FOto, er, Tuesday! Nov 13 2007

Finally getting some long-overdue FOtos up.

First off, we have the finished Purple Nubby Sweater:



As you can see, it fuzzed a bit after washing/drying. I hope a good shave will tame its unruly ways. Here is the sweater in action:



Covered in leafs. I'm sure Pip would be jealous.

Sadly, one of our LYS went out of business at the end of October. The shop was tiny and had really inconsistent hours. It seemed to be run more like a hobby than a business; I kinda hope the owner just got tired of it. One of the saddest things to me is when someone fails and can't see why, even though it is blatently obvious to everyone else. Can't keep your yarn shop in business? Try being open!

On the plus side, I got yarn on sale! Remember the Skeen of Green? (Oh, the beloved Skeen of Green!) Well, they didn't have any left, but I bought 3 skeins in a pinky coral. I am not normally a coral fan (ha!), but it sang to me and I had to take it home.

A new discovery for me was Ironstone Colorchanges, made in Italy. It has long, lazy color changes like Noro Kureyon, without all the icky grass stuff. I got one 50g ball in greens with a touch of blue to make mittens for Boy1, and 3 balls of pinky/purple to make a Booga Bag for me. On the way home, I realized the yarn is 50/50 wool/acrylic! No Booga Bag from that - it will not felt. Good thing I bought those 3 balls of Soy Wool Stripes the other day...

So here are the mittens from Ironstone Colorchanges:



Believe it or not, I tried really hard to make those match! The one on the right was made first, and I skipped over the rest of that huge yellow-green section to get back to where the blue started. Then the pattern straightened out, and I got the mitten on the left. Oy. On the other hand, they do match - they are EXACTLY the same size! (Can't tell from the photo tho. Figures.)

Other than the color issues, I really liked knitting with this yarn. I know nothing about spinning, but I think it is spun worsted? It's all one strand, not three or four thinner strands spun together, if that makes sense. It is soft and squishy, a little bit of thickness change but not too much, doesn't break, and, did I mention the lack of grass? No grass. Very nice.

Conventionally-matched mittens:



Paton's Classic Merino color Grey Mix. (Oddly, I did find grass in this ball of Paton's.) The blue is the same grey yarn dyed with Berry Blue Kool-Aid. It came out lighter than I was hoping for, but that's ok. A matching hat is OTN.

Finally, the interloper 4-Berry Trifle Jaywalker:



After slogging on the instep for what seemed like forever, I was finally able to start the toe. Well, of course, I slogged a little too far on the instep, and now it is too long. Needs a bit of frogging. Rats.

Quilt Madness to follow!