The Disappearance of Lady Francis Carfax, or in other words, Mittens

I love Sherlock Holmes with a vasty and unyielding affection. Though I've read all the stories many dozens of times, I still like to skim through them before bed--they're just a little bit of excitement before I drop off.

However, unlike the above story, my own disappearance is not quite so thrilling, and has no roots in my wild mining days (since I have none). Long story short, I've been ridiculously busy finishing up classes here in graduate school. I still have research left to do--lots of it, as I'm going for my Ph.D.--but today I get to walk for my master's degree, and I will have no more schoolwork from this point on.

It's a strange feeling because, quite frankly, I haven't ever *not* been in school before. Summers aside, I've been taking classes constantly since, you know, kindergarten.

I know that research will take all of my hours soon enough--and I'm glad for it. But it is very freeing to understand that my time is now my own, to produce the best possible research from my data that I can. And also to do knitting. I've cast on 4 or 5 projects in the past month. (oops? I blame stress. Knitting is a form of relaxation, you know). I've only cast off one (a knitted bag) but it needs to be felted so it's not officially done. But I've found my latest addiction, and that is mittens.

Meanwhile, here's just a bit of yarn porn for you:



Okay, first, a disclaimer. I have a lovely but old Decrepit Camera and it's biting the dust. In fact, these are the last pictures I pulled off it before it decided to stop turning on entirely. New Camera has been acquired and will soon be put to use for your porny pleasures! but it's not entirely my Decrepit Camera--this stuff is scarcely plyed and it's fuzzy as a llama's butt. The colors are also not coming through as well--there are so many delicious tones and layers to these two skeins that it's amazing. The blue is full of jewel-colored shades and even a bit of shadowy black to give it the color of deep sea. It's so delicious that every time I start knitting with it, I get distracted for a bit. The green you can see some of the variegations, but they're more intense--it captures the play of shadows and light in a dense summer forest like we have around here, with hints of gold and brown as well. I also picked up a chocolate brown, a bright purple, and a cream.

And what to make with these colors? Well, they work so well together that I think mittens are really the only way to go. I started my first stranded colorwork project and my first mitten at the same time. Stranded colorwork is remarkably easy with this yarn because it's very sticky--even when I drop a stitch it really doesn't make it very far. And as for a mitten pattern, well, I kind of improvised--I cast on 50 (using a knitted cast on and size 4s, this gives me a small size for my small hands), k2-p2 colored ribbing until I had enough wrist (10 rows or so), then knitted upwards with 2-st increases around one mitten "edge" to make a thumb gusset. Once I got to maybe 8 or 9 rounds with an ever increasing thumb I put those stitches on some scrap yarn and kept going up for the hand.

The best thing about stranded colorwork is that when you start to get a little bored with a project (I'm easily distracted by other things), you can just switch colors, and it's as fascinating as starting over.

The best thing about stranded colorwork with this yarn as that the brown, green, and blue look like trees on a summer sky.

Downside? Well, I used a rubber band to keep my stitches tight on the DPNs, and it really fuzzed up the yarn. I like it, but if you're a neat freak it might not be for you (I feel like I could give these guys a shave and they'd be fine). But that's one of this yarn's unique characteristics--it's very bouncy, it's lusciously colored, and it would felt in a heartbeat

More pics to follow once I get New Camera up and running. Guess she needs a name... Cassiopeia the Camera, perhaps?

Knitting for others :P

So I've always wanted to get in on a yarn swap or something like that. However my circle of yarny friends pretty much consists of my sisters and a couple of best friends, and, well, let's just say that it would be overkill to actually start planning what we do on a normal day to day basis.

Buut I thought I might give this Pay It Forward thing a try.

The rules are as follows: I will make a handmade gift for the first five people who comment on this blog post as long as they promise to blog about this and send a gift to the first five people who comment on their blog post.

If you want to participate, simply leave a comment on this post with a link to your blog post. If you're one of the first five people to comment, you'll receive an extra-special handmade gift from me before the year is through. I'll be emailing you to get your mailing address so please leave your email with your comment.

If you're not one of the first five commenters, feel free to participate anyway! If nothing else, this is certainly a good way to spread the joy of craftiness.


That's direct from Off The Hook Astronomy, whom I've read a little of and would like to know more about. So... your turn, my lovely lurkers (and... maybe some LSGers?).

I know I'm not a very prolific blog poster (though you can find more non-knitting material at Astroknot because I have plenty of life to bitch about), but I promise that I will be a prolific knitter for others this year.

Technically speaking ONE of these spots goes to Jiyati, whom I promised something in a similar thing on Facebook. But it was a while ago, so who knows if she still remembers.

Best wishes, all

Misti Alpaca Chunky 100% Baby Alpaca

I just couldn't wait to rave about this yarn. I was recently Yarn Stormed (details here, though the Ravelry group is more informative), so I have a box full of truly luxurious yarns. Even among merinos and 100% peruvian wool, this one stood out.



I've spotted this Misti Alpaca in the local yarn store (LYS) before. It's always in a loose skein that I just love to dig my fingers in, and then rub all over my face. I'm sure that the LYS employees are probably grumpy about that, but I just can't resist. It's like nuzzling a cloud. Except a cloud would be wet and cold, and this is just fluffy as all get-out. Even though it's chunky, it's not heavy like the bulky Jo-Ann Sumptuous I got for my last log cabin blanket. It's like air, and each individual strand is squooshy to the maximum.

Is there a downside to a yarn like this? That depends on what you want to do. It's a 100% animal product so it's going to felt if you try to machine wash it. That makes using it for a child's blanket or toy prohibitive. A single skein has 100g/108 yards and costs ~$14.00 (for my LYS, anyway), so if you wanted to make a cardigan, you'd need 5-10 skeins and then the cost really gets up there.

in the words of the great Despicable Me, "It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!"

I'm thinking that mittens or a scarf would be ideal for this yarn. A lot of different mitten patterns need only 100g, and then the soft richness of this fluffy yarn will be always at your fingertips. And of course since it's so fluffy it should be amply sufficient to keep you warm even in the chilly climes. On the other hand, this Robin's Egg Blue pattern would be really cute and warm, especially with a giant and colorful button. If dpns are too much bother for you, then a garter stitch scarf or a quick cowl like Susan Chang's Wham Bam Thank You Lamb! neckwarmer (which you can find on Ravelry) would be great as well, because then you can have this luscious yarn nuzzled into your neck.

Used this yarn? words of praise or scorn? leave me a note!

Welcome to YarnPorn

Every knitter knows the feeling--the glorious luxury of excellent yarn. Even if you use acrylic because it's cheap as heck, you can't stop yourself from fingering the pure wool, the silk-and-bamboo mixes, the stiff cottons.

This blog is dedicated to that feeling. Once a week I'll post a picture of a new yarn that I've acquired, talk about it, recommend a few patterns, and comment on what it's like to knit with. So if you love yarn, or if you're just learning about new types, come by and see me.

Not me, but clearly someone who loves their yarn:












Image reference: craftzine, accessed 01/28/2011, http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2011/01/checking_in_with_the_worlds_la.html