FO: Andi’s Cowl

Pattern: Cassie’s Cowl by Thea Colman
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Chunky Solids in color 696, 1 skein
Needles: US 10
Date started: October 20, 2010
Date finished: October 22, 2010

Every time I went into a particular LYS, I saw the Misti Alpaca Chunky yarn, and I would always pet it. It’s so soft and squishy and yummy, but I had no idea what to make with it, so I never bought it. Then, back in the summer, I won this skein of yarn at a party at said LYS. Yay! Because it’s super soft I decide to make a cowl with it, since it will be nice and soft on my face. Also, for some reason, I’m really digging cowls right now. I’m planning on making at least two more, and even know what yarn from my stash I will be using.

Anyway, the yarn didn’t disappoint. It was so nice to work with, and when I put on the cowl, it feels really nice on my face.

And I think both sides look nice. If it’s a bit warmer or I don’t want the cowl touching my face, I can turn it down and I still think it looks good.

FO: Boo!

Pattern: Boo! Toe-Up Socks by Emily B. Miller
Yarn: Wollmeise 80/20 Twin in WD Jeton
Needles: US 1
Date started: 8/29/10
Date completed: 10/3/10

My first Socktoberfest project is complete!

I love the first sock, the one on the left. With the exception of the toe, I knit the second sock entirely over the past week, predominantly on airplanes. The foot turned out fine, but as you can see the leg has some design elements in it. That part was knit on my last flight of the week, and I was exhausted. This was a long, hard week on a variety of levels, and I was probably too tired to be working on this sock. I realized on the last flight that I missed a cable and had to drop a bunch of stitches down and redo it. That was rough, but there was no way I was going to rip back that far. In the end, I don’t really care. They are fine with me. It’s time to move on.

YarnCon 2010

Today was the fourth annual YarnCon. This year I volunteered in the morning helping vendors bring in their goods. It was a lot of fun. One of the benefits was seeing some of the yarn as it was being brought in and set up, so I had an idea of what I wanted to get when it was time to shop!

This year I was torn. There are a couple of vendors whose yarn I love, but I still have some of their yarn in my stash. As much as I wanted more, I figured I should try some new yarns. Also, I have a ton of sock yarn in my stash, and I decided I should buy something else. So here’s what I got:

This is Rock Creek Yarn Silk Lace. I looked at it two or three times before I finally broke down and bought it. It’s 1000 yards, so it should make a nice shawl. After I bought it I realized I used to have some Koigu sock yarn, but I offered it up as a prize in the Puck This! playoff pool. I could never figure out what socks to make with it, but I can think of tons of shawls that will look great made with this yarn.

This is 220 yards of 100% alpaca worsted weight yarn by San Juan Alpacas. This yarn came from Emil the alpaca, and I believe that’s his picture on the tag. This is his color, it is not dyed. It’s such a beautiful chocolate brown. I have always wanted to buy yarn that is the same color as the animal, and today I finall did. This is by far the softest yarn I have ever owned. I’ve decided to make a cowl out of it.

There were so many other beautiful yarns I wanted to buy. I’m going to have to keep that vendor list handy as I buy yarn throughout the year!