did in fact manage to remain unspoiled up until then, although I did see the names of some of the yarns on the ISO/Destash list (yes, the trading frenzy has begun already).  For those of you still unfamiliar with the whole Sundara thing, well, let's just say it's kinda hard to explain!

At first I thought my shipment was all wrong as many of the colors looked the same, until I examined the labels and saw that they were in fact different colors, all very dark though.  Some people keep their yarn in the bags for better trading but, besides the fact that I don't do that, in this case unwrapping them was a necessity because it was only then that you could see the different colors.

The final verdict = love, of course.  I am surprised that the colors are so dark and manly and similar this time around but they are beautiful and as usual look great together as well.

This photo shows the colors pretty true, at least on my monitor:

From left to right: bluebells (spring), aurora borealis (summer), brambleberry (autumn) and night blossom (winter).

I think the first three especially look gorgeous together.  Night blossom has more of a reddish tint, although some people have described both their brambleberry and night blossom to be purple - not my skeins!

And of course, here are the obligatory more abstract shots... still loving my camera and the zoom lens.  Colors here vary from relatively true to completely off (especially bluebells).

Wow!!!!

Ok, more eye candy... 

Yup, it's Seasons FSM (which arrived a few weeks ago), taken with my new DSLR on my new desk at home, in it's new location by a window!  It's a pretty grey day today but the sun was peeking in for a short while earlier this afternoon and I figured I'd take advantage of it.

The set up is not completely ideal as it's more back lit than side lit - I took a few side lit shots but there's not much space to get in at that angle, and my zoom lens requires me to be 3 feet away.

But wow, yeah.  Gorgeous yarn, gorgeous camera, and a better set up than before.  What more could a girl ask for?!  (Maybe actually knitting with some of this yarn?!.... shhhh....!)

First the basics, here are the four seasons:

From left to right: flaming flamingo (summer), sugar plum (spring), life aquatic (winter) and carmel apple (autumn).  I ordered an extra skein of spring, hoping that would be my favorite, and it is!  I'm thinking of a lovely spring tempest (ravelry, pattern) without the stripes.  Carmel apple seems to be the least popular on the ravelry boards and I can see why.  It's a beautiful color but I think you need a certain skin tone for it to look good.  Not sure yet what I'm going to do with it or the others but I've been abstaining from the flurry of trading that followed the recent Sundara shipments.  If I do trade, I want to be looking for something specific, for a specific project, which I'm not right now, otherwise it's just too hard to figure out I think.

The straight stash shots (ie for ravelry) are definitely an improvement but not particularly exciting.  One of the things I've really wanted a DSLR for is to get those lovely depth of field shots I'm always so envious of where only things at a particular distance are in focus and everything else is blurry.  Today I broke out the manual (which I have been carefully reading through) and broke out of auto mode to play with depth of field settings.  For example, here on the left we have f5.6 and on the right, f36.0. (I don't know if you can really tell the difference at a small size but when they are large, it's a lot more obvious.)

That last photo on the right had a shutter speed of 8 seconds!

Those last two were also shot using the extra lens my husband got me (have I mentioned again how impressed I am with the research he did?!)  I had to step way back to get 3' away so that it would even focus but to me, this is where the fun really is!

And finally, it's pretty similar to some of the ones above but this is one of my favorites...



Love the yarn, love the camera! Can't wait to get more familiar and better with the camera either...

I've got the blues...

Sorry, that's a horribly corny post title but look, I really do have the blues...

Well, I am having a boy after all!

(I used to hate gender stereotyping by color but in the past few years, I have been re-embracing my roots as a little girl fan of red and pink. I read a good explanation once that a mother gave to a child - it's hard to tell whether a baby is a boy or girl so we use colors to make it more obvious.  In the end though you can wear whatever color you want!)

So anyway, blues, yes.  Back in September, as our pregnancy progressed into safer territory, I went on a yarn buying binge with the baby as an excuse!  

Above left to right you have Sundara Sock in Cerulean Seas and Beach Glass, Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Laguna, Squoosh Bamboo Sock in Big Blue and Shadow, and Sunnyside Ellen Hand Dyed Superwash Merino in Laguna and Dragonfly.  

But of course, that wasn't all!

From Hazel Knits:

Artisan Sock in Alki Reflection and Laguna.  I was expecting these to be brighter (see here and here) but I love them all the same.

From Squoosh:

From left to right: Celery Colonial Sock, Rusted Merino Sock, Shadow, Brick and Big Blue Bamboo Sock.  I love these colors too, a little more muted yet still rich and vibrant.

I also got some Squoosh handspun that I originally planned to use for the baby tomten jacket but it also ended up being darker than I was expecting (is this a mac/pc thing I wonder?)

