Monday, December 21, 2009

Travelling Yarn Gifts

There's not much to post here. I'm still working on a Christmas gift. It's taking a while, but it's a lot of fun to knit, so there's that. I'll chat about it after it's been gifted.

To prepare for life without Christmas knitting, I feel like I'm bringing an overabundance of yarn with me to Rhode Island for the holiday. Granted, I'll be there for a good week and a half with not much else to do but knit, I still feel like I'm bringing too much. Here's the list:
  • I've got yarn to knit another cowl out of (the light blue one is awesome, but it doesn't match my hat!).
  • Yarn for a pair of fingerless mitts for me (my hands keep getting cold!)
  • Yarn to finish the Christmas project
Once I get to Rhody, I'm going to have to pick up an aran weight yarn to knit a pair of fingerless mitts for my brother's fiancee's mother. She's cool and will actually wear them. You know, looking at that list, I'm not actually sure I did pack too much yarn. Maybe it's the christmas gifts in my backpack that are taking up all the space. I totally should have mailed them instead of bringing them. Maybe I'll mail them once I get to work.

I should send out a public huge thank you to blogless NanLam. She gave me the coolest bit of yarn:

Dream in Color Knitosophy

It's Dream in Color Knitosophy in the Superhero color way. It's a really great blend of colors. Kalajoki (RavLink) popped up when I did a search and I knew that the two were meant to be together. I'm stuck now though. Because this yarn would be perfect to tout around Comic Con and use for Yarn365. While I want to cast on RIGHT NOW for those socks, I should wait. I'll have to come up with something else in the meantime.

Today's Yarn365 shot is of a centerpiece of knitting needles. In order to get this shot, I pulled a bunch of knitting needles out of the tin I keep all of my needles in. I seem to have a ton of needles I'll never actually use ever again. I think 2010 for me is the year of getting rid of clutter for me - liquidating material things that don't need to be around etc. I'll post a list of the needle type, size etc. once I get back from Rhode Island and y'all can see if there's anything you need. I figure I should just donate them somewhere to charity after that. Anyone know of any charities that accept knitting needles?

I want to post about my visit to La Casita Yarn Shop yesterday, but I've REALLY got to get this damn gift finished!

Saturday, December 05, 2009

Christmas Gift #1 and Gotham Fine Yarn

Christmas gift #1 is finished! I've got 2 1/2 to go! The half a project is a pair of mitts I told my brother's fiancee's mother I'd make for her. I don't really think it needs to be done by Christmas, but if I can finish them before Christmas and have them count, I think that'd be nifty.

Gradation

I held 3 strands of Lacey Lamb together and had a tough time with that. They kept getting tangled and the insides of the balls liked to get knotted. It wasn't really a fun project, but I think the recipient will like it.

I finished weaving the ends in while visiting Gotham Fine Yarn in the lower east side. I kinda fell in love with this store. She had some really great yarns. Quite a bit of Louisa Harding, which is interesting and different, I think, for the city. She's got Noro and Lamb's Pride and Malabrigo (for a really great price!) and Madelinetosh (which i completely fell in love with!). She has a knit and wine night every other Friday, which I think I'll have to take part in more often. The knitters there were super friendly and working on some pretty interesting projects (including a Tea Leaf cardigan that's on my queue!). I can't wait to go back to that shop! Click here to get a look at what her shelves look like from Yarn365. I took quite a few photos there, so you'll end up seeing some more of her store on the Yarn365 blog soon. But anyway, just go there, it's so much better in person!

Oh, ad I'll leave you with a photo of the pretty Madelinetosh I picked up there. The colorway is called Logwood.

Madelinetosh Worsted