Delightful New Goodies

Well, I had a pretty good time in San Francisco last week with my sister and her family and my mom. It was a really great visit. Of course, given everyone involved, you know there were a few trips to yarn stores on our itinerary. We actually only made it to two stores, the third one we could never quite manage to make it to during business hours. Still, that was more than enough. I thought you might like to see the lovely items I picked up in my travels.

The first store we visited was The Yarn Boutique, pretty much right in my sister's back yard. It was a fun little shop with lots of wonders, although I felt it was a bit small and crowded. That could have just been because my daughter was with us and was getting into, well, everything. The employees were very friendly and patient and knowledgeable though, so that makes up for quite a lot on in my book, I have to say. 

Funnily enough, I didn't actually get any yarn there. But neither did I leave empty-handed. Here is what I procured from that store:

Jane Austen Knits 2011

I have been drooling over this pattern book for a while now, so when I saw a copy on the rack in the store and picked it up to flip through, I knew it would be going home with me. I am going to have to do some serious leveling up in my knitting skills before I can attempt to make pretty much any of these patterns, but oh my goodness the gorgeousness. I am looking forward to getting to try these out.

Namaste Bag (baby not included)

This gives you a better idea of the shape. It is the Laguna style bag in Peacock.

Oh I am in love with this bag. Never in my life would I ever have dreamed of spending so much money on a bag but as I chased my daughter around the store this gem kept catching my eye. Finally I had a moment to pick it up and look at it and there was no going back. These pictures don't even start to do it justice. It is ginormous, able to hold a ton of stuff (knitting, diapers, and other), but it doesn't feel like a big clunky bag. It has already replaced my regular purse. I'll admit I've been drooling over the Namaste bags in my Knit Picks catalogs for a while now, but I never considered actually buying one until I saw this one in person. I guess to touch it is to love it...

Our next stop was a shop in Oakland that my mom wanted to check out because she met some of its employees during last year's Sock Summit. It is a lovely little store called A Verb For Keeping Warm (which I think is just a fantastic and random name for a store of any kind). In addition to yarn they also carry quite a bit of fabric. It was a nice open sunny shop, and they had a wonderful stash of books and toys for kiddos under one of the display tables. In fact, Baby Girl zoomed in on that as soon as we walked in, pulled out a Sesame Street book, and once placed in a nearby chair, spent the entire visit happily reading through that. This allowed me plenty of time to ooh and ah over all of the wonderful yarn on display. I made up for the lack of yarn purchased at the first store here. The pictures don't really do these beautiful yarns justice, but here's a gander nonetheless.

Wishing II in Chartreuse Sister

This is the store's own line of yarn, hand dyed using completely natural methods. It is a lovely silvery green multi yarn. I think this is only about half a skein, it was in the clearance bin, but it will work up to something small and lovely, I have no doubt.

Malabrigo Sock in Aguas

Malabrigo Sock in Impressionist Sky

Malabrigo Sock in Indiecita

As you can tell, once I hit the Malabrigo section, it was pretty much all over for me. This yarn is so soft and gorgeous. My mom recognized the Indiecita and said she's used it before and it works up really prettily. I just can't wait to find some socks to make with it.

Speaking of socks being made by me...I did manage to start that pair that I took with me to work on during the trip, but I didn't get very far on them. 

Well, it's almost all of a cuff...

I was doing most of the driving and on the plane I really didn't want to get to into them in case my daughter decided to get fussy. Also, I was doing quite a bit of visiting. That's okay though. I've managed to finish the cuff and start in on the leg since I've been home, and that's all just straight knitting. These will be good to work on during Jeopardy! since the blanket I am making requires me to count every stitch, which I can't do while answering clues. They will be a nice side project while I get these next few blankets knocked out for sure.

So, those were my yarny adventures while I was on vacation. Next week I'll have a few finished projects to show off for you, so stop by then, won't you? 

TTFN!

Actually, I Can't Tell You

It dawned on me after I posted my last finished project that I won't actually be able to blog about my next few projects until after they are done and gifted to their intended recipients. Huh. I guess that means I will have to get creative for my next few yarny posts, huh?

That doesn't mean you guys aren't free to guess and/or speculate, however. So for today, I will show you the yarn at bat and on deck.


This is what I am working on right now. That top yarn is actually purple, though I couldn't get a shot that really showed off the color.