From Sunnyside Ellen:

From left to right: Laguna, Dragonfly, Gerbera (all superwash merino sock) and Pretty in Pink Silk Lace.  I know, I couldn't resist some pink.

I haven't quite figured out what to do with all this yarn yet.  The color combination possibilities are endless, especially with the Squoosh sock yarn.  I had vague plans for a BSJ and a sock giraffe - but which colors to use?!!!

Speaking of blues, I also ordered some Oceanwind Knits merino:

From left to right: Slate (worsted), Amber, Vancouver Island and Galvanized (sport).  The difference between Vancouver Island and Galvanized is more prominent in the photo than in real life... I was going for a subtle difference but not that subtle as I did want some contrast for Angle (ravelry, pattern). I'm thinking of getting a green instead, maybe thyme, and using one of the blues for some baby bell bottoms (ravelry, pattern).

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it!) there have been a teensy few purchases more recently as well, but I'll save that for another post.  I feel like I'm hoarding yarn for when we become a one income family, even though at the moment the plan is for that to only be for three months!

Yes, that's right, Koigu Cashmere

I still haven't rebuilt my stash spreadsheet after my unfortunate incident of the dropped laptop, but I've been doing pretty well with my yarn resolutions. Or, I was.

Here's a quick rundown:

1) I did not go to Rhinebeck

2) I am not knitting any gifts for Christmas so therefore I am not buying any yarn for them. I'm having a hard enough time getting the baby knitting I want done

3) I haven't purchased yarn for the Cardigan for Merry yet (although I'm still planning to but maybe not until the new year)

4) I did order more Big Tryst for the barn raising quilt as some new colors came out at The Loopy Ewe. However, I'm not sure if these colors really go with the others, so they may be saved for something else.

5) I haven't spent my store credits yet

6) I got the bitter orange, but I haven't ordered any handspun from Pigeon Roof Studios... nothing that I've managed to catch when available has quite captured my imagination.

In addition to the Big Tryst and the bitter orange, I also purchased a skein of natural/white handspun alpaca on Etsy for the Tomten Jacket as I decided it needed a contrasting accent. And quite recently I also splurged on some Sunnyside Ellen sock yarn that I just couldn't resist on a day that wasn't going so well otherwise and, yes, as you may have gathered from the title of this post, I splurged on some Koigu Cashmere.

I have been eying this yarn for months, and when I first visited String last May or so it was to pet the Koigu cashmere in person, especially after seeing Nicole from Stash and Burn's pretty pretty colorway. When I was there, I saw the cutest little baby sweater (pattern, ravelry - but the pictures do not do it justice).  However, I was a little put off by how many very expensive skeins even such a tiny little item would take.  Besides which, I wasn't even pregnant!

Since becoming pregnant, I've thought back to that sweater many times, but could never quite bring myself to pull the trigger... until I saw that the cashmere was on sale.  I've had good luck lately with things I've been wanting for a while coming down in price, or perhaps there are just a lot of sales right now.  Anyway, this yarn is by no means cheap, even on sale, but, you know, what's the point of having a baby if you can't indulge on its behalf?!!!

So, off to String I went, and after a nice chat with a mother and daughter who were just leaving the store and gasped when they saw me and said "are you about to give birth or what?!!" (it was not rude like it might sound - turns out the daughter was three months pregnant so they were both very excited) I got to fondle the cashmere and chat with Linda, the store owner, who advised that the tiny size jacket they had on display was one that she knit for her twin grandsons who were each 5lbs.  "I don't think you're going to be having a 5lb baby," she said, eying my rather large belly.  She recommended getting 4 skeins.

Of course, there was only 1 skein left of the colorway I really liked, which happened to be the one the jacket was knit in (I know, sometimes I am very unoriginal), colorway 460.  In fact, there weren't 4 matching skeins left of any colorway I was interested in (which is partly why they are on sale - there are only odds and ends left) and Linda said she wouldn't be ordering a new batch for a while.  I managed to find 3 different skeins that looked like they could go well together... did I really need 4?

I ended up buying 5 - the three that looked good together, and two of a fourth colorway that I really liked in and of itself and also happened to go best with the first three out of all the other colorways left.  But... it doesn't go GREAT and I love the other three so much, two in particular.  See what you think:

Here's my favorite, 460 (yes, these are pre-brooklyntweed workshop style photos):

My next favorite happens to be the same colorway and dye lot that Nicole has, c309:

Then I got another skein of 460 but from a different dyelot that really doesn't have the orange:

And then here is c324, very pretty, but not quite in line with the others (and I have secret plans for a tiny little cowl for myself with the extra):

Here they are all together:

They don't look too bad together, right?

