Yarn Vacation

I'm just back from Ann Arbor and a hasty tour of some tasty Metro Detroit yarn stores, with a modest bag of purchases to gloat over. It may be a lean bag, but then, these are lean days and I will take to gloating when I can, thank you very much.

Currently on the needles are a set of armwarmers. The yarn is a 50/50 blend of cotton and viscose, soft, nicely sheeny, and best of all, an insanely cheap clearance purchase. Yay! The needles are...um, a US 2, I think, which is why the knitting is going slowly. I decided to do some random striping blocks of orange and winter red since my intended plan didn't work out--I should have written down the lovely stitch pattern I lusted after in the store instead of blithely assuming I could find it when I got home. Dumb me. To be fair, I did find something approximating the slip stitch pattern I remembered, but not only was it a pain in the rumpus to translate into the round, I wasn't as excited about the result as I was in the yarn shop. Ah well. I will persevere because I am totally enamored of the armwarmers I knit early in the summer, out of Koigu Painter's Palette. Made of a very soft merino, I love to wear them for all of 60 seconds before the itching drives me nuts and makes me peel them off. I hate being allergic to wool! Even though I searched high and low for an affordable variegated yarn (no wool, no acrylic, no alpaca, no cashmere--no options), I settled for what I've got and will resolve to love them to pieces as soon as they're finished.

Waiting in the wings are a pair of skeins of Lenpur, by Rowan, a linen/rayon blend, DK weight, that is a dusky blue with hints of purple. I'm planning a second pair of armwarmers for me, highlighted with a silver of the cotton/viscose clearance yarn mentioned above.

Two skeins of flecked yarn (one lime green, one natural) in a sport weight are waiting to be turned into dish towels. Regular rectangular towels, not the ones with little tubes that fold over and button closed, that just scream "old lady" to me. Yuck. Not my thing. Nope, regular dish towels. Saw a sample in the yarn store and fell in love with the idea. Besides, anything that motivates my butt to clean and pamper my kitchen is worth it. But that's another story...

I also bought a basic pattern for a capelet, because my friend Patricia requested one for Christmas. Haven't decided on a yarn or color yet. But I did find the perfect yarn for a pair of mittens I've been wanting to make for her: Berroco's Blackstone Tweed in Plum Island.

My poor Uncle's sweater's supposed to be my next project, but I'm in a money pinch and can't afford the yarn yet. Sweater's eat up a lot of yarn. The pattern I was leaning toward is the Sampo Cardigan that zips up the front. I could certainly make that in a warm wool from Knit Picks, probably in an evergreen or a silver, since he lives in Canada and is NOT particularly smart about keeping himself warm during the winter.

Maybe a nice pair of wool hiking socks for my brother--upstate NY and only marginally smarter when it comes to warmth. Guys (roll of the eyes). Socks don't take up much yarn and I think I have several skeins of stash stuff I can use.

As for me, I have found two other yarns that would be perfect for a lace shawl or the much desired clapotis. But they are still out of the question, due to cost. Wail! One's a bamboo/silk blend in a pale, smokey violet hand paint. The other colorway is called Bluestone, from Alpaca With A Twist. Alpaca's not nearly as forbidden as the other fibers I'm allergic to...especially since a lace shawl won't be doing much contact with bare skin. I tell myself :) But really, I want the bamboo silk. If only I could be trusted with nice things... If only I could become the girly girl variant of my dreams...

Life is complicated. So is knitting.