knitting, kindness, and inspiration

Last night was knitting night, and although it was totally pouring and I knew it would be freezing in Barnes & Noble, I missed my knitting buddies, so I went. Also, I was very psyched to finish the cozy for my EEE PC. Under the plan to switch direction this would have been possible and is probably done. But one great thing about being around other knitters is that they give you good ideas. (Another is that they loan you gorgeous wool shawls that immediately toast you right up when you come into the psycho air conditioning all wet from the rain.) Two people suggested sticking with the original plan but felting it back down to the size I want, and the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. This would allow me to incorporate more of the barber pole yarn, which I think is very fetching with the Navajo plied stuff, and it would make the cozy a more protective case. Thus, the new plan is to go back to the old plan, so I'm not done yet. That, too, is a bonus, since this is such a soothing project. And I absolutely adore the way the colors are coming out.


I also got to spin a little. I've got a lot of stressful stuff going on right now, so I'm looking for solace wherever I can find it. Teal carded wool goes a long way.


This is more of the Little Barn wool that I bought as a gift and couldn't resist getting some for myself, too. It's so satisfying. It practically spins itself, and the color is so intense and gorgeous. It's the perfect antidote to too much freaking out.
Things do seem to be turning around, at least in my mind. Here's a symptom: when I look at patterns and yarn that I don't own, I feel covetous again. For a while it was like "ugh, no more yarn, I have way too many project to do now--I can't take on another thing." Of course, this didn't mean I stopped making fiber purchases, it just meant I bought roving instead of yarn. But over the weekend I discovered a pattern I'm totally lusting after: Vanda from the Summer 2008 Knitter's Magazine. In Ravelry, it's green, but in the magazine it's a dusky purple. Total love. And it actually said in the magazine "Easy--go for it!" Wow, don't mind if I do. Of course, to make it out of the yarn used in the patter would require five skeins of Lorna's Laces Green Line Worsted, which comes to about $100. That's a little rich for my blood. I'm considering substitutions. Knitpicks makes their Andean Silk sound like heaven: 55% super fine alpaca, 23% silk, 22% merino wool, and it's very close to the same weight as the original yarn. I'm not sure how much using different fibers would screw up how the sweater came out, though. Another strong candidate is their Wool of the Andes. It's more different in weight from the original and has to be less soft, but look at the color Lullaby. If I could have that color in the Andean Silk, it would already be paid for and on its way to me.
Meanwhile, as I was adding that project to my queue, I rediscovered the Feathery Lace Stole from Exquisite Little Knits. It's the beautiful stole with the two-line pattern repeat. Also, this coincides with unpacking (at work) my fabulous Kid Silk Haze that I bought from Yarn Expressions for this purpose. I love that yarn so much it hurts.
In short, I have two projects that I'm feeling exceedingly inspired to start, plus some good ones currently in progress, and when you come right down to it, life is good.