Given the opportunity, I can definitely drop some cash on nice yarn. I have done it before. As I stated previously, New York City could appropriately be called New YARN City with all of the shops and the amazing selections on a relatively small island (Manhattan). In previous years, I have brought a second bag for my purchases… this year, I showed remarkable restraint.

…not because I am immune to the siren song of great yarn…

More like the fact that the BIGGEST yarn festival is virtually in my own backyard this weekend.

I alluded to my purchases in the last post. After spending a good chunk of time camped out on the floor at Kinokuniya bookstore, I brought home three craft books:

The bottom two are pattern books featuring lovely intricate designs. There are many colorwork projects and some beautiful accessories as well. The second is a smaller book focusing on Men’s Knits - specifically sweaters and vests. (As you know I like to knit for Kris, so one of these sweaters could very well be on the needles for the 2009 anniversary sweater!) The third and final book is a collection of Eastern European folk motifs charted for cross-stitch and embroidery. I think the charts would be perfect for knitting as well as embroidery. The simple Japanese aesthetic really appeals to me - I could have left the store with many more books in hand!

At School Products, I came away with a cone of Aran-weight wool/alpaca/silk blend. It weighed in at 2.5 lbs, so I should have approximately 1100 yards, according to the calculations. Plenty for the stranded colorwork I am planning! If you have rough estimates in mind, this is the place to go to find nice yarns and blends. I am always pleased with their selection of natural fibers. I almost walked out with some yak fiber too… but I left it behind for the next trip.

It was my first time to visit Gotta Knit! and Erin and I was happy to meet Goldie, the sweet owner. She told us that the shop had just moved to Midtown after being in the West Village for many years. They are on the 5th floor of the building, but if you look up from the street, they have a visible sign with the store’s name. There was a nice selection of luxury fibers and some “new-to-me” yarns. Upon walking in, my eyes fixed on a cream-colored Noro skein on the table. I figured it for the new Kuryeon sock yarn, but Goldie told me that it was even better - the new(er) Silk Garden sock yarn. Imagine my excitement! Goldie told us more about the shop’s expertise: when you buy yarn at their store, they will actually customize a pattern for you using the yarn. You can tell them the style and kind of garment, and they will write it up for you! An amazing and unique service. This skein of Noro and two issues of Rebecca came home with me.

The two new yarns in my stash were quickly “balanced” (as Jenna puts it) by the cast on of my new small transportable knit: Laila’s Socks from Folk Knitting in Estonia. Truly inspired by Terhi’s amazing version of these socks last year, the yarns jumped out at me when I did a quick survey of the sock stash. I made this bit of progress on the train ride to New York.

Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Loden / Louet Gems Pearl in Mustard

…quite possibly a match made in heaven…

 The sun has finally emerged from behind the clouds - it was a lovely spring day today.

…Flowers and trees blooming, light breezes…

I guess you could say I have a little *spring* in my step!

…beautiful weather and pretty new socks…

Berry Socks
Yarn: GGH Marathon [sadly discontinued!]
Needles: Size US 1.5

Basic stockinette pattern with small ribbed cuff, and the German heel and French toe adapted from Knitting Vintage Socks. The beautiful yarn was the star, so simple stockinette did the trick. I knit on these on my way back from North Carolina over the weekend. Surprisingly, half of the second sock was knit in the dark, so I am surprised it looks this good (a few visible ladders, but hey, you wear them on your feet!)

The yarn was from a long ago trade with sweet Debi. It is the second pair of socks I have made with this yarn (Kris’s were the first), and I am sorry that it is no longer manufactured. I love the subtle colors and striping. It looks like handspun. Luckily, Trekking is a close comparison, and that is well-represented in the sock yarn market today (and my stash… )

I finished the last few inches and the toe decreases last night, while watching GAME ONE of the Stanley Cup playoffs between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Ottawa Senators. I have been a Penguins fan for a long time (basically since Kris and I got together about 10 years ago!) and I am so excited about the series. The Penguins won 4-0 last night! Dear Ottawa friends - I know there are a few of you - we can remain bloggy buddies

With the playoffs and the race for the Stanley Cup in mind, a few of the hockey fan knitters over on the Ravelry group Puck This! were starting a playoffs knitalong. I decided to make my game-watching knitting a stashbusting activity… so I will be Stanley Cup Stashbusting for the next two months… until the Cup is raised over someone’s head (preferably a Penguin’s) Please feel free to join me - no matter what team you support, or if you know nothing about hockey at all! It is nothing formal - only fun! I am planning several small projects for the random green and brown skeins (for Project Spectrum) of yarn in my stash. Cowls and fingerless mitts galore!

~Many many thanks for your comments on my sister’s cardigan!

It has been a few weeks since I even looked at the Komb Hexagon Afghan.  It was settling in on the bottom of the basket [under the Phyllo pullover] and waiting patiently.  I had not even thought about it since January.  I was working pretty steadily on my sister’s cardigan, and had a little affair with some sock yarn too (more on that later), but I wanted a little noticeable progress - so late night, I pulled out the blanket…

Hexagons?  that’s your queue!