Caron Simply Soft in Dark Sage and Iris

Now this is what I got on my birthday trip to the local yarn store, Jenning Street Yarns. It's on deck. I am pretty stoked about it. The project it is for is going to require me to learn a new knitting technique, but hopefully it is a simple one. We shall just have to see, I suppose.

Berroco Vintage (Blue) and Berroco Comfort (Grey)

Speaking of my birthday, I got a lovely gift from my mother that I am pretty excited about.

Indigo Dragonfly Sock Yarn in TARDIS

I am really looking forward to working this up. It should be perfect for my TARDIS socks, assuming I ever get around to making them. They will go perfectly with my sonic screwdriver. I think, more than anything, I love that my mom saw yarn called TARDIS at Sock Summit and knew that she had to buy it for me. She may not always get my geeky ways, but she does understand that they are part of who I am. I love that about her.

Well, I've got some knitting to be doing, so I am off. Feel free to start formulating your hypotheses about what I might be making.

Have a great one, folks!

Crochet-Along: Mission Accomplished

Wow, strolling through my Ravelry page to get the pattern details for this post, I realized that I don't have a single unfinished project right now. That is a very nice feeling. Much better than having, say, four things going on at once. As I am sure that you can guess, all of this means that I have, indeed, finished up my CAL project.

I am kind of deliriously happy with it, I have to admit. I feel like I am really starting to improve on my garment projects, and that is also a very nice feeling. I have been crocheting for a long time and it is kind of awesome to realize that yes, I actually am still learning and getting better and able to do more all of the time. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with just wanting to learn a craft to figure out how to do one thing and then stopping there to settle in and do just that, for me that is not the way to happiness. So, I continue to learn and grow at my craft, and even to branch out and try other things, like knitting. It gives me a sense of pride and accomplishment and, yes, contentment that I think I need to really thrive in life.

I know at least part of that mindset comes from the inspiration of my mother, who is an avid knitter (and her mother before her, who taught me to crochet). For my mom knitting is not just a hobby. It is a an everyday facet of her life. A day in which she goes without knitting is a day in which something has gone horribly awry. She is constantly learning new things and creating beautiful works with her own two hands. She even designs her own patterns on a regular basis, something which I am not quite up to doing just yet, but which gives me another goal to strive to reach. She works at her local yarn store teaching others her craft and spreading the love and knowledge. Remember when I went to the comic convention earlier this past year? Well my mother spent the past weekend at Sock Summit, a convention for knitters. By all accounts she had an absolute ball, and I am so glad she got to do that. I look forward to getting to go with her to the event one of these years.

With such a wonderful inspiration like that, is it any wonder that crochet has become such an integral part of my life?

But I digress. I meant to show you my latest finished project and I shall. Here it is, in all its glory:

Sunny Days Pullover by Cori 2011.

Action shot!

Pattern: Mesh Raglan Pullover by Lion Brand Yarn (available for free on their website), size XL
Yarn: Lion Brand Recycled Cotton in Sunshine (five skeins)
Hook: H

For comparison, here is the sweater as shown on the CAL banner:

I'd say It came out pretty well, the difference in size between the models notwithstanding. I finished it on Thursday and was so happy with how it turned out I decided to give it a test drive on Friday (you may have caught a glimpse of it in my article about Squishables). Friday is my daughter's music class, which means lots of movement, and it proved to be very comfy throughout.

Added bonus: It was camera day in music class! 

Baby Girl wasn't too keen on posing for a photo, there were instruments to be played with and dancing to be done, but Hubby and I were glad of the opportunity for a family shot.

I had originally intended to make the sweater a bit longer than called for in the pattern, but once I had completed the called for number of rows, I was actually happy with the length. The only pattern modification I made was to leave out the tie for the bottom, which I felt was rather unnecessary. Other than that, this pattern is pretty marvelous and wonderfully simple. I think sweaters made from the top down are my favorite kind to make!

As far as the yarn, this was my first experience with Lion Brand's Recycled Cotton, and I have to say it was rather nice to work with. I like the idea that it is recycled from scraps used to make t-shirts, and it gives the yarn a very unique look that I quite enjoy. I think that this will definitely be a yarn I turn to again when making other garments out of cotton.

As far as what is next, I have about four more projects on my list to get done and then I think I will start delving in to the world of knitting socks. I have the pattern picked out and the yarn ordered for my next project so once it gets here I will get started on that. Until then, I think I am going to just bask in the glow of being done with everything else--and plan for all the wonderful projects I would like to do once this crop is done, of course!

Have a good one, y'all. Happy crafting.