thursday update

Just in case you think I'm really not doing any knitting, here's proof!



I know when I said I might start a new project, I meant lace or socks, and not felted tulips. But what can a girl do? I saw that all yarn was 25% off at AC Moore this week, and ACM carries my one of my favorite felting yarns, Patons Classic Wool Merino. I also happen to have recently bought the Pick Up Sticks pattern for felted tulips (with the daffodil pattern on order: it came in yesterday). What better "what the heck" project than some flowers to perk up one's rapidly chilling surroundings? I think I will also make some for my Katrina-evacuee darling, who is still stuck in a hotel waiting to find a new place to live. SHE needs felted flowers, I think.

If you think the flower petals look incredibly insanely pink, you'd be right. The yarn really is crazy pink. The color name? "That's Pink" or "Voila Rose." I prefer the French in this case.

Also:



What is this mess? This is the beginnings, and the beginnings-again, of Lack of Safety Culture, top-down raglan version of knitty's Samus cardigan. The larger grey noodle is the product of knitting on size US9 needles, which makes a nice drapey fabric but is still a bit more OPEN than I think I want this fabric to be. So I went out and bought some 8s (no, I did not own a single US8 circular... even though I appear to have three different lengths of 9s) and started another ball. I will see which fabric I prefer, although I am predicting that I will like the 8s-version better. My only hesitation: smaller gauge, both row and stitch, will mean more yarn to make the same size sweater, and I only have ten balls of this yarn. It will not be worth my time or money to try to find more of it, since it was bought at the spinnery in County Cork, Ireland, and I haven't seen it anywhere else. (It's Aran Luxury Tweed, by the way, a wool/alpaca/acrylic blend by Tivoli Spinners. The ball band, damn it, recommends the 8s.) That is one reason that I am making a mostly stockinette piece with just enough cabling to nod at the yarn's Celtic heritage; I don't believe I have enough yarn to do elaborate cables all over, and am wondering if I will even have enough for this project, as simple as it is. Total yarn meterage available: 940m. Yikes! I'll knit up more on the 8s soon and make my decision. I'd like to have this sweater finished in time to ward off THIS winter's cold.