Restash and Planned Projects

You know you've gone crazy when it takes almost 2 hours to wind yarn skeins. Admittedly, I encountered challenges (ain't it always the way??). But still, 9 balls of yarn - @2400 yards of fingering weight - takes a while. Especially if you hit tangles. And that doesn't even include the 10 skeins/ 1700 yards of Berroco Quechua, a new sport-weight yarn made of yak, merino and alpaca:

Berroco Quechua in Raven colourway - I appear to be the only person in the world who's bought this so far. Apparently this yarn just came out...

I intend to make a sweater out of this, probably starting in August. These are the latest options:

A-symmetrie by Cecilia Flori - this one is a bit shapeless but I do love the neckline.

Finlaggan by Kate Davies

Blackberry Cabled Cardigan by Alexandra Charlotte Dafoe

I'm  leaning toward Finlaggan. I guess I'm having a cable moment. I do have a slight concern that the Quechua may be a bit drapey for a classic cable cardi, but I'll verify that when swatching. The stitch definition and ply of this yarn are really lovely. It has a luxe feel that belies its price and I'm pleased to be a guinea pig.

I also bought this sock yarn, which I justified (it being an impulsive buy) by promising the remainder to my friend Jeanette, who bought it and is making a pair of socks with it right now:

Turtlepurl Yarns Striped Turtle Toes in The Artist

The remainders of her and my socks will be enough for a third pair. Note: For me (and I use @72g or 250ish yards of yarn on a pair of socks), buying 2 batches of Turtlepurl yarn (4 mini skeins designed to make 2 pairs of socks) actually yields 2 pairs. It's still pricey for socks. I got this batch on sale for $31 after tax but 62 bucks for 3 pairs of socks (or 2, if you knit differently than me), ain't cheap. The colour scheme is strangely riveting given that I don't love orange, baby blue or purple and I generally hate them together. Go figure.

Per yesterday's post, I've come up with a good plan (I think) and I'm amazed that all of the yarn I purchased is what I hoped it would be (in terms of colour, hand, quality and usefulness). I'm happy with my riff on Sonja's Starting Point. I'm going to use a deep yellow and a very green, saturated teal to round out Sonja's colour choices (a variegated, speckled cream, a grey and a cream). Effectively, I'll have swapped the navy blue and orange red she used in her version for the green and yellow:

This isn't where I saw myself going but I like it a lot. The breakdown is:

Quince and Co Finch in Peacock
Koigu KPM in 2405 grey
Shibui Staccato in Brass
Shibui Staccato in Ivory
Madeline Tosh Merino Light in Modern Fair Isle

I flat out copied the variegated Tosh from Sonja - and I liked her light and accent colours (cream and grey, which coordinates with the variegated yarn). The 2 "colours" are seriously saturated, very appealing. I do love knitting with yellow, though I rarely get the chance (because I never seem to buy it?!).

This is not the cheapest shawl I've ever decided to knit. Even with one yarn already purchased (the Quince, which is pretty inexpensive), and every other yarn 20 per cent off, this will have cost me $150 after tax. Sure, I'll likely have remainders to feed into other patterns, but I can't realistically quantify the cost of items made with yarn remnants. I purchase the yarn to make a particular item, and that item bears the cost.

For $300 all in, I have enough yarn to make a) a pair of socks (and a second if I merge my yarn with a friend's), a large shawl and a sweater. I didn't pay too much attention to price this time, because I had access to a good sale, I knew what I wanted to make and I've been knitting long enough to know that skimping on yarn is not the way to go (unless you have no choice). These yarns all feel gorgeous - not that they are all luxury-branded. That Shibui silk/merino blend is pricey. Madeline Tosh provides good yardage for the price, but it's still not budget.

Best of all, I have a bunch of new projects to spice up my stash knitting (always happening in some format or another). It's important to have choice, to keep it interesting.

So that's my re-stash. Thoughts??

