Good Deals

If you've ever looked for yarn at thrift shops then you've probably seen the BIG BAG OF ACRYLIC:



There is an astonishing 17 skeins of acrylic stuffed in that bag -- not the quality kind. But this is why I turn the bags over and take a good look:



Hidden at the bottom is a 100 g skein of sock yarn, enough for a pair of socks, and two skeins of Lamb's Pride worsted.

I paid $5 for the bag. The three skeins I'm keeping would've added up to $29 if purchased at the LYS. Good deal!

Of course it's only a good deal if I'll actually use the yarn. Lately it seems all I find at thrift shops is acrylic, so I steady myself when I find wool and seriously think about how it could be used. Don't buy it just because it's there! I have no problem walking away from nice yarn at the Goodwill if it doesn't seem like something I'd use, and hopefully it makes another knitter really happy.

What to do with all the acrylic? My mom gets first dibs for her school's craft projects and the rest is given to a priest who collects yarn for a prison knitting program.

Bonus: The sock yarn* matches my sweet kitty Sophie. :)



*my guess is Trekking, let me know if you recognize it as something else

A Very Zimmermann Christmas

Santa was incredibly generous with the knitting content this year:



The DVDs are Cardigan Details, Knitting Around, and A Knitting Glossary. I already know Knitting Glossary is fantastic (borrowed the video edition from the library a few times) but I haven't seen the other two yet, I expect I'm in for a major treat.

Right now I'm finishing up a pair of socks for myself, and my next project will be something from a Zimmermann book -- I'm inspired!

Look, I knit washclo...zzzzzzzzzz

I felt uninspired and dull this year, so this is the default 2007 Christmas gift for family members:



(Lame, I know.) The orange and black washcloths are for Dad, he's happy with anything in OSU colors.

I'm making colorful soap as well, so they'll all be sure to have a clean and scrubby 2008. Some of them are receiving homemade strawberry jelly, which is one of my family's favorite things. Hey, they can eat jelly, get sticky, and use their new soap and cloths to wash up.

I'll post a photo of the special present I knit for Mom later -- after I open my new camera on Christmas. :)

You read it here first (not really)

I haven't been paying attention to knitting listservs/blogs/boards lately, so this is probably old news to everyone else, but I was pleasantly surprised while flipping through the Vogue Knitting Holiday 2007 issue. Why? The pattern for Alice Starmore's Oregon Autumn cardigan is in it! Yeah, from The Scottish Collection. Wow. That was worth $6.99 to me. Buy it now or regret it later. Look for the Holiday issue with Paulina Porizkova on the cover, this is not the Winter 2007 issue.

In other hot knit news (not really), holiday stamps from the US post office have a knit theme, see here.

Updates: Socks and Mittens

I finished the St. Paul socks:


yarn: Lana Grossa #1004 on size 0 Addi Turbo
I'm not sure if I like how the experimental toe feels on my foot so I might rip them out and try again (good thing they were knit top down).

... started another pair of boring basic socks:


yarn: Regia on size 0 Addi Turbo
The short row heel is hiding under the sock, I made it solid dark blue by cutting out the other colors. Hopefully there will be enough yarn to make a matching blue toe.

... and knit up a swatch for these mittens:


yarn: fingering weight Shetland wool on size 1 Inox
That's light green on dark green, not black

The chart is based on a photo in a German pattern book, but it hasn't reached the final polished stage yet. For unknown reasons the original chart is not actually in the book -- I looked at every single page to be sure. The birds are a mostly accurate copy, the rest is a mixture of what I could see in the photo, my idea of what might look good, and what fit into the chart outline. Now I need to sort out measurements and row gauge and determine if the chart is too tall for my smallish hands, which I'm guessing it is. I'm also not crazy about the thumb chart so I might start over with an empty thumb outline.

When the chart is finalized I'll post it here, but don't hold your breath, I'm still in a knitting doldrums. If I shorten it then I'll include the original for longer fingers.

Hey, I know that sweater!

Normally I would've left the 1958 Needlecraft at the thrift store, because I already have plenty of old magazines full of patterns I'll never use.

Then something on the inside front cover caught my eye:



It's an advertisement featuring an Elizabeth Zimmermann sweater (on the left). Someone at Bernat rewrote her instructions though. They wanted it knit in pieces and sewn up, which ruins the seamless patterned yoke. You'll find the original pattern, worked in the round of course, in The Opinionated Knitter.