I'm [not] British. I know how to [fill my] queue! (und meine stricknadeln!)

[Mis]Quoting none other than Arthur Dent of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy film. (One of the few films, even of the few I've watched before I've read the book, that I liked better than the book). And cobbling together a German phrase-probably horribly...

So... I have too many projects on the needles, period. I did finish a Monteagle and the Shetland Shopper bag I'd had on the needles for months since I last saw (since a Mason-Dixon project is mentioned in this sentence--) y'all. I have no pictures of those, although they do mean I have only one bag project on the needles.

Categorized:

Bags:

• Black Hole bag in pink #10 crochet cotton, #10 needles, i-cord handle in orange/brown/white twist Sugar'n'Cream on #2 dpns

Dishcloths:

• Some sort of double knitting/knitting two stitches together twice over? technique I got from Montse Stanley's knitting guide back last summer in red, white, and blue striped Sugar'n'Cream on #7s. (Digression: I'm intending to take German instead of Spanish if I can find a course, and for some reason, after checking the gender of knitting needles, I'm having to resist translating random words and phrases into German. "zwei Maschen rechts zusammen stricken zweimal..."? last "sommer"?)
• Crocheted flower dishcloths; they're really sort of a swirling hexagon. I made one and two more centers, then didn't finish the second one and left the third one with only a center bit.

Hats:

• Inspired by one of Kelley Petkun's podcasts, probably from late 2008, I cast on another Koolhaas (for myself, since I don't have any handknit hats) in pale yellow JoAnns Sensations Tesoro, on the same #5 16" circ I used for my dad's Koolhaas at Christmas time.
• Not a hat at all, but in the same yarn, Fetchings that I originally intended for a Christmas present for my English teacher, but they're not done, and she's retiring this year. But I still might give them to her as a end-of-year present to use later...

Lace:

• Scarf from VLT in crochet cotton leftover from Tala on #4s. Not progressing very fast because I can't seem to memorize the lace or at least get away from the chart a bit.
• Semi-circle shawl from VLT in Knit Picks Gloss Bluebird (Knit Picks just got in some new yarns! Yay! New lace yarns which are tempting me... and more cottons!) on #6 circs: put on hold because I was trying (and still haven't finished) a pair of truly diabolical, I tell you, slippers where I made unwise yarn/needle combination choices and didn't have a #6 16" circular needle.
• Melon stole/scarf from VLT in Knit Picks Bare Merino Lace died dyed with Orange KoolAid into a mottled pale orange color: rather boring to tell you the truth.
• A stole from AGoL in Yarn Place Graceful I bought at the last Wool Gathering. I'll tell you more about this in a future post, for now suffice to mention that it does need some time to get into any sort of pattern on it because it's cobweb weight yarn.

Miscellaneous Crochet:

• Throw from a February/March or January/February issue of Crochet Today from several years ago, a UFO on an I hook.
• Svanhilde, the last of the Doilies with a Twist series; I'm not sure if I have enough of the cream crochet cotton, but I don't care to buy another ball for just the last few rounds.
• ****f of my own design--Shh! secret project for a yarn shop contest!

Socks, of which there are way too many:

