Transitions

As winter has FINALLY turned to spring, my husband and I have just returned from a fantastic trip to Spain, where we enjoyed some time with our daughter who is studying in Seville this semester, and spent some time alone in Madrid at the end of the trip. Spain did not disappoint on this, our third trip to the country. The food continues to get better, the people are warm and friendly, and the breadth of history never ceases to amaze.

My daughter couldn't wait to point out a yarn shop she's seen in her neighborhood--but alas, when we walked by, it was siesta time

and the shop was closed. I probably saved myself some money--but was somewhat surprised when it dawned on me that I hadn't researched yarn shops in Spain before we left--something I usually do before any trip! I think I was too caught up in figuring out which projects I'd take with me!

I finished two projects on the trip--another striped cowl to replace the one I sold in my Etsy shop just prior to our leaving, and a pair of socks, the Sweet Tart Anklets (I made mine longer than anklets) that I've been working on as a secondary (or tertiary) project for a year! They are very springy and they may go to my daughter when she gets home. They were made from sock stash--a while different category--from a years-ago Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock club. ALMOST done with those skeins!

 

 

I also worked on the Riding to Avalon hoodie that I had started as part of my project to use my oldest stash and work forward. The yarn was Ella Rae Silkience in a beautiful pink shade--I had bought it in 2008! Needless to say, the design I was going to make with it doesn't interest me anymore, and nothing--including the hoodie that I worked on throughout two excellent movies on the plane ride home--worked. The hoodie ended up being too big, and I was making the smallest size and using the smallest needles possible without making the fabric stiff. So I decided to sell the yarn. That was a very liberating feeling--sometimes a purchase just isn't meant to be, and if the yarn goes to a good home, all the better! 

Today I started fresh by winding the NEXT item in my stash--that is a skein of Schaefer Anne (also discontinued), that I believe I won around 2008-2009. It's a beautiful melange of earthy colors--bronze, gold, and a pinky coral. I'm going to cast on the My Hope shawl, by Laura Linneman, and have ordered beautiful gold/pink beads from my favorite bead purveyor, Earthfaire, for the beaded bind-off.

I'm looking forward to casting this on with the new Signature needles I ordered to reward myself for winning my office's March Madness pool!

In the meantime, I'm working on the project I left home, the Wrap Me up, Buttercup! shawl from Dancing Leaf Farms. The goal of sneaking this project in is to finish something that I bought at last year's Maryland Sheep & Wool before this year's event comes around. I would like to go again with my sisters, but I may have a conflict with my kids' comings and goings around that time. We'll see. The shawl is a ton of fun--six individual yarns alternate to make a great-looking pattern--this will be a show-stopper once it's done. Easy stitches and no shaping (it's a big rectangle), so good mindless TV knitting.

 

I Love My Poncho!

I bought the yarn for the Easy Folded Poncho back in November, but several projects for kids, my Etsy shop, etc. got ahead of this in line. Since it's a warm garment made from luscious 100% Alpaca from Juniper Moon Farms, AND it has a generous cowl neck, I wanted to finish it while the weather was still cold so I could appreciate its warmth. Well, Mother Nature has cooperated and it's still below freezing here in NJ. I finished the poncho, including knitting and blocking the cowl, earlier this week, and am now ready to wear it into NYC for dinner and a show tonight!

Since this project included 50 inches of stockinette, I thought I'd use it as an opportunity to try a bunch of different needles. Here is a quick synopsis of my thoughts on each (all were size 6 and none seemed to change the gauge of my work):

• Signature Needles--I ordered the 5" stiletto tips. These were my absolute favorite (and the most expensive!). I love them so much that I ordered another pair in size 7 and hope to start collecting them in different sizes. These are truly the Rolls Royce of knitting needles!
• HiyaHiya Sharps--Love these as well. Nice, sharp tips, very light and flexible cord that would be amazing for Magic Looping. As these are at a much better price point than the Signatures, I may think about getting a full set.
• KnitPicks Caspians--I have three KnitPicks Interchangeable sets already, but I fell in love with these green wood tips and green cord when I saw them online. The tips are sharp and work as well if not better than my other KnitPicks needles. Again, I might ponder a full set, just because!
• Knitter's Pride Karbonz--While these are great needles--perhaps a lower-priced version of Signatures--they didn't seem worth the price for me vs. any of the others I tried. I will try them on another project and see if I change my mind and want to add these to my collection in greater quantity. The one plus of these over Signatures is that the cords work for any Knitter's Pride needles, as well as for KnitPicks needles, so you get a very nice, high quality needle without having to invest in separate cords like you do with the Signatures.

Finally, I ordered one set of DyakCraft Darn Pretty wood needles, but alas, after several weeks, they still have not arrived. If I like them when they eventually get here, I think my best bet is to buy a set from someone on Ravelry, rather than wait the year for my own set. But then again, I have so many needles that I COULD wait....will decide when my sample arrives--hopefully within the next few weeks.

Now that I've worn the poncho, I'm ready for spring!