Polgara Knits

I should not be doing this.  I have a list the length of my arm of chores to do today, none of which includes updating my blog (although now that I think about it, it should), but I was led here through circumstances beyond my control.  It started by checking my email, wherein I saw someone named “Bob” commented on one of my posts.  It’s one of those vague posts where I couldn’t tell if it was spam or not, so I opened up my control panel.  Still couldn’t tell, so I clicked the link–yes, I know, but it had “crochet” in the url itself, so I figured it was probably safe.  And honestly, I still can’t tell if it’s spam! I’m leaning towards legit, but some of the text on the page itself–not all, but some–does look spammish with its random words that mean nothing.

But whatever, this is what led me to check my stats to see if I could determine where Bob came from–couldn’t.  But! I did learn that I had twelve hits on Tuesday!  No clue why!  Which led to more stats reviewing, and then I learned that my readership has actually been increasing, slowly but steadily, every month since I started this.  Sweet!  And then I felt guilty for not updating more.

Which then led me to writing this post.  See how it wasn’t my fault? But you’re glad I’m here, right?  Well, I am, even if you’re not.

So, as I was saying in my last update (which was posted from Massachusetts, btw, but that was last week), I’ve been up to so much, yarn/knit/crochet-wise! I’ve bought magazines! I’ve bought yarn! I’ve both knitted and crocheted things! And finished them, too! It’s been a wild and crazy two weeks, I tells ya.

Ok, so last post, I left off with the alpaca/silk prezzie for my friend.  It’s finished, by the way, but still hasn’t been delivered, so again, no details to spare, but I found the label, so I can tell you the super-awesome-to-the-touch yarn is Debbie Bliss’s Alpaca Silk (80%/20%).  It’s a dream and you should consider getting yourself some.  I do have to pull out my SnB book, though, to help me with the washing instructions.  I’d swear the little bucket with “30[degree symbol]” means it’s machine washable, but alpaca and silk? Machine washable? That can’t be right. Must double check.  Anyway, I already have the pictures taken and ready to post once the prezzie has been delivered.

Relatedly, when I bought this yarn at Handmade, I also bought two balls of Berroco’s Foliage.  The only good picture I can find of it online is at the Berroco site–the sample picture in the top left, that says “click to enlarge”?  That’s it. The color is 5961, but I don’t see it in the swatches on that page, just in the sample icon.  But that one is a perfect match–be sure to check the enlarged image for a closer look at the brilliant colors! I’ve got 200 yards of it and no clue what to do with it, but I can never resist bright colors that pop. And the owner of the shop even discounted it for me, to further tempt me. Woot!

So those were my yarn purchases from two weeks ago.  I then went to Boston for a family wedding, where I got lots of knitting done, primarily at Craft Night.

What is Craft Night, you ask?  Stay tuned for the next post! (This post was getting entirely too long, so I decided to break it up.)

In a change of pace, I have so much to update on, I don’t even know where to start!  And I probably won’t finish before I have to bolt to go shopping with my sis, so I should get started.

First, last week I fell off the yarn budget wagon when I stopped at my favorite LYS, Handmade.  (It’s a mere seven minutes from the facility currently housing little baby Grace, which makes it way too easy to stop in before or after my visits.) I spent an hour there, going through the whole shop again and again until I found the perfect yarn and the perfect colors to make a gift for one of my dearest friends.  The yarn is half silk, half alpaca (don’t have the labels handy), and the colors, while a little softer than I’d envisioned, are still in the range of said friend’s color-leanings (can’t go into more details, just in case).  And it feels like buttery clouds sliding through my fingers!  Oh my, but I adore this yarn!

At first, the project did not go as planned.  I started a pattern from The Happy Hooker that I thought would be perfect, and was half finished (half!) when I decided it was just the wrong pattern for this glorious yarn–the gauge was too tight and you couldn’t feel the softness of the fibers.  So–I still can’t believe I had the guts to do it–I frogged it, and switched to a more traditional, far looser, knit pattern, involving garter and drop stitch.  Best decision ever, which is heartening after taking such a risk as frogging half a project.  I finished knitting it last night, surrounded by many friends for Craft Night (which deserves its own paragraph(s)), and will probably do the end-weaving tomorrow while I’m trapped on a plane.

Ok, my sister is calling me so I have to go, but soon, I shall share more–more about yarn shopping (when I fall off a wagon, I fall hard enough to crack a sidewalk!), Craft Night, neat articles in the latest magazines, and indoctrinating a new knitter. Happy Saturday!

Today’s my birthday, and I tried to do a little early celebrating by splurging at Yarns Unlimited yesterday before my PT appointment.  I got there at 11:15am, which should’ve been perfect, since the store opened at 11am, except…it didn’t.  I got there, and the doors were locked, the security gate was pulled, and all the lights were out.  It was very sad-making, let me tell you.  I’m in a self-imposed yarn embargo, so deciding to buy yarn I didn’t need was a Big Deal, and then it was gone, like smoke.  Phooey.  I’d really wanted that bulky wool, too.

I did, however, finished the shell shawl last night.  Woot!  I have no pictures yet, but soon, I promise.  In the meantime, I’m going to go celebrate my birthday a bit more before dinner with a glass of Irish Mist–mmmm, yummy!

The past week was a very expensive one for yarn. You see, on Tuesday one of my dearest friends went into early labor–three months early.  The darlingest little twins ever were born that night, but at only a pound and a half each, they were far too tiny for the crib blankets I was already working on for them, so of course I had to go out and buy new yarn for softer, smaller blankets and hats.

$95 later, I stepped out of Unwind with four balls of RY Classic Yarns Cashsoft DK (10% cashmere!) in pinks and greens; four skeins of Cascade’s Luna in red, yellow, green and purple; three skeins of Tahki’s Cotton Classic in green, blue and aqua; and a new set of size six Clovers.  Damn, but that adds up fast!

So far I’ve made two hats (one came out smaller than the other, despite casting on