She is growing… the last photo is the newest hexagon of the bunch - #19.  This is the beginning of the 4th row.  As a reminder, I am using the lovely marled yarn, Jojoland Rhythm in two separate colorways:  one for the edgings (the brown/blue combo-m01) and the one for the hexagons themselves (m20).  The colorways are so varied - this particular one includes some deep pinks and purples, followed up with intense greens.  Every once in awhile, there is some yellow and blue thrown in too.  

As it gets larger - I am almost 1/3 of the way through - the hexagons seem to take longer to knit.  Of course, they are the same size, but I think some of the time is spent wrangling the blanket around after picking up the stitches on the sides of the existing hexagons.  I am surprised to say that it takes about 1 hour per hexagon at this point - where I think I was able to knit at least 2 in that time period earlier.  Of course, this is a pure process knit, as I am in no real hurry to complete it (although I know Becca would love it by next autumn!) but it is an observation of the time invested.  You know, in case you ever feel the desire to take it on

The blanket will require a serious amount of blocking in the end, but I am not sure that it will ever be the same size as the large sample in the booklet.  It will serve my dear friend as a nice cozy lap blanket.  If I finish all 60 hexagons and still have some yarn leftover, I could add some length or width to make it a little larger, but it is still to early to estimate my yarn usage at this point. 

Marled yarns are a favorite of mine.  The lovely blends of color in the Jojoland make me quite happy, just as the subtle variegated striping of Trekking.  My newest socks have a great marled effect too… knit in GGH Marathon. 

I finished the first sock this past weekend - I got a nice chunk of knitting time on our way to Cunningham Falls State Park, the site of our special “weekend walk”.  We went for locally-made maple syrup and some great hiking - and we got both! (wanna see the pics?)  and I also got several inches of sock #1.  Sock 2 started straightaway.  I love the colors here - they reminded me of strawberries and blueberries, hence the sock’s new moniker:  Berry Socks. 

After I took up weaving, I began to see some of the items in my yarn stash in a new light. Things that I bought for specific knitterly purposes seemed somehow better suited for weaving. While I haven’t been too hasty and warped and cut my yarns up yet, I know that I will have many decisions to make in coming days… cast on or warp up?

Brooke at The Daily Purl has made some fabulous stoles and scarves with Habu warp and weft yarns, so those are definitely tempting me. But, then so are Olga and Vanessa’s Habu knit creations…

With the help and advice of some weaving friends I met through Ravelry and Flickr, I decided to add a few specific weaving yarns to my stash - just to avoid some of the tension problems I have experienced of late. I am hoping to warp up this linen soon and began work on the denim rag rug!

There is no doubt about the strength of this yarn: 100% linen! It should make a great rug warp, and I liked the natural undyed color to go with the simple indigo of the jean rags. I picked this up from WEBS, along with a few other weaving yarn goodies.

Valley Yarns CotLin 8/2 cones

I really liked the springy combination of these colorways, and the three of them came with a dishtowel drafting pattern for the loom. If I can find the patience and wherewithal, I will attempt the plaid dishcloth! With 3000 yards each, I can afford to experiment a little and play around on the loom.

And as I learn more about my loom and its capabilities, I am also looking at my sock yarn stash in a new way. After seeing some fun store samples woven up at The Mannings, I think it would be a blast to experiment with the colors of sock yarns. After a winter sock “drought” - my last pair being the Autumnal Equinox socks for Socktoberfest - I finally cast on for a pair of socks yesterday after feeling the urge to see how this yarn would knit up. Definitely wanted to knit with this one - there was no thought of using it for weaving.

The feminine companion to the other GGH socks I made for Kris… another thanks to Debi for sending these (now discontinued) yarns in a trade almost two years ago!

After seeing a parade of beautiful socks by Chawne, I felt the time was right to finally cast on for some socks. I was waiting to finish my sister’s sweater, but I thought: why delay happiness? These socks are making me pretty happy! I started them on the train while I was traveling downtown to see Amber, who was in DC for work. We had a yummy Ethiopian dinner. And while we did not knit or take photos of our outing, we had a great time

So, as I look over my stash, I am thinking about all of the possibilities and all of the fabrics - both knit and woven - that can be created. It excites me. It’s like a newfound spirit of adventure: seeing my stash with both weaver and knitter eyes!

This Socktoberfest was all about the process for me. I thoroughly enjoyed working with all of the yarns, and I even managed to have a pretty good product; two and a half pairs is a new record!

Silk Garden Lite Socks

Autumnal Equinox Socks

…and one Green Macaw Anklet…

How did you fare during Socktoberfest 2007?

Did you achieve a goal by learning a new technique or by stashbusting? I still have plenty of yarns to work through, but I am happy to have a few sock yarns out of the stash and onto my feet!

Please share your thoughts about this year’s Socktoberfest. Yes, it was much more “laid back” than previous years… did you like that? Did you find it a tad boring and uneventful? I can take some criticism - please let me know what you thought!