Bit! by the $1 a yard sale

I just cannot say when when it's only a $1 per yard. "When" meaning cut me just a two-yard bit, when I know as soon as I get home I will regret leaving the remaining half yard or two yards there because, after all, it was only a $1 a yard. Sigh.



I am refusing to add this up to see how many yards it is. There's a piece (the blue) that is almost six yards, and I didn't get any less than one of any given fabric.

I was delighted to find the cotton prints. Wish I'd bought more of the ones I only got a yard of, and hoping I still feel that way in a month.

Joannstavaganza

It is a little frightening how often I've been to Joann this month. First there was the first day of the president's day sale:



Then there was the second trip during that sale, currently not pictured, to pick up the stuff I forgot on the first trip.

Then there was this trip:



which doesn't look so bad until I tell you it was a trip to pick up this:



Ten yards of upholstery fabric for reupholstering my sofa. The most expensive fabric, even at 50% off, that I've ever bought more than a fractional yard of. Surely that should have been satisfying?

Let's not forget the other crucial supplies I picked up on that trip, however,



Knitting needles for R, so she has her own.





(she's knitting me a hat, she says.)

And here's her needles, tucked in for the night:



Heaven help me, but there's a sale at Hancock's next weekend too...

Tink!

I got halfway around the round before realizing I was doing the funky double wrap thing as knit row rather than a purl row. Since I've never used this technique before the previous couple purl rows in this hat, I should have listened to the voice in my head saying, hey, this is new. But it was going sooo fast....



Tink! And purl...

Double delight!

I took my first trip to what is my locallest LYS today and am DELIGHTED. Loopy Yarns has a terrific selection of handpainted and sock yarns (and some other nice stuff too but which happens to be EXACTLY what I'm into of late...) They were super nice to R and I felt lucky both to take away what I got and to have escaped before I could do more damage:



Then when I got home, my Sewbaby order had arrived:



I love it when an internet fabric (or yarn) order is even nicer than I expected, and this was. I'm very satisfied!

(But I still might sneak out to the Joann's president's day sale tomorrow.)

Another New Toy

My new industrial snap press, which I certainly do not *need* and which caused my husband to comment about the factory aesthetic our home is aquiring (although he's the one who first broached aquiring the Variac, even though I quickly claimed a share of it to slow down my industrial coverstitch machine.)

I spent an hour last night getting to know it and finishing up these:



which have been sitting around for at least six months waiting for me to hammer snaps on them. They are quick little pantiliners made of two layers of flannel serged together. I am a total convert to "mama cloth" as it is referred to, after choosing cloth diapers for my daughter. The economic reasons and ecological reasons to choose cloth were what interested me in it in the first place, but the aesthetic reasons are why I am such a convert now. I won't go on and on but suffice it to say they are just so much more pleasant to wear than disposable things could be, and they work better for me, much to my surprise.

Fun with handpainted yarn!

I'm working on the Lake Park Hat by Marnie Maclean with the rest of that Hand Maiden Silk Cashmere and am just *loving* the way the handpainted yarn moves both horizontally and vertically in the slipped stitch pattern. Not only do the colors dance on the surface of the finished fabric but in knitting it you get to play with the colors as the slipped stitches pull different colors from previous rows:



I'm not loving the way the colors are pooling but it's improving on this second repeat, so I have hopes that the finished product will still be as attractive as the yarn.

First first sock

One down, one cast on.

Fan and Feather Scarf

Can I just start by saying I adore this yarn so much?



The colors are so rich, it has that good silk smell, it feels awesome and is perfectly dreamy to knit with. Lucky for me Romni only had one skein or I'd be so broke. I can't tell which colorway it is, I've spent far too much time on the internet looking at Hand Maiden trying to figure it out. It's a little like Paris, but not purple or green enough, evocative of Bronze but with too much blue and red. All I know is I now have this obsession and appreciation for handpainted, lush fiber yarns. Just what my limited craft budget needs, hey?

This is another Interweave Gifts Issue scarf, this and the Falling Leaves are apparently also in their Scarf Style book, which I am now eager to find. The pattern is a simple fan and feather lace over six stitches and is perfect for this type of yarn. I love the way the colors pool and move.



I've not blocked it yet as I am eager to try this hat pattern and may need to frog back if I don't have enough for the hat. The scarf wraps securely as it is and if I can eke out the hat, this will be a lovely splash of color on mild days.

Yarn: Hand Maiden Silk Cashmere 2ply, mystery colorway
Pattern: Misty Garden by Jo Sharp, in Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2006
Needles: Size 8 straights, I used several different pairs during the course of this scarf as I started it on my MIL's needles and finished it here at home.

Quick Hat

A quick hat in Patons Rumor, colorway Spanish Heather. I was tempted by it in Joann and just whipped up a simple hat with the spiral increases at the crown, and then when the transition from stockinette to ribbing looked funny I chain-stitched a decoration on top. I used US#10 dpns and finished it in an evening while watching The Devil and Daniel Johnston with my husband.