• On #000s, a sock from MSKS in some sort of knit-purl block pattern in laceweight merely for the challenge... (KP Shadow in Redwood Forest (discontinued) left over from my Swallowtail)
• On #00s, Jade/Eucrite. Lion Brand SockEase in Rock Candy. My own design. Hopefully the pattern is coming soon.
• Also on #00s, a cabled design in the same yarn in Toffee
• Also on #00s, DK 2-socks-at once. (KP Essential Peacock Multi)
• On #0s, a cabled sock I'm calling Finglas after a LOTR Ent; pattern from SKS. (KP Essential Pine)
• Also on #0s, the Coriolis socks (More Coriolis diaries? I may need some more Terry Pratchett via Stephen Briggs to get me motivated on the plain knitting for the toe; the first toe was mostly reknit while I was miserably sick to the audiobook of Making Money) (KP Essential Riverbed Multi)
• Also on #0s, umm... The Estonian socks were finished, and I'm saving the next project (which is in the same yarn as the Estonian socks--I have a little stash of that Cascade Heritage) for a future post, like the above lace project.
• On #1s, "Rilhilmina", my bizarre name for a Chevron sock, as seen in SKS (Reynolds Swizzle in a similar green to the Essential Pine, with CMY colored stripes, but that it's more of a bright blue than a pale cyan)
• Also on #1s, the apprently unfinishable and frankly misnamed "Mlle. Gillenormand", my own design. Although I named it after a Les Mis character, the design looks more British than French... (KP Gloss Black)
• Also on #1s, "Paganini" in Mountain Colors Bearfoot Firestorm; a shop sample from my LYS (which happens to fit my foot...)
• Intended to be on #1s, a design of my own devising, possibly titled "Honshu" in an old colorway of KP Felici
• Intended to be on #1.5s, Baby Cable Rib socks from SKS in KP Dancing Hula (the yarn is discontinued, but Patons Stretch Socks is similar)
• On #2s, Spiral Boot Socks in deep purple Reynolds Soft Sea Wool. I don't much like moving the stitches, so this is going slowly, though I am finally in the ankle pattern portion.
• On #3s, Arrow from the 8 stitch section of SKS in KP Parade, my last socks in this unfortunately discontinued yarn.
• On #4s, I-should-have-cast-on-the-second-sock a lacy pattern in some Telemark in Drift, ordered when it first came out, that I tried to use for the 2 in 1 DK sock pattern but frogged.
• On #5s, actually, an old UFO of gloves that I started working on again for Christmas but haven't worked on much since.
• Supposed-to-be-on #5s: EZ's Wearable Art Stockings in Patons Classic Merino, but they aren't exactly working out so well.
• On C hook: UFO of Button-Top Socks in the old version of Bernat Sox. The first was finished in, I think, 2006, while listening to Lyddie on audiobook... Wow. That's old.

A grand total of: 29 projects (although this includes the "intended" projects). Yet, startitis comes with spring, and I have more projects I want to make, or dream of starting...

Whilst I was sick, I did make a couple of projects--crocheted Bluebird lace socks from Just Socks which I call the "Soul Cake Duck Tuesday Socks" (a Discworld holiday similar to a certain spring holiday of our own) and the knitted (obviously) "Cathedral" mitts from Gothic in Knitting New Mittens and Gloves (What is the next Knitting New... book, I wonder? I've loved both books in the series so far, although they are slightly different styles). Gothic took me about 4 hours of work, and the SCDT socks were crocheted in 2 afternoons/nights. Yarns: (guess which one when to which project, I dare you) Bernat Sox in Hippie Hot, KP WotA in Winter Night (which I ordered to evaluate it's navy-blue-ness (and, yes, I am totally addicted to parentheses; it's a running joke for which I blame my good internet friend Schmergo's version of a certain snakey antagonist)))

What projects do I dream of starting (and thus fufilling the title of this post)?

Well, in the sock department, I probably have at least 200 sock patterns (though this is probably only about half of the total I want to make) queued in my 30 page queue of 600, 700+ items on Ravelry, and I do have, as mentioned in my before-posting penultimate post/after this post antepenultimate post over 50 balls of sock yarn with associated patterns picked out. So, no new sock queueing for me. Must not do that...

I am wanting to basically go through Knitting New Mittens and Gloves and knit every single thing in there--perhaps the next two projects would be in Knit Picks yarn, to be ordered:

• Sheltie in KP Suri Dream and WotA. Suri Dream in maybe Cascades or Aquatic or Wildflowers; WotA in oh, maybe Cobblestone heather.
• the-cover-fingerless-mitts-whose-name-I-can't-remember-and-for-once-I'm-not-on-Ravelry Filigree in the new organic cotton worsted weight probably in Malted Milk. And maybe the shorter length in Ginger?

I also got the book of Swedish Mittens out from the library, and am thinking about ordering Selbuvottar, so that would be more mittens. There are also plenty of free mitten and glove patterns on Ravelry that I have in my queue.