Here's my dilemma though.  The pattern calls for 3 skeins for the 0-3 month size.  I'd like to knit this for the baby newborn even though I know he will grow out of it fast, but I know that large newborns sometimes don't even fit into newborn clothing, and Linda recommended I knit one size up, even for a newborn.  So I guess that's what I should do, which means 4 skeins, but does that include the hat?  

Further complicating the matter though is whether this is the right pattern for this particular collection of colorways, even though it's kind of what I had set my heart on originally.  In blending all the colorways, I'm afraid it's going to get muddy, and there are other patterns, such as the baby surprise jacket or the tomten jacket that lend themselves better to mixing multiple colorways in sections so you don't lose the beauty of each colorway.  The tomten jacket would actually be perfect for this - but I already made one!  I finished it by the way, although I haven't decided on toggle buttons or a zipper yet, and I love it.  Still, do I want to make another?  I'd rather make something different, and I really had something different in mind for a BSJ.

Tomten would be so perfect, or maybe something like this (pattern, ravelry)?  Probably I just need to swatch and see how it looks.

I'm excited about being able to direct a bit more focus back towards my knitting though - it feels like a bit of a knitting renaissance!  There is still a lot to do to prepare for the baby but I have at least completed the biggest and most burdensome - clearing out the home "office" (aka giant storage room). Over thanksgiving it was dismantled and converted to our new fitness room so the old fitness room could become the baby's room... yippee!!! 

Seasons of... love!

So yes, I did indeed receive my first Sundara Seasons shipment last week - four beautiful skeins of sock yarn.

We have here, from left to right, beach glass (spring), cerulean seas (summer), persimmon over green papaya (autumn) and deadly nightshade (winter).  The colors are all pretty close on my monitor except for the elusive cerulean seas which is actually deeper and more turquoise.  This image shows it closer to real life... except you can tell from the background that I had to do a lot of color correction to achieve that!  The beaach glass is also overexposed in the photo. (I really need to set myself up with a light box as I'm getting tired of struggling with the stainless steel counter photos.)

As usual, I played around with color combinations, throwing in my other Sundara sock for good measure.

I can't seem to get away from thinking in terms of giraffe color schemes!

The citrus zinger, beach glass and cerulean seas look great together too, which I didn't notice until I put my entire Sundara sock collection together... turns out I more or less have a rainbow!  And how pretty is that?!

Bag full of Sundara

Stopped at the post office on the way into the city...

Love!

The rest of my MadelineTosh arrived last week and I am at last ready to start making giraffes!

From left to right: Victory Garden, Lettuce Leaf, Citrus, Bark and Ginseng.

I LOVE ginseng - I think it is one of my favorite colorways ever, and all of them are luscious and beautiful and perfect giraffe colors... except perhaps for Victory Garden which I bought more because it looked like a pretty colorway than for its giraffe-appropriateness.  It's not as light as some of the others I've seen photographed (eg this one) but I like it all the same.  

Of course now I have been obsessing about which combinations to use for how many giraffes of what size... all the solids plus ginseng look great with the citrus zinger and victory garden and lettuce leaf look good together too for some other project.

I'm also thinking now of 3-color projects - a sock giraffe (ravelry, pattern) as well as a Baby Surprise Jacket or three.

For now, I have started on a very tiny giraffe in citrus zinger and ginseng - I finished all four legs last night.  Yes, I am finally knitting with some Sundara and I have to say that I love it all the more!!!  The yarn is sproingy and gorgeous to knit with.  The colorwork on the legs is fiddly and it's hard to tell how the MadelineTosh is as I am not knitting with it on its own ever but so far this is looking to be one cute little giraffe...

Wow!!!

It's been kinda like Christmas around here, what with all my, ahem, yarn purchases showing up, along with gifts I ordered for my husband's birthday, and then today... well, today I got home to find a giant box hidden under our porch - the final package from my Secret Pal!

And, well, wow!  I'm actually sort of speechless, so here are a few pictures.

The giant box, filled with goodies...

Everything unwrapped!  The two books are Sew What! Skirts and The Yarn Girls' Guide to Kid Knits - perfect!

I literally gasped out loud when I opened the first yarn package - Brooks Farm Duet and in beautiful variegated blues.  It isn't handspun (although it is hand-dyed) but it has a handspun look due to the way the kid mohair is plied with the wool - I've been searching handspuns for something like this!  And I also got 2 skeins of Malabrigo in Verdeazul - I have a couple of single skeins of Malabrigo that I haven't knit with yet but this will give me some more choices for bigger projects, plus I just know I'm going to be addicted to this lovely soft yarn and all the gorgeous colors it comes in so this is a good addition to my collection.  (I'm not sure why the Malabrigo photo came out so badly - I'll have to try again.)

