new stuff

So I was working some more on the original swatch for the Feathery Lace Stole and managed to get off by one stitch somehow. This time I did not throw any tantrums, however, just set it aside. Now I have no recollection of where I left off, but at least the thing is still in existence if I ever want to try again.
Meanwhile, I wanted to do something and not screw it up, so I got out the crochet. Remember this yarn?


It's Mohair Thick n Thin from Cherry Tree Hill, and I think the color is Sugar Maple. I decided that it should be a warm shawl for ME! So I broke out the huge-o hook and started crocheting.

It's a mill end, and although it seemed huge in the hank and wound into balls, it soon became clear that I would not have enough yarn to make this thing as big as I wanted. But I noticed something amazing: the fiber I got at the Michigan Fiber Festival is almost exactly the same colors.


I spun a bunch of this into yarn while I was in Michigan.



Ironically, the Mohair Thick n Thin is sort of commercial faux badly spun homespun, and I'm putting it with my actual homespun, which is pretty skinny and even and well spun (in this case anyway). It looks overtwisted, but that's just because I let some of the singles rest before I plied, and it hasn't had a bath yet. I probably should have done that before using it, but I was so excited that it would work, I couldn't wait for all that. And this is crochet, so it shouldn't really matter.
Incredibly, I finished the whole thing this weekend. It's super warm, too. Of course, I couldn't get a decent picture of the whole thing to save my life, but here's a closeup.


Meanwhile, I have concluded that I'm simply out of practice with knitting. In February, when I re-learned how to do it, I was so excited, and I was practicing at least a few rows every night, and it started feeling smooth and comfortable. Then I almost finished a hat, got stuck, and haven't really touched it since then. That would be, um, about five months ago. Yeah. So I decided I should pick out something simple and start practicing again. Something with some nice thick yarn--this sock yarn is driving me crazy.
So I was up at Little Barn on Saturday, and I decided it was time to treat myself to some really nice yarn. I probably spent 20 minutes petting and rearranging the alpaca, trying to figure out which color to get. That yarn is such a fabulous deal, I've been intending to buy some for months, but I just can't figure out what to do with it. Even with a mission, I couldn't quite pick any. But then I spied some Suri Merino from Plymouth Yarns, and I touched it, and it was love.


This is going to be a scarf. It's really ruffly, which means I cast on way too many stitches and it will be really wide if I don't undo it and start again with fewer stitches.
This yarn is so fabulous. I love the color, I love how it feels, and it's a dream to work with. Now I understand why people knit all the time! This project makes me want to make a sweater. I realize that an alpaca sweater knit out of worsted weight yarn would work for about one day out of the year in Alabama, and I already have a sweater that has dibs on that day. I'm just sayin'.