Yarnia (with pictures too!)

Yarnia Cones 3
Originally uploaded by alittleweirdo

So, I braved the rain/hail/sleet today and talked the SO into driving me to Yarnia. I was intrigued by the idea of blending my own colors, and had seen some lovely cones at the Wednesday night knitting group last week. And I wanted to find a yarn for the Silk Sleeves pattern in the One Skein book. I did a swatch with a bulky weight mohair, and realized that wasn't going to give me the same effect as something lighter weight.

Since the weather was so gloomy this afternoon, the store was empty when we got there. But that meant I could ask more questions and get help figuring out how much yarn I needed. There wasn't much selection in super fine mohair yarns, but I found a bluish gray that was pretty, and paired it with a silvery gray wool and a darker gray wool. I'm happy with how the cone looks, so I'll have to see what it looks like knit up!

I've been in a pink mood lately, so I also got a pink cotton/wool blend with one strand of green cotton mixed in. I got 400 yards, with the plan of making a hat and more arm warmers! Of course, it might be too warm to wear all this stuff once I finish knitting it...

Trendy?!?

I have to admit that I usually resist fashion trends, and prefer to find my own style. Since my life has been pretty busy between work and school lately, my style is mostly comfortable (or whatever happens to be clean and sort of matches ;)

When I first started seeing hand/arm warmers I thought they were kinda silly. I do wear gloves during the winter to keep my hands warm, but I didn't really see the point of arm warmers.

But I kept seeing patterns for them, and have several friends who wear arm warmers (and knit or type when wearing them). So when I found a pattern that I liked (in Last Minute Knitted Gifts) I decided to give-in and make a pair. I also enjoyed having a project that I could finish in a reasonable amount of time! Now that I have started wearing my arm warmers, I have found that they do keep my arms warm, and I have more finger dexterity than I did when wearing gloves (useful for knitting and turning pages in a book). I've also gotten several compliments, and got talked into making a pair for a non-knitting friend.

When I decided to make another pair for myself in a different color, I decided to try the popular Fetching pattern. I hadn't tried cables before, and this did seem like a good way to get familiar with cabling. This was another quick project, and I got to try Rooster Yarn which was on sale at Dublin Bay Knitting Co.

So now I think I'm addicted to arm warmers! Next I want to make the Silk Sleeves from Leigh Radford's One Skein book; I had a ball of pink kidsilk haze I got on sale that would be perfect.

I guess my lesson was that it's ok to embrace fashion trends that you really like :) No sense avoiding something just because it's fashionable. Though I still maintain that fashion should be comfortable and practical as well as fun.

Quiz

I saw this on scockercrew's Live Journal, and I'm a sucker for quizzes.

What kind of yarn are you?

You are Merino Wool.You are very easygoing and sweet. People like to keep you close because you are so softhearted. You love to be comfortable and warm from your head to your toes.
Take this quiz!








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Seems pretty accurate to me! Being comfortable is definitely one of my priorities :)

Inspired

I've been feeling more creative in the last week, so it seemed time to add another blog entry.
I added an entry to my other blog and made a small batch of soap this weekend. It had been awhile since I'd made soap, and I was experimenting with colors and scents. I made this interesting smoky color by blending red coloring with sea foam green, with some green glitter swirled in. The scent is lavender and lime, which one of the soap-making books called "Good Fortune." Seemed appropriate for Chinese New Year :)

I also baked bread yesterday. I had wanted a bread-maker for awhile, so that's one Christmas gift we've actually been using! I also have over-ripe bananas, which means its banana bread time! I don't do a whole lot of cooking, but I do enjoy baking.

Also got in some knitting on a baby blanket for a friend. I love the super soft baby yarn; wouldn't mind making a blanket out of it for myself ;) Also fell in love with the Sublime mohair blend yarn, and it was on sale at the Knitting Bee. I'm going to try making a length-wise scarf for a friend. My other goal is to finish the kitty bed for Gidget this week. I've been working on it off and on for about a year, so I might as well finish it. Plus last week was our two year anniversary of adopting her.

Anyway, I don't know if my burst of creative had to do with the New Moon last week, or Imbolc and the beginnings of spring, or just with the relief of being done with midterms. But I'm trying to take advantage of it while it lasts!