When the going gets tough, this knitter buys yarn

Posted on April 06, 2007 by knittingpatterns4you | 3 Comments

Recent stash enhancement

That, dear readers, is just some of the yarn I've bought over the last week. Clearly I am self medicating. I'm exhausted and cranky. It's dangerous working in a yarn shop when your medicine of choice is yarn . . .

On the upper left is Twinkle Soft Chunky in black. I bought this to make the Shopping Tunic from the Twinkle book, which is definitely in the category of "knitting I want to wear" and not "knitting I want to knit". I don't like knitting on humongous needles, and the pattern sucks, to tell you the truth. The only redeeming quality of this project is that it's FAST (duh, why else would anyone knit with broomsticks). I finished the body in one evening's worth of knitting (I'm making it shorter than the picture). I'm trudging on, inspired by Another Shopgirl's tunic success.

ASIDE: I keep reading everywhere that the Twinkle book has insane sizing. Apparently no one bothered to read the fit section at the beginning of the book, where they explain that all the pieces are meant to have a stretch to fit shape. They explain that the largest sizes, even though they have a finished bust measurement of about 33", are meant to fit up to a 36" to 38" bust. It's funny that I'm considered a "Large" in this book, but frankly, I can't imagine anyone much bigger than me wanting to wear these super chunky pieces. Actually, I'm not sure this sweater will work on me, but only time will tell. (I'm worried about uniboob syndrome) / end ASIDE

To the right of the Soft Chunky is Schaefer Martha in the colorway Toni Morrison. This is brand new yarn that literally arrived today (I do have a track record for impulse shopping, you may not have noticed yet) and jumped right into my bag. I adore this colorway, and this giant hank of aran weight cashmere/angora/wool will likely turn itself into a vest. Maybe even soon. Don't put any money on it though.

And last but not least at the bottom you see 3 balls (1 wound) of Hello Yarn's handpainted sock yarns. The colors aren't exactly what I was expecting, they looked brighter/less dark on the website (at least on my monitor), but the quality is superb, especially the 100% merino. It is a bit thicker than Koigu but not as tightly twisted/solid/thick as STR, and it's really really soft. The merino/nylon is more tightly twisted than others I've tried, and not as soft as Cabin Coves, but will probably wear well. Assuming I ever make a pair of socks again . . . it's only been 2 years.

Posted in Yarn


3 Responses

Nikki
Nikki

April 09, 2007

Oh, that yarn looks so delicious. I love that blue, brown, and gold colorway in the center. My fave color combo. The “Toni Morrison” is a really unexpected color combo. I’m kinda liking it. And the Twinkle yarn looks yummy. I think her stuff would be fun to knit. Most of her stuff falls into the “look fun to knit, but not to wear” category for me. Goes fast, lots of bobbles and cables. Anyway, I look forward to seeing your FO, and if you really only used 5 hanks of yarn.

Wanda
Wanda

April 11, 2007

I know people that have read the book and do mention that it’s supposed to stretch, but really those sizes are still ridiculous and you’re right, you can’t be bigger than a 32-34", imo, for those styles to look good. Chunky yarn on bigger people doesn’t look right, especially when chunky yarn makes super thin people look big. I really like Hello Yarn’s colors. The one you got looks similar to something I purchased a month ago.

Sonya
Sonya

April 07, 2007

I used to work in a yarn store and oh the stash accumulation. Now I just teach, I can resist a little better from afar. The worst was stocking the shelves – I could so easily talk myself into buying the 4 remaining ball of such-and-such color. That tunic is lovely, would never work on my body, but I love the cap sleeves and cowl details.

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