All this free time is making me go knitting crazy! I love it! I actually got to go the LYS yesterday, for the first time in who knows how long. It’s been a few months at least. It was a wonderful experience just to browse, fondling many of the yarns and thumbing through the books. Sometimes I think I’m around yarn so much with all the dyeing, that I forget how much I really like this stuff.
I did pick up a few things at Village Wools yesterday, including this Debbie Blish Cashmerino Chunky in a deep red color. It’s super nice stuff, and I’m planning to knit up an undisclosed baby item as a gift for some friends who are expecting. (Past due now actually!) You guys know who you are! ;) I think it will look pretty sweet, and I’m looking forward to working with this yarn, because it’s so unbelievably soft and buttery. Yes, buttery.
I also got a copy of the fabled book, Knitting Without Tears, by the knitting legend herself, Elizabeth Zimmerman. I’m planning to make a Seamless Hybrid Sweater (much like this one by the talented Julie Frick) over the summer, and I figured I should get the instructions first!
Oh, and somehow 6 skeins of Cascade 220 wandered into my shopping cart the other day and are now on their way to me. It all happened so fast, I don’t really remember it, but I’m pretty sure I gave into the bad angel on that one. (But at only $4.89 a skein, I just couldn’t say no.) I place all the blame on Jared, with all his gorgeous sweaters, how could I not be tempted to learn sweaters for myself?
Then to top all the yarny goodness off, my Tree Scum Handspun from Anne arrived today. It totally makes me weak in the knees. Just to look at it and know that it was spun from roving blows my mind. It’s a beautifully spun yarn, with very even singles and plying, and the colors are phenomenal. I’m super excited to cast on my for first handspun experience, I think it’ll be a good one.
Now the hardest thing I have to decide is which project to cast on for first! (Oh and don’t worry Mom, I’ve actually gotten 5 rounds done on the Garden Shawl in the last few days, so I’m not neglecting it entirely!)
And what would a Saturday afternoon be without a sky picture? Today’s picture was taken just moments before hail started pelting my street in a torrential downpour. This is only 5 minutes after there were no clouds in the sky. New Mexico weather is weird stuff…
I did manage to have a little panic attack when it started hailing, since hail and I don’t have a very good history. (Google the 2004 Socorro Hailstorm if you don’t already know what happened). But all is well, because I have a garage now, and was able to get my car into safety in mere moments. Then it promptly stopped hailing. Yeesh!
I’ll leave you with some shots of the kids dogs, since I think it’s been a while since I’ve had obligatory dog pictures on the blog. I got them some new collars today, aren’t they sweet? (You know you’re living in the fast lane when you get excited over new dog collars). I had to bribe Emma with her chew bone to get her to take a picture…she’s such a diva. And Dallas? Well give him a toy and he’s pretty much oblivious to everything around him.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go make a pile with all my new yarn and roll around in it.
PS: All the Ravelry invites are spoken for, sorry if you didn’t receive any love from the random number generator! Just be patient a little longer ;)
I know, hasn’t the weather here been so weird lately? The handspun is so beautiful! something about it makes me weak in the knees, too.
Hooray for the end of the semester and the knitting goodness that it affords. Knitting Without Tears was a revelation for me, hope you enjoy it!
OMG. The tree scum is gorgeous! I love that color.
Hmm…why does your yarn budget increase during the summer? (I clicked through to the Flickr page and read your little description.) I definitely buy less in the summer for the simple fact that the heat and humidity where I live make me adverse to knitting.
I think a lot of us aspire to be like Jared. Heh.
Hey, be sure to join the Zimmermania blog… the peeps on there are super nice when you need help and seeing all those fabulously timeless Zimmermann classics is a good excuse too :)
http://zimmermaniacs.blogspot.com/
I hope the Ravelry thing will be open to the masses soon… I’ve been on the waiting list for 3 weeks now and I’m really feeling like I’m missing out on all the fun :)
Cheers Eva
Just give in to your inner need and cast on for everything! wheeeeeeeeeee!!!
OOh that treescum is GORGEOUS! Absolutely luscious. And the collars are quite cute too.
That will be a great sweater! What color are you making it? I recently got the same book, my first Zimmerman book, and I love her conversational style. I haven’t started to knit anything yet out of it. There are a number that I want to start, though the problem is settling down to just one.
Wow, you’re living it up in fine style!! Sounds great, actually. I love that book! EZ was just so darn practical and funnhy.
oh wow! that is SO cool to see my yarn in YOUR tree! i can’t remember if i told you how much yardage there is there, but it’s about 380 yards, maybe even 400.
Congrats on being school free! I too just finished about 2 weeks ago…and am sooo happy to have knitting time : ) Great new stash!
Glad to hear that you are working on my shawl…keep it up dude! Your yard looks great, and I’m so glad you now have the summer to knit to your hearts content! Not sure when I’ll be able to knit again…I’ve got way too much painting, yard work, and garden planning to do. Maybe this fall I can find the time to break out the knitting needles. Love ya~
Great stuff Adam! Yes, you must learn to knit a sweater for yourself - I bet you’d be fantastic at it.
That handspun is gorgeous. What amazing colors. I can’t wait to see what you cast on.
Handspun makes any project seem even more amazing, IMHO.
Holly
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you are going to love to knit the seamless. i think it is the most becoming man’s sweater ever and made two of them. you could even knit a handspun seamless.