Big Daddy Needs New Yarn!

Not anymore, to say the least. I picked up a few things at my LYS at their Thanksgiving sale, but check out the haul from my honeymoon! I had no idea I'd bought so much until I was taking the photos!

Portland has dozens upon dozens of yarn shops spread out all over, so we didn't even touch half of them. We did manage to make it to 5 stores, not too shabby (in 3 days!). Don't feel too bad for DH's patience, he's been known to knit occasionally and some of this yarn is his.

Of course I picked up some Kureyon, as well as yarn for 7 (!) pairs of socks, but I also tried to buy locally. In addition to Oregon wool, and specially dyed yarn, I bought some handspun that comes from a 90-year old woman!

I was extremely impressed with yarn stores in Portland. They average about 3 times the size of the ones here, are absolutely bursting with yarn and they carry enough varied things that you'd have to shop at 2 or 3. Plus, perfect LYS manners: ask you if they can help, then leave you alone and when you do need help, they were very friendly and down-to-earth. We even got free handmade glass stitch markers at one because it was our honeymoon! None of the snobbery that keeps me out of a lot of places.

These are the places we visited and I hardily recommend all of them. The ones with an * had a tad more variety in my opinion.

*Yarn Garden
Dublin Bay Knitting Co. (specializes in yarn from the British Isles, very fun!)
*Abundunt Yarn & Dyeworks
The Naked Sheep
*Close Knit

Finally, the months-overdue Harry Potter beret. Probably not worth all the build-up, but I did get my photo taken with Hagrid, Mad-Eye Moody and Snape (sigh) while wearing it!



Project: Harry Potter Beret
Source: Charmed Knits
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted in #999 & #1382 (maybe 1/2 skein of the red?)
Needles: US 6 & 7
Started: 5/6/07
Finished: 5/10/07
Comments: Easy Peasy!

Wedding Shawl

So here are the details on my beautiful wedding shawl.

This was my first big lace project and I was plenty nervous. Miriam, the designer, was very helpful when I had questions and other knitters helped me through my first time blocking with wires and how to wash the delicate yarn. Thanks a lot!!

I think this pattern is perfect for a beginning lace knitter. It's pretty straight-forward and the charts are easy to read. The yarn is the softest thing I've ever touched and I wish I could drape myself in it all the time. When knitting the shawl, I often stopped for minutes at a time to pet the yarn! The yarn also seems much sturdier when knit up. I only had breakage once and that was when I was pulling from the first center ball I had wound. I do tend to wind too tightly.

This is definitely my most loved of all the things I've knit. I'm extremely proud of it too!

Now for lots more photos!





Project: Seraphim Wedding Shawl
Source: Mim Knits
Yarn: Lobster Pot Lace Weight Cashmere in Salt Rose, 1.5 skeins
Needles: US 6
Started: 8/1/07
Finished: 9/5/07
Comments: I left out one repeat because I'm so short and also because I was worried of running out of yarn. I had plenty of yarn left over and the shawl ended up being only slightly shorter than the one the pattern calls for. This shawl was knit in secret and my sweet husband ended up being very surprised (he's my #1 knitting fan)! I only hope I can figure out how to wear this often.

Woo-hoo!

I just found about this yesterday and now there are photos! Kureyon Sock Yarn!

Between this and a new Joss Whedon show, well there's only so much a girl can take!
It's thanks to Ravelry for these juicy bits!