For some reason, I've wanted to make all those brioche berets from the brioche site, but I'll have to get yarn. I'm going to use the Bernat Felting wool I tried unsucessfully to use for the basic beret to make a pair of (or a variation thereof) EZ's Mitred Mittens. One of the brioche berets will probably be my next hat, and at some time a tam, and Fern Glade, and possibly some more hat-hats (like Koolhaas) such as topographie.

I, the inveterate sock knitter, am actually thinking about sweaters and vests.

Firstly, the vest came about because after seeing the Silky Wool at KnitWits yarn shop, I absolutely must make something in it. So, perhaps Honeycomb with the pattern from the Austrian socks on the front? I want Veridian, although I also love the other colors. Tweedy, heathery, I love that sort of thing.

There is also a possibly appealing vest in the current Spring Knitty, and I think I'll try a fair isle type vest before a Fair Isle sweater, though that may come after a rectangular project and a tam... Doris Chan's crocheted vests (and sweaters, which I'll mention in the next section) are lovely, and if I can find a good yarn for it, I might make Flower Power from her lace book.

Sweaters? Several things brewing in my head:

• I've wanted to make Tangled Yoke for ages, and now that my school mascot is an eagle, I'm thinking of knitting an eagle, the school verse, and some Elvish into the sweater, probably in Knit Picks Palette, but it'll probably wait till the summer.
• I first got hold of Mason-Dixon Knitting: Outside the Lines while knitting Ice Queen in CPY Kid Mohair (Merino? Ach! I can't remember any of these names! After referencing Ravelry, I realized that the mohair content was misleading me)Merino. So, I'm wanting to do the Cardi Cozy in a deep foresty green, with either Kid Merino, or possibly Elann's Kid Silk Haze sub.
• While inventoring at KnitWits yarn shop, I found that they had 5 skeins of a denimy color of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted, and I thought about a slightly U-necked, saddle shoulder sweater (will that work) with the Seaweed pattern I used for one dishcloth... It's a thought.
• The idea of a gansey has also been brewing in my head--Jess's Gansey, and I've gone so far as to research the Frangipani gansey wool. (Hint: If you are in the US, it very well could be cheaper but slower to order from the UK rather than the US source. It seems it--£18 for the cone of wool + £7 international air mail shipping = £25, which, according to Google, equals about $36.50 on 19 March, 2009, rather than the $65.00 Kirtland's Yarn Barn in Virginia is asking for a cone) Possibly in green... (I like green, and I seem to want green sweaters.)
• Plenty of crocheted pullovers and cardigans from Everyday Crochet. I made up a long list a couple months ago of KP yarns to use with some of them.

And then there's scarves, which might help me to use up some cheap yarn I bought to make Christmas presents that never got made, and a bunch I just want to make period. Although this one cotton boucle from Araucania I saw at Knit Wits looks like it would be good for Meandering Stripes (in one color, though), I think Yarn Place yarn would be better than KP yarn for many of the Knitting New Scarves scarves, plus, I intend to order another cobweb weight yarn for another project, which brings me to the final category, lace...

I've seen five, yes five!, shawls since the beginning of the year:

• Dragonfly from IC Winter 2009, to be made in one of Yarn Place's cobweb weight yarns with the D hook.
• Fountain Pen Shawl from IK Spring 2009, similar to two shawls that I've made and enjoyed immensely, with its top down from the back of the neck construction. There are lots of new KP lace yarns...
• The Sweet Lily Shawl, also from IK Spring 2009. I'm just sayin', some of those new colors are tempting me...
• Shipwreck Shawl, from the Spring Knitty. I didn't notice it at first glance, although I liked the thumbnail (why are they called that anyway?)--for some reason I thought the cover picture was the Aeolian shawl (?!). This is made in a thicker yarn, such as Gloss Bare, and requires stringing a lot of beads... hmm
• Aeolian Shawl, from Spring Knitty, by the same designer as Laminaria! Beaded Estonian lace, but in desert-y motifs this time. I'll probably choose a deserty color therefore!

