Scarf on! and a magnficent gift

I'm headed out of town tomorrow for a conference and I hope to visit a yarn store during my off hours but it is about 45 minutes from the conference hotel so it may blow my yarn budget to go.

I've just finished the first of a pair of socks and a scarf. When in doubt, when stressed, when bored or when I need a mindless project I always revert to scarves. Scarf on! has the interest for me that Fish on! has for a sportsman or woman. Something about scarves pleases me. I gave nine away to office staffers this year as I convert much of my stash throughout the year into scarves. This particular one looks like fun fur but is a much softer Plymouth 100% nylon version whose name I forget. It is incredibly soft; much more so that its fun fur brethren. The sock, whose mate is going to be made at least in part on this trip to Dallas, is made of Patons Kroy with the pattern that came with the yarn. Nothing too exciting here at the moment.



The magnificent gift of the title is photographed below. My wonderful friend Michelle made me these beautiful fingerless gloves. They are of an otherworldly soft silk in the most beautiful cornflower blue which is not done justice by the photo. My only claim on these is that I reintroduced Michelle to knitting on a trip to Santa Fe a few years ago. These are amazing and I am humbled by her skill and very very grateful because I know how much work goes into something as wonderful as this.



Off I go. To learn and hopefully catch a few knits and purls along the way.

I haven't had a lot of time to knit in the last week or so but I do have several finished objects to report. Below are two baby hats (I had three to make this month and all were for boys) which are gifts for coworkers from the book "Knit Baby: Head and Toes!" edited by Gwen Steege. This pattern is "Simply Chenille" and I made one in chenille that I didn't love and the other one in cotton turned out better, I thought. The flip flops (I know that we no longer call them thongs...) were also for a coworker who saw an embellished pair at the yarn shop last weekend. She thought they were darling and they are so easy that I made her a pair Sunday night. I had fun fur that I bought for a dollar at an after Christmas sale and I used that double stranded and just did a single crochet, chain one around the strap.



I visited a yarn store last weekend when I was in Spokane, Washington. "A Grand Yarn" was an absolutely lovely store. They had many many class samples which would absolutely have enticed me to classes if I lived closer. The proprietor (I assume she was the proprietor; I did not ask) was very helpful but not at all cloying. I found a couple little things. The card has a tiny bit of knitting (on toothpicks!) and says "Got Yarn?" The white is Blue Sky Alpaca (www.blueskyalpacas.com) brushed suri (67% baby suri, 22% merino and 1% bamboo). It is subtitled "A halo of irresistible indulgence" and the second I put my hand on it I knew it had to be mine. The lavender/blue skein (NOT normally my colors but I was drawn to it) is Kaalund Yarns (www.kaalundyarns.com.au). It is a lace weight mohair in the color Jacaranda. Jacaranda, Google tells me, is a flowering plant from South and Central America.




Sorry about the continued lack of links. The average four year old could figure that out and I can't. This weekend, that is on my to do list.

Off to knit.

A few finished objects and a yarn store visit