But the real jewel of the package in terms of sheer GENIUS is this amazing gift, a "yarn tasting box":

I'm still in complete awe - I wish I'd thought of this!!!  The Stash and Burn ravelry group has this great thing called "would you like to try" where people offer up yarn leftovers for free so other people can try them, but this takes that concept to a whole new level.  I love gifts that are personal, creative, beautiful and useful all at the same time and this falls into all those categories.  It's not only a great concept but presented so well - I feel like I received a jewel box!  It is so pretty and I can't wait to try some of the yarns... of course I am trying to think of a project that could use all of them or some of them rather than just knitting swatches, and frankly it's tempting to just keep it as it is but that would defeat the purpose.

Speaking of which, there is even more to this box... it is a scavenger hunt for me to figure out the identity of my secret pal!!!  She has made projects with all of these yarns and they are all on Ravelry... what better excuse to spend more time on Ravelry?!!!  In fact, that is where I am headed right now.

Thank you secret pal!  I will figure out your identity soon...!

More yarn

So, as we blew out of town on Tuesday, I did manage to persuade my husband to make a teensy tiny stop at the aptly named Knitting Addiction. Like most stores not in NYC, it seemed large and spacious in comparison and it had a nice selection of Manos, Mission Falls, Blue Sky Alpacas, O-Wool and Brown Sheep to name but a few.  I didn't have much time but I thought I was very restrained and fast (I only had to send my husband away once!) and I ended up picking out a selection of Mission Falls 1924 Cotton to make baby bibs and burp cloths!

Delicious!

I also picked up a Felted Fish Kit (ravelry, pattern) which later turned out to already be in my ravelry queue!  It came with five little 20g bundles of Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted. 

The shop staff were very nice and let me switch out some of the colors from other packets.

Not bad for 15 minutes in the store, eh?

Also, my first Mama Blue arrived, purchased off the Ravelry boards.

Simple Merino in Baja.  Very pretty.

Resolution

So, I bought a lot of yarn yesterday.  In fact, I have bought a lot of yarn this month, you don't even want to know how much.

This whole Sundara business has kind of changed things for me... I have fallen in love with color all over again big time and I can't seem to get enough, not just of Sundara, but of indie and small dyers in general that have gorgeous gorgeous colorways.  In fact, I think I have moved on just a little from Sundara... not that I've even knit with any of her yarns yet(!) but I have a small collection of random skeins I managed to snag on Ravelry, and I have all my seasons subscriptions coming up, and given the difficulty and complications of getting what you actually want, I'm actually glad the latest new subscriptions closed before I had made a decision about signing up or not because there is plenty of other gorgeous yarn to be had - my wallet will agree!

Not that I have given up competitive yarn buying either... I managed to score one skein of Troika Sport after all in yesterday's Mama Blue update - in penny.  I think these will make perfect Baby Bell Bottoms with matching hat and mittens.  In the update frenzy, I didn't even notice that it was sport and not sock but I couldn't be happier as it was sport I really wanted!  The way the yarn was "flying off the shelves" though was utter craziness.  I still can't believe this kind of yarn buying frenzy goes on.  It's such a strange phenomenon to me, and then of course people end up buying stuff they don't really want and then there's a lot of trading going on.  I was actually very restrained as I saw a lot of sock yarn flit past my screen and I didn't even go for it, what with my newfound realization that I really don't need a lot of sock yarn, especially not random sock yarn that I don't have any specific project planned for it.

Anyway, more of my purchases will get revealed... slowly.

And, I am thinking of making a resolution: no yarn buying in October, and perhaps not in November or December either!!!  There would, of course, be a few exceptions:

1) Rhinebeck.  Yeah, that's a bit of a problem.  I'm hoping to go with a non-knitting friend of mine who was intrigued by the idea of "sheep and wool" and a bit of a getaway.  If I do go, I'll have to set myself a strict budget and maybe try to limit myself to only purchasing for the other exceptions below.

2) I am really limiting gift knitting between now and the baby, although I do have two gifts I'd like to make for Christmas.  One I already have the yarn for, but I need the yarn for the other.  There's a possible third but I have the yarn for that too.

3) Believe it or not, I should be pretty much set with yarn for all the baby knitting I'd like to do except for the Cardigan for Merry, so I'm allowed to get that.  

4) I may need more sKNITches Big Tryst for the barn raising quilt.

5) I have store credits at three stores so I'm allowed to spend those.

6) Oh yeah, Pigeon Roof Studios handspun, I'm allowed that if I can get my hands on it, plus I'm also on the "want" list for some bitter orange.

Could I do it, could I make it to the new year with these 6 exceptions?  i am going to try, especially as those exceptions give me quite a bit of leeway anyway...!