New found love: Annapurna by A Verb for Keeping Warm

This gorgeous skein of Annapurna has been in my stash since Dec. 2009. This purchase was an impulse buy during one of my first visits to Verb. On my last visit to Verb last November I was inspired to make this into Ishbel, a triangular shawl by Isolda Teague. I've seen many an Ishbel made with fingering or lace yarn. Note that I don't care much for dainty lace shawls. It's not my thing. The store's knit sample of Ishbel out of Annapurna (i don't recall the color) is absolutely beautiful. It was a small version that you can wrap around your neck. I tried it on to see if it suited me. I fell in love with it as soon as I put it on. I loved the drape and weight of the yarn. It felt like the perfect match and I had to make my own. I liked it so much I could probably make one in another color but I held back. It's another excuse to plan another visit to Verb. I have a feeling I'll be seeing the crew at Stitches West at the end of February first.

I tried really hard to not buy any yarn this year until Stitches but I failed miserably over this past weekend. This is what happens when I'm wasting time and find myself at a yarn store. Bubs had plans so I was left to make myself busy by dropping in to Yarn Boutique in Lafayette for a few minutes. I specifically went into buy 1 skein of Malabrigo worsted that I need to finish a project but YB didn't have it. I ended up leaving with a Namaste circular needle keeper (that looks like a mini accordian file), Addi clicks 10.5 needles (because it doesn't come with the set), and a big bottle of Eucalan wash (can you believe I ran out of wool wash?!). The next day I was in the City, again wasting time. I took advantage of going to Imagiknit. Their supply of Malabrigo is amazing so I hoped to find that skein I needed. There was nada. =/ Did I walk away empty handed? Of course not. If I had an endless pit of money I would've bought everything Madelinetosh on their shelves. I held back and walked away with 3 (very pricy!) skeins of the Pashmina to knit up the Goodale cardigan. If things work out I should have it done by spring and I can't wait! I mean, have you seen the pocket construction on that thing? It's a perfect layering garment.

Time to give my cat some attention and power through Ishbel. Maybe actually eat some breakfast too.

Falling for this yarn

I haven't been a big sock knitter, but after taking Cat Bordhi's workshop yesterday I've been inspired. I think the class was a bit over my head since I've made a whopping 2 pairs of socks over the past year - ever. There were some major brainiac sock knitters there so I was a bit intimidated. My head wasn't partly in it because my mom has been in the hospital for a couple days now but it was a nice distraction from worrying.

It was interesting to see how excited people were over knitting socks and Cat Bordhi. There were a lot of tips and advice to keep in mind. I have to say that Cat is awesome though. The way she thinks outside of the box about new ways to knit is amazing. At the end of class I was able to have her autograph my New Pathways for Sock Knitters book.

We practiced making our heel turns making a small bowl using Cat's methods and instructions. Here is my effort.

Then we got to dive into making toe up baby socks by the second half of the class. I kept forgetting how many rounds I was making so it's wonky. I only got to the heel turn of one sock by the end of class and finished the "wings" at home. Here's my half baby sock (can't figure out why blogger is uploading this picture vertical instead of horizontal).
With some help at Yarn Boutique, I found this gorgeous colorway for a sock pattern I admired from the Bobbin's Nest last weekend. There's no name for the colorway but it's Anne by Schaefer Yarns. I am absolutely in love with the autumn colors. And for once the yarn isn't green.
I hope I can get these on the needles soon so I can wear them for this fall instead of next fall.

Kitty Stuffie

One more stash busting project down. Using chunky yarn resulted in a huge stuffed toy for my nephew.

One more TD sleeve to go and an addition to my stash

Seaming sleeves = NO fun

It's not difficult but it took me HOURS to figure it out on my own. I researched online, asked around in Ravelry, and looked for tutorials in my knitting books. Jeezus! If I drove over to my favorite yarn store and asked for help I would've had it down in minutes. Unfortunately any yarn store is out of the way for me around here. It sucks. The Antioch/Brentwood area needs a yarn store BAD. It would do very well out here considering this area has grown quite rapidly and there are crafty people out here. There's no competition except Michael's and Walmart but us snobby yarn enthusiasts prefer premium yarn stores with great customer service. Know what I mean?

What was I was talking about before my rant? Oh yes, my finishing. So yeah, I need to sign up for a finishing class (too late now to sign up for anything at Stitches West). My shotty job is ok for now but with future projects I would like to make my finishing much nicer. I still need to block and re-do the placement of the buttons. This isn't a great pic, but here it is:

On Ravelry I'm part of a fan group for Showtime's series, Dexter. I LOVE that show and have seen every episode. Carrie, of Socks in the City created Dexter themed colorways available for purchase that are sooo cool. Some of the colorway names are Dexter, Dexter's Canvas, "103", Lila, Hawaiian Shirts, Ice Truck Killer, Dark Defender, Bay Harbor Butcher, Beneath the Bay, and Hooker's Fingernails. If you watch the show then you can only the imagine the colorways. Carrie is so right on with the dyes. The one I had to have is Ice Truck Killer, pictured below. It's a basic superwash sock yarn. I can't wait to knit myself up a pair of socks! I found a little red splatter on the skein. I find it kinda funny, like a little blood splatter that the ITK missed. Not that blood splatter is funny, but if you watch the show...OH nevermind.

I gotta get back to seaming now.

I HAVE to stay away from yarn shops

Purchase overload!!!I walked into the Yarn Boutique in Lafayette intending to only buy 2 skeins of Shibui sock yarn and check out the Berocco Peruvia colors for Interweave Knits' Tilted Duster. That's all. I couldn't help myself. They had just got in a huge stock of Peruvia in every color. I fell for the Sea Turtle colorway and purchased it...and the sock yarn...and more sock yarn. Wow. I guess I'm making socks.

The blue Handmaiden Sea Silk yarn on the bottom I received via UPS today also. It's for the Montego Bay scarf from the IK Summer 2007 issue.

Gosh I love green. I can't seem to steer myself away from it.

Anyone have a clue on how I can sprout 2 more sets of arms and hands so I can start all these projects at the same time?! I can't decide on what to start next! These are all selfish purchases BTW. It's all for me me me! Well, except one pair of socks if all goes well.

Pocket Book Slippers

I love small projects. So much accomplished in so little time. I think I spent 5 or so hours working on this pair of slippers.
Don't mind my hobbit feet!
I used gray worsted yarn I bought a year ago from Michael's when I was still learning to knit. Definitely not quality yarn and it felt like I was knitting with wire. I used left over Manos from a previous project for the flowers. This project was a great way to use up stash yarn. Regardless of the crap yarn I still think these turned out pretty cute.

Two more pairs to go! I promised I'd make one for Bubba's aunt. My mom's birthday is coming up too so I may make another pair to add to her gift.