Knitting in another language:

I'm fascinated by the German language, and while trying to figure out how wumbs on Ravelry did a sock heel over the language barrier, I happened upon an old German-knitting-word-of-the-day-month feature, "Stricken Sie Deutsch?" on Claudia's blog, starting here. It might just be helpful if I happen to some how (it's quite unlikely) get Stephanie van der Linden's book in its original German format. Plus, maybe I can understand German knitting patterns now.

That reminds me that there are several sock knitting books coming out that I want (and I thought that the publishing market had probably had its fill of sock knitting!)--Cookie A's Sock Innovations, Wendy Johnson's Knitting Socks from the Toe Up, Stephanie van der Linden's Socken aus unser Welt (spelling/word choice is dubious, I'm typing that title from memory), and a book involving Japanese stitch patterns (which seem to be quite interesting and I seem to be developing an interest in ethnic knitting) in socks that I heard about on Knitter's Review while searching for that sock heel.

Other crafts:

Various events seem to have conspired to start me on a (hopefully fruitful) quilting/patchwork kick. Firstly, I have no interest in knitting a Mason-Dixon log cabin blanket, but hearing about Kelley Petkun's caused, I think, the idea of log cabin blocks to start brewing in my head. Then, she's piecing a block in public on her blog. Then I'm assigned a math project relating the Seminole Indians and their patchwork, quilting, and geometry, and then I decided to piece the center of Grandmother's Flower Garden block for that project. I think I'm going to try to piece a quilt top this summer, and maybe knit a sweater(am I crazy?)(!).

The mention of BSC Lamb's Pride reminds me that I have ambitions of making nalbound slippers in Lamb's Pride Bulky in one of the slightly mottled colorways. But I think I need a bit more practice first.

I've also seen two sock patterns for hand-spun sock yarn over the past few months (one was Blackrose in winter's Knitty, and the other was in Spindlicity) and that makes me want to spin. Spinning the lambswool I bought at... hmm my first Wool Gathering(? I think) on my Schacht Hi-Lo (thank you, Google!) was pleasant or at least rather fun, but the other wool I bought isn't nice to spindle spin--the grey is sticky and thus hard to draft, and the heathered forest green(which I'd call tartan colorway), I think a Corriedale, is a longer fiber length which I also find difficult to deal with. It probably needs a different drafting technique which I'm not ready to adopt on a spindle. I really think I'd spin better on a wheel, but it's kind of out of the question right now.

Then there's weaving, which I got into through my interest in spinning a few years ago. Unfortunately, I want a floor loom with lots of shafts, which is even more expensive and even more unlikely.

I've also run into temari in several places, which for some odd reason is associated with pysanky in my head, and this has given me a slight urge to go and make thread balls and color eggs.

And my mom and I also talked a little about sewing up some of our cloth stash over the summer, so that may be in the works.

St. Patrick's Day (and I forgot to wear green...) reminds me of tatting since I tatted a clover several years ago, which got me thinking about a tatted headband (would that even work? Perhaps a choker type necklace instead?) and then onto drawing pseudo-Celtic knots. I haven't tatted very much at all, and not very recently.

Then, that reminds me of macreme, which I also have dabbled in. (although the only thing I've made is a small bag in Sugar'n'Cream)

There is too much inspiration!

And I have written an excessively long post, which hopefully included most of what I wanted to include in it!

Auf Wiedersehen!
("goodbye" in German)

Postscript: And now my labels/tags have reminded me that I thought about cross-stitch and getting a "Swedish weaving" huck towel kit while in Hobby Lobby the other day (and they seem to be getting in some more new sock yarn--I read the shelf tags), which further reminds me of that humongous latch hook lighthouse and the locker hooked log cabin rug I have in progress.

Post-postscript(PPS): I remembered that I intended to mention that besides green, I seem attracted to browns these days. I got a lot of yarn the other day at Knit Wits, including a darks/brown colorway of JaWoll, Berocco Sock in a brown-y colorway, a southwest colorway of Jojoland Melody (Note to self: the lace/cobwebweight is Harmony, the worsted, Rhythm), and before that, the first Heart and Sole I bought from JoAnns was in Toasted Almonds, which is very brown, and I bought a camo colorway of Bernat Sox for the Whitby Lace Socks from Just Socks (disregarding the fact that that's a Lion Brand book and this isn't LB yarn).

