What's On My Needles?

I have I have a couple of new yarns & projects to tell y'all about. First off - and only because I up loaded the photos that way- is a wonderful pattern from Louisa Harding's lovely book "Knitting Little Luxuries" that I borrowed from the library. I am, generally speaking, not much of a frou frou person, although truth be told, I always had a secret wish that I could be a girlie girl - you know someone with perfect nails & hair &, perhaps, even makeup. I never likes pastel colors, or pleats & fluff for me. I liked fitted jackets and jeans. Simple. I was the girl who loved to shoot tournament skeet, "drive" the sit upon lawn mower and do things things that were decidedly not girly girl. In my approaching dottage however, I have found that pink is indeed a tint that belongs on the color wheel, that a certain, very subdued bit of lace is not a bad thing and that I can secretly covet the things a la Louisa Harding and not feel guilty!
I saw this book and this beautiful glove pattern on Ravelry and fell in love. A little frou frou but not too much. Kollage yarns has a new yarn out called, oddly I thought, " 1/2 & 1/2". I heard the name and had to go to their webite to see what the yarn is made of and, sure enough, it's made from half milk! I can't fathom how they use milk protein with wool but they and it is a beautiful, soft combination that I think will show stitch defination to advantage. I am planning to use their deep blue for a pair of the elegant fingerless gloves Isn't this a lovely lttle wrap? I may just have to consider making this - which would mean that I might have to buy the book at some point - or borrow it from the library again for an extended period!
Ah! Shawls! I love shawls and I love making shawls. I have to admite to a fondness for Cheryl Oberle's Book "Folk Shawls". The first shawl pattern that I ever knit was made from left over Noru Kuryeon yarn and with a pattern from this book. Now I am, happily making the Aran Pocketed Shawl. I found this incredible Misty Alpaca yarn on Webs - and at an amazingly low price. This is a yarn that I just enjoy "petting". It's one of the softest Alpaca yarns that I have ever felt - and I admit to being an Alpaca or Alpaca- Silk fanatic. I have plans to work my way through several other wonderful shawl patterns - and maybe I will evben make a frou frou princess shawl of lacy yarn !

Today I Found One Of The Most Awesome Yarns I've Ever Seen!

Today I walked in my LYS, Island Wools, looking for a replacement for my wonky Addi Turbo 24" size 8 circular needle. In looking for the needles I noticed that Skacel has replaced the material they use in the Addi Turbos. The new material (not for the needle part - they are still the same favorite needle) is more like the connector they have been using for their Lace needles. I have only used it to know several rows - but I think it's a nice change. I was just surprised.

As I was poking about in the store I spied a small basket of the most glorious new yarn that I have seen in a VERY long time. This yarn, aptly called, "Astral" is made by The Alpaca Yarn Company and is a scrumptious mix of 50 % Tencel, 30 % Alpaca and 20 %Merino. The sheen is like nothing I have ever seen - even in expensive silk skeins. Soft? Oh! My Gosh! Can you spell h-e-a-v-e-n ??!! The skeins offer a lusty 197 yards (180.137 meters) in each 100 gram hank - it's a dk weight and sugested needle is a size 7US.

I bought a teal & a black, although I think I may well have to save my pennies & buy enough of their wine color to make a shawl. The black is earmarked for fingerless gloves and I am not sure about the teal yet. All I can suggest is that you seek this yarn out & buy some. I know that you too will be utterly amazed at the sheen and brilliance - and that oh! So! soft feel. Gheck out the website - their photos really do this special yarn much better justice! It was a good time to stop by the yarn store! The basket is not as full now as I simply had to coerce a fellow shopper to also purchase two skeins - she must have thought me to be a looney local!

What To Do With Decorator Fabric Samples

I love decorator's fabric samples. I have no idea why I do - but I do. People are kind & give them to me when they come across them & occasionally I unearth one at a second hand store. These sample packs can be small and colorful like the one in the photo- or large & flowery. The fabric can be removed from the case - though sometimes you need to remove a bit of gunky glue from the very top of the piece, but the fabrics are superior quality and very usable - but usable for what is always the question I face !

I often like to make small bags with them - and I use them for backings a lot in my smaller quilts. Today I was looking at the mess that has become my knitting needle storage & decided that I needed to "neaten" them up a bit. I used 3 pieces of a sample book for this case that will hold some of my double points and a few bamboo straights too. I will soon tackle the larger problem of my circular needle storage in the same way. These are fast to make and work quite well to make needle storage both tidier as well as more colorful!