Spring Knitting: Aisance Cardigan

It would serve us well were I to put together a detailed post to tell you all about my spring and summer crafting plans. But that would take organization, and I'm more busy doing things than writing about them these days.

Needless to say, there will be sewing and knitting and this summer, my express goal is to learn new skills. The leather bag is one sewing project (techique: sewing with leather). Completion of the Rosie top (one that fits) is another (technique: fitting woven bodice sloper).

As it happens, I am overwhelmed with creative ideas. Maybe it's on account of moving from the kind of dead winter that wracked the back off of my century home (let's not talk about what that entails and how much it's likely going to cost to fix) into a spring that still feels a bit like winter (but with more light). Maybe it's because I haven't had a headache - of any description - for 3 months, the longest I've gone without being addled with head pain in more than three years.

I'm loath even to mention that because I cannot bring myself to get attached to a pain-free head. But just to keep it real, in the exact moment my headaches disappeared (on a dime), I discovered a new symptom on the bumpy road of perimenopause. I've been dealing with rather wretched digestive issues that impinge on my physical freedom in a totally new-to-me way. Estrogen balance influences serotonin levels and serotonin lives mostly in two places: the brain and the gut. On the plus side, everyone agrees that it's better to go from having crushing migraines to digestive misery than the other way around. And we have a game plan for dealing with the latter.

But I digress...

Here's the sweater I'm knitting right now:

Aisance by Kristen Johnstone

After finishing the Svalbard - a sweater I had misgivings about on the basis of shape - I realize that it's my go-to hand knit these days. Sure, the shape may not be my most naturally flattering, but it works in my wardrobe.

This is another yarn hog pattern - one which I have not cheaped out on. I've gone with this silk-merino blend:

Shibui Staccato in Caffeine

BTW, this is another project that Sara and Andrea and I will undertake as a mini-KAL (in our own time). They've also bought this yarn, which is phenomenal, for what it's worth. I have to wait to see how it wears, before I weigh in definitively, but the bloom and drape of the fabric it makes are perfect for the Aisance. It's fantastic looking yarn that does not grow overly when blocked, that doesn't get cloudy (a propensity of silk yarn which I hate), and that looks like a million bucks.

On the topic of local sourcing, the three of us got this yarn from Ewe Knit (our LYS) which stocks an array of colours (intriguingly, at the best price we've been able to find for the brand). Claudia, the owner, has special-ordered out-of-stock colours for Andrea and Sara, which is why I've got the head start.

A couple of things I'll say about the Aisance:

This pattern is delicious to knit - a bit interesting, but not overly. Perfect for TV or chatting with friends... I will say, however, that I wish I hadn't followed the directions at the start - those for making the neckband. As far as I'm concerned, provisional cast on is a terrible method to use with rib - as, by nature, it always creates a jog in stitches (see this useful post for information about why that's the case). You won't notice it with blocked stockinette, but this method is totally observable on the rib back-neck of this sweater - in much the way a seam would be. Mind you, at least a seam would make the join strong! Furthermore, this method means that one creates two different slip-stitch edges on each side of the cardigan - something that offends my sense of order completely. I've strongly recommended to Sara and Andrea to simply seam the centre back,which will mitigate both of these issues. Too late for me, alas.

Re: provisional cast on - and I taught myself to crochet for the privilege of completely irritating the crap out of myself - I can imagine that there are times when this method is just the thing. However, I think those times are far and few between. I've used it twice in the 3 years I've been knitting and I've been unimpressed both times...

Having said all of this, I do appreciate the way the sweater comes together - not dissimilarly to the Svalbard in its construction (though FAR more easily). You don't need to knit the band at the end - a very tedious way to finish a sweater, I assure you - instead you knit it as you go. And the back of the sweater has both rib stitch and shaping, to give it an excellent stability and an elegant line. I'm really hope I called the size right, and that this finished garment will become a summer staple.

Today's questions: What are your thoughts about provisional cast on (doing it, the result it achieves etc.)? What do you think of this sweater pattern? And have you worked with Shibui yarns? Thoughts or feelings? Let's talk!