Even more new yarn . . .
One of my latest acquisitions is 2 skeins of the new Spud & Chloe Fine, which is sort of like sock yarn but is an 80/20 blend of wool/silk, so to me seems destined for shawldom. The color palette in all their yarns is quite beautiful, full of bright clear colors that would make great kid's items . . . but for my taste the color palette is a bit boring. I wish there were more "off" colors, and if the people at the LYS are right, more colors are coming in shortly. I can't wait to see them!
The yarn itself is quite nice, I started swatching with it already and it's got a great hand and incredible stitch definition. I think this one's going to be a quick favorite!
I took Thursday & Friday off last week so I could hang with my sister and dad who were in town . . . after they'd both left on Friday I took the opportunity to go back to my old store, String! I pretty much never get to go there because it's in a neighborhood I'm almost never in, so it was nice to be able to make a dedicated trip to the East Side to catch up a bit and check out the new yarns. Of course I couldn't leave empty-handed now, could I??
Pictured here are the new Vogue (with Mckeee, winner of America's Next Top Model on the cover . . . guess her career's not going anywhere even after being crowned!) and a skein of String's Cashnetta, a new 100% cashmere yarn they started carrying way after I'd already left. The yarn's really interesting, as you would expect from the name it has a net-like contruction which is very unusual. What's awesome about the weird construction is that it lets you knit this one huge needles but the yarn barely weighs anything! This 7 oz ball has 186 yards and knits up on a size 11 needle! Can't beat that. (actually they suggest a 10.5 but I thought that was too tight when I swatched)
This skein has actually already been knit up into a cowl for fall . . . I have some ideas for a whole line of cowls to do, possibly for RTW, inspired by the cowls on the Fall 09 runways . . . we'll see where that goes. I bought cashmere/wool fabric to line this one and some alpaca fabric to line a second one (which I haven't knit yet), but I've gotten sidetracked by other projects with deadlines. I'll show you a picture of the cowl once I have the lining sewed in, promise! If there's interest I'll write up the pattern, it's a quick project that only took about 6 hours from start to finish (not counting the sewing obviously!), so maybe people will want to knit them for themselves, I don't know.
I actually bought more than you see here (shocking, I know!). I also got 2 skeins of Koigu Cashmere to knit a new pair of armwarmers to replace the pair I lost, and a few balls of Zara since I'd run out for Babette. I can't wait to see all the fall yarns when they start arriving, it seems like no one has any of the new fall stuff yet except for the Spud & Chloe!
And apparently, my knitting mojo's back in full force . . . I just placed an order at The Loopy Ewe to take advantage of the sale she's doing on Dream in Color right now! I've never knit with that yarn before but seeing so many people vote for it as their favorite in the contest, I just knew I would have to try it out soon. I got one sweater's worth of the worsted and 2 skeins of the sock, so enough for two pairs of socks or 2 shawlettes . . . we'll see what I come up with.
