Stash Appreciation Wednesday: Silk Edition

First up, I just want to rave about the magic of blocking. I finished knitting this little shawl about five months ago, but it was so... meh. It looked kind of ugly, to tell the truth. Sloppy and yet glossy, and too small to actually wear. But then I had a fabulous weekend about two weeks ago in which I blew off my homework for a few hours to block three pink shawls in a row. And let me tell you, I had never truly appreciated what blocking does for a piece. All of a sudden this little crumpled ball of yarn is light and big enough to wrap around my neck, with all the drape and crispness one would associate with silk. And the color, which had started to look sort of drab and unappealing, is almost the exact color of cherry blossoms, although in the wrong season entirely!

The pattern was Shetland Triangle, I have no idea what size needles I used (US 8s, maybe?), and I used 3 skeins of a sample colorway of Louisa Harding Grace Silk & Wool.

Anyhow! Onto the yarn that hasn't been knit yet, although it's related because it's also a silk and wool blend.




This is a skein of Mini Maiden that I got in Santa Barbara, at the amazing yarn store Loop & Leaf. I have to say that I'm very loyal to Smith's for my workhorse yarns, but as far as luxury, colorwork, and unique yarns go, this yarn store is hands-down my favorite yarn store ever. It was incredibly aesthetically pleasing, with hooks on the wall to hang the skeins, and little sections of each yarn: a corner for Handmaiden; a section for Habu (also, biggest selection of Habu I've ever seen); a section for Alchemy. Seriously, seriously wonderful place. I also purchased my copy of A Fine Fleece at this store.

The yarn is a heavy laceweight, and I'm planning to use it for another project from Knitted Lace of Estonia. The color and hand is what drew me to it - I was really hoping to find a truly golden yarn, and this is it. I'm actually surprised that my camera was able to pick up the true color, but the photos above are pretty accurate.

And, as usual, I want to cast on with it right now. However, research for my materials chemistry class is calling my name - and luckily, I was able to convince my professor (who was also my boss this summer at the nanotechnology company) that fibers and yarns totally have relevance in materials chemistry. So guess what my final project is on? Yeeeeah.

FO: Miralda

Last week, I finished one of the most enjoyable projects I've ever made. The combination of cashmere in my favorite color, an amazing pattern, and perfect needles made this project whiz by. Monogamy never felt so good before.




Yarn: Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere 2 ply, color Vintage Rose. I used a little less than 2 skeins, so probably 600-700 yards.
Pattern: Miralda's Triangular Shawl, from Nancy Bush's Knitted Lace of Estonia
Needles: I find that Nancy Bush patterns usually call for needles that are a little too small for me to get gauge. I didn't do a swatch, I just used US 7s of Addi Turbo lace needles, which were absolutely perfect for this project.
Modifications: Check the errata for this pattern! I had to change one of the printed charts to correct a mistake. Otherwise, none.
Time: This took me about 2.5 weeks of completely monogamous knitting, and every minute of those 2.5 weeks were thoroughly enjoyable.

Stash Appreciation Wednesday: Total Indulgence Edition

In the spirit of Stash Appreciation Wednesday, I have another yarn purchase to confess. It's not huge for some people, and I would love to say that I had a whole stash full of this wonderful stuff... but the truth is that I can't afford to buy sweater amounts of much of anything. Cute little tank amounts? Sure! Sock amounts? Sign me up! But when it comes to full sweater commitments, I fail pretty hardcore. Cascade 220 is my limit.

Occasionally I will go insane and get an entire Autumn Rose's worth of Jamieson Shetland... but that's an investment, you know? My meager student bank account can't afford for me to buy 23 balls of Debbie Bliss anything, unfortunately. So I stick with laceweight and sock yarn (because really, a whole project for $8-$20? Lots of bang for your knitting buck) and my friends all laugh at me because I own about 4 pairs of socks that aren't hand-knit. That, and I have a sock yarn stash the size of Pluto.

Actually, that's sort of a lie. At the beginning of the summer, I was down to 11 pairs worth of yarn. Considering that I was at about 25 last fall, that's pretty tiny. But then the summer happened, and, oh, you know.

Anyhoo.

Want to know what I bought an entire sweater's worth of?


If you hadn't guessed already... mmmhmmmmm. Malabrigo. And what can I say about this yarn that hasn't been said before? That it's an incredibly soft single ply merino wool kettle-dyed in luminous colors? That it feels like butter (in a good way!) and has amazing, squooshy stitch definition? Because it has definitely been described in all of these ways at one point or another.

It's destined to become Amanda, from the beautifully designed and photographed A Fine Fleece. Although I don't spin my own yarn, this book is incredibly inspiring - full of aran sweaters in wonderful, tweedy, earthy yarns. I'm planning to do some waist shaping to make it more flattering to my body type. In the meantime, I've already cast on for Halcyon in one of my few sweater-amounts of yarn, Ella Rae Classic in a burgundy color that is a pretty close approximation to Oberlin red. (Our school colors are red and gold; our mascot, the Yeoman. Yeoperson? Either way, I know: awesome.)

Now, if only there was a less conspicuous way to fiddle with a cable needle in class...

Stash Appreciation Wednesday: Grey Edition

Grey grey grey. I know that there's two different ways to spell it. I think that both are technically correct. But which is more aesthetically pleasing: grey, or gray? Grey with an "e" because it looks sleeker, more refined? Or gray with an "a" because it looks humble, just the kind of gray you could get a cup of coffee with? The conundrums of the English language, I tell you. Speaking of language conundrums: lately I've been thinking more in Japanese, which is weird. I'll be about to say something, and then realize that it's in another language that the people I'm talking to don't actually understand. Sort of mind-boggling.


Onto yarn! This yarn is called Yummy, by Fibranatura. I'm not totally sold on the dyejob of the more variegated colors of this yarn, but I'm totally ok with shades of grey. This yarn hasn't told me what it wants to be yet, but I have a feeling that it will make for some hard-wearing socks. It has a relatively tight twist, which makes me like it despite its somewhat rough hand - then again, I always find that rougher sock yarns soften up pretty quickly after washing and wearing.

Another weird note: a few weeks ago in Art Conservation, we talked a little bit about egg tempera and its various qualities. Apparently it has very saturated color due to the cross-linking of the proteins in the egg as it dries, whereupon it creates a pretty strong polymer.

I observed this phenomenon today in my apartment, in an omelette pan. My dish-washing experience was heightened by the knowledge that this same property has kept thousand-year-old paintings in their same basic form for all of that time. And now my kitchen's clean, so that's a plus too.