PPPS: And loom knitting! I seem to want to branch out into different sock techniques--wanting to try magic loop (needle: check), 2 circs, 9" Hiya-hiya circs, loom knit socks (for which I want a Decor Accents loom), and crochet socks. Since they are my favorite thing to make...

PPPPS: This is the second spring I've had maniac too-much-inspiration/too-many-things to do syndrome. I have a different Bernard Clayton (Have I got his name right?) book out of the library-this one on soups, and I'm thinking of cooking... and gardening too!

Calloo! Callay! Oh Frabjous Day!

Ever read Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass? Well, the poem Jabberwocky:
'Twas brillig and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gymbal in the wabe
All mimsy were the borogoves
And the mome raths outgrabe

Beware the Jabberwock, my son
The teeth that bite, the claws that snatch
Avoid the ??? and shun
The frumious bandersnitch
.....
something about vorple swords

Calloo, callay, oh, frabjous day!

And that's all I remember. Well, anyway, the USB cable today presents to you:






My shipment from Knitpicks back in July. I am making socks (And could use a beta knitter!) out of the Felici, which is second from right in the top row








My unused sock yarn as of August 1, 2007. (Now I have started a sock in the Essential tweed, which is the blue yarn in the photo. The yarn in the upper left is hand dyed with Kool-Aid.










Doilies from Patricia Kristoffersen's Doilies with a Twist:

Left: Rosa in DMC Baroque, Ecru
Center: Doily #6, the same that's on the cover. I don't recall the name...
Right: Irene in Royale crochet cotton, Mint







A not so well lighted picture (plus an error with the flash) of the hand dyed KnitPicks Lace Weight I am using for a slightly modified version of Hazel Carter's Shetland Sampler Stole from A Gathering of Lace. I'd call the color Dusty Rose or Raspberry Sorbet.








Here is the sock in Felici, my own design (that's where I'm looking for a beta knitter!), taken several days ago (This sock is now finished)


And now let's see if Blogger and my exhausted camera batteries will let me upload any more pictures...






Another of my own designs, this the one being made of Essential Tweed












A Locker Hook rug I (was) working on. I think it's lingering in UFO status....












Guess what technique was used for this potholder....









Nalbinding, that's what! (Self designed nalbound potholder, in Mauch Chunky Kiwi w. Lion Brand Landscapes Rose Garden woven through it.)

An assortment of projects: The shawl back when it was in progress, my first sweater, and a bag I am making from the pattern in SnB Crochet (There seemed to be an error in the pattern, also, I ignored the instruction to turn)









A random pair of finished socks (actually, the ones I mention in this post) modeled by one of the few sweaters I like in this fall's VK










Have any of you received your KnitPicks October catalogs yet? I'm curious as to what all colorwork projects they have. I have Sweaters from Camp out from the library, and I've never done Fair Isle knitting before, and it just blows my mind!

Also, I am knitting a Tomten jacket-in acrylic. I may have more to say on this, so stay tuned

-Arachnera

P.S. As I keep hinting, I'm looking for a beta-knitter/proofreader for my pattern... Leave a comment, or email me at arachnera_at_gmail.com if you're interested...

...and Nalbinding

Unfortunately I seem to have a cold or some such thing. I have a headache, my throat is scratchy and I don't feel very good at all. But you shall hear about my adventures anyway!

I told you that I frogged Wheelie, but I also restarted it and knit maybe 3 1/4 repeats of the 24 row pattern.

I found my size 0 dpn from the gray sock in a most unlikely place this morning. (And I almost typed "most unlickly place" That would be very odd....)

I also did some nalbinding this weekend. I had, as I mentioned back a while ago, tried it with Wool Ease, but it didn't work out. But over this last Thanksgiving weekend, I had the idea-Everyone seems to think you ought to use wool singles, so why not use this Mauch Chunky you bought for fulling/felting back in May when you went to KnitWits? It's the color Kiwi and I made up a pattern as I went along. (Oh and I know it's off-topic, but aren't the little watermelon and sunflower dresses cute?) If you're interested and you don't know how to nalbind, you might go to Phiala's String Page (link on the sidebar or just click on the name, which leads you to the exact page.)-I learned from the tutorial there. Actually, you need to look at the tutorial so that you'll know what I'm talking about in several places.

An Interesting Nalbound Potholder

A beginner's pattern, but a bit of prior practice is recommended (not much, just practice what is shown in the tutorial once or twice.)

(Notes: This looks rather like a mitten/glove thumb or finger and is used for holding pot handles. I cannot vouch for the use of a nalbinding needle in this pattern. I used what I had on hand, which was a large yarn needle. This pattern is based on my experience with crochet and what I learned in the above tutorial. I am sort of making up my own way of writing instructions. Please email me or leave a comment if you need help. Also, I am a beginner at this and cannot say that this is at all proper nalbinding, but anyway... By the way, when you need to join in a new length of yarn since nalbinding is done with fairly short lengths of yarn, I would recommend using moisture, warm hands, and a rolling action to felt the lengths of yarn together.)

You will need:

Some Mauch Chunky or comparable other yarn (such as handspun or the Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride that KnitWits says it it just like without the mohair) MUST NOT BE SUPERWASH! MUST BE FELT-ABLE!
A needle, the large type, or possibly a nalbinding needle

For felting:
A large bowl or other container in which to work
Hot and cold water
A bit of gentle soap if you like.

First, work a circular beginning as shown in the tutorial, working somewhere between 5-10 O/UO stitches into the ring, whatever you feel is right. Pull the starting end to tighten the ring. Leave it fairly long so that you can weave it in later. Once you have worked enough stitches and are ready to do another round, make a loop into the upper loop of your first stitch. Work two of the O/UO sts into each of the loops until you have reached the beginning of the round. Now, start a new round with a loop into the first loop of the previous round. This time, though, work *1 O/UO into loop, 2 O/UO into next loop repeat from * to end of round. Here, you can do one of two things:

1) You can continue increasing to make a larger potholder or something else.
(For this pattern, I followed this system:
1: stitch into ring
2: 2 sts in every stitch
3: *1 st in 1st st, 2 sts in next st*
4: *1 st in each of next 2 sts, 2 sts in next st*
5: * 1 st in each of next 3 sts, 2 sts in next st*
Et cetera...
If you need help, again, email me.)

If you choose to take this path, you're going to be pretty much on your own. You can email me but I can't guarantee I'll be able to help.

2) You can do as I did and start the round upon round without any more increases.

In the latter case, work until you feel that your potholder is just slightly longer than it needs to be. It will look like a mitten/glove thumb or finger. Then end it. (I wasn't sure what to do, so I just made a little stitch into the start of the round and then ran the end through the stitches. You might note that after a while, I just started doing continuous rounds as you might do when crocheting in the round. ) Weave the beginning end in and felt lightly by agitation in hot water(will be in large bowl-add the soap here if you want.), dips in cold water, and running water on your piece.

Do you think a Knitter's/Fiber Addict's Twelve Days of Christmas would be interesting?

Busy-ness

I haven't forgotten my blog, I've just been busy. All three pairs of socks in progress are at least half done. I learned to spin on a spindle last night. (Needless to say, I still have slubs.) I tried nalbinding using this tutorial: Phiala's Nalbinding page. I have been taking swimming lessons at the local Y(MCA). I have been to the Weaver's Loft. I got a latch hook kit (Rainbow Flyer from Caron, but I call it Odonata [toothed; the order to which dragonflies and damselflies belong. Because, at least I think, that's a dragonfly.]) I have been working on watchbands for a watch face I got at the local Jo-Ann's Fabric Store. Unfortunately, I still have problems getting pictures up. (If you must know, 1.44 MB, the capacity of a floppy, isn't very much space for pics of socks, bracelets, etc. )

About spinning(And nalbinding):
A good friend of mine very generously taught me to spin on a (very tiny) spindle and gave me some fleece to get started last night. I think the fleece still has some lanolin in it, making it soft on my hands (and face!) (also, my hands aren't that sensitive to scratchiness), but the yarn is slightly scratchy. I already love spinning, though my yarn is thick and thin still and I am not spinning on a wheel, which I thought I would prefer. By the way, don't ask, but don't try spinning using cotton balls and a homemade spindle, or nalbinding using a small tapestry needle (similar to ones I used for needlepoint on 7 count plastic canvas) and Wool-ease. That nalbinding does not work out too well because I get the impression that you need slightly loose stitches and you will get small ones with this, plus somehow the process seems to be contrary to the twist of the Wool-Ease and the Wool-Ease won't felt. Nothing wrong with the materials, they just didn't work for my purpose (With the spinning, however, not so.)

Anyhow, I never got the Macreme Pouch up to my website, nor did I ever get to do the neccesary research for the other item I wanted to write. But I am starting something: yarn reviews! These are not yarns I buy specifically to be tested, and thus may not be exactly periodical. They are just yarns I happen to encounter in my knitting life. And another new feature: yarn splurges.

I have to be allergy tested today. Blah.

I am not, contrary, to what my comment on acrylic might have lead you to believe, what you'd really think of as a fiber snob, nor do I really have anything against Red Heart or the company that makes it. I simply find that certain colors/types of Red Heart are very scratchy and that the plain colors can get a little boring. If you can believe it, though, for most of the first years that I knitted (not too long ago; I learned during '00 or '01) I used plain, untextured acrylic. Now I use some of Lion Brand's yarns and plan to order some more yarn from Knit Picks. Which brings us to the first yarn review. If only I could keep from jumping around.

Dancing
From www.knitpicks.com

Color:
Unfortunately, as you can guess, I don't have a picture, but you can see it at www.knitpicks.com. I ordered the color Swing, which ended up as my Swing(or Dance) over the Rainbow socks. I believe they no longer have that particular color available, but it, if you wish to know, it has most of the colors of the rainbow. It does have one problem, or at least it might seem that way to some people: the colors make little pools, and sometimes the yellow and purple in the yarn made pools of stripes. This wasn't much of a problem to me. I would not advise using a complex pattern that you want to be able to see with this yarn (or at least not with this color). I used Elongated Corded Rib from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks; though I couldn't see the pattern, it made the sock lacy. Oh, by the way, there is a white strand of something or other around the yarn, which gives it an interesting look.

Quality:
Well, this yarn is soft. It's a Cotton/Wool/Elastic blend, but I didn't really notice the elastic. (I don't know... I've never knitted with Cascade Fixation(cotton/elastic), but this didn't seem to behave like I thought elastic blend yarn would.) I personally thought it behaved like slightly stretchy sock yarn. It's from KnitPicks, so the value is pretty good to me. I had one minor problem: I bought two skeins of course, to make a pair of socks, and each skein had at least one knot in the yarn. To me it didn't matter a whole lot, but to you it might. I did have a comment from a fellow knitter at last night's knitting group on the softness of the yarn. I do, although I didn't mention it previously, have what's known as atopic dermatitis, also known as ezecma, and it's really bad on my hands and feet. Ironically, the dryness makes the palms of my hands pretty tough, but the other parts of my feet are pretty sensitive. These socks did not bother them at all. I knitted the socks on size US. 2's. I have a bit of a problem with gauge on socks, more on that later, but I didn't measure the gauge.

Overall:
I'd give it 8 on a scale of 10, 1 being "Don't buy this stuff, it's the worst yarn in the world" and 10 being: "You must have this yarn."

First splurge:

At www.knitpicks.com:

1 ball of every color of all yarns except sock yarn and

2 balls of every color of sock yarn except those in 100 gram hanks=

As of 8/8/2006

547 items

$1,878.33!

Wow!

This is how the splurge works:

I go to a website, look at the stuff and place it in a cart. Nothing is bought, however. Then, I record it here at the blog. This feature should run until '07 at which time, ASAP, I will tally up what I would have spent and bought with these splurges. Also, I may revisit a site to (suposedly) buy more. I thought about writing down each and every item, but I don' t think that would work too well since today I had 547 items. Plus, I, not thinking about it, closed the window after writing down the price, so I don't have an exact record.