Procurement

I managed to get a lot of knitting-related items lately.

First, last month I won a prize from the Geeky Girls Knit podcast and Knitter’s Pride. I knew I would get some Knitter’s Pride products, but I wasn’t sure what it would be. I thought maybe a set of needles or something, so I was surprised when I got all this:

I got a set of size US 19 straight needles, US 2.5 circular needle, stitch markers, and a shawl pin. I actually broke a shawl pin a few days after this package arrived, so a new one was timely! Thanks, Geeky Girls and Knitter’s Pride!!

My birthday was last week, and one of my friends got me three knitting books. The first is Adventures in Yarn Farming: Four Seasons on a New England Fiber Farm by Barbara Perry. While there are a few patterns and recipes in this book, it’s mostly a book about fiber farming. There are beautiful pictures. I might use this as a coffee table book.

The second book is Lace One-Skein Wonders edited by Judith Durant. This book is full of small lace patterns. As I said many times, another book in this series, Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders, is one of my all-time favorite pattern books. As soon as I saw this one existed I knew I needed it. It’s very promising. I have a feeling I will make a lot of the projects in this book.

The third book is Literary Knits by Nikol Lohr. As you might expect, the projects in this book are inspired by books. Of the three books, the project I want to make most is in this one: the Gregor Sweater. It’s based on inspired by The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Yes, those are colorwork bugs. Yes!!

Finally, on my actual birthday my mom and I went to a local yarn store so she could get some new sock yarn. I figured I would break my rules and buy myself something because, hello, it was my birthday. I got this.

I generally don’t go for pastel colors, but it was mid-May and dreary and rainy that day, and I think I really wanted spring to come when I saw this. I’ve been stalking some patterns for self-striping yarns on Ravelry. This addition to my stash means I’ve had a setback in my yards in/yards out count. Prior to this purchase I had knit 88.5% of the yards I had purchased this year, and now I’m down to 78%. This doesn’t include the sock I finished today, the fingerless mitt I finished, and the sweater I’m half done with. I only count the yards when the project is complete. I should be back to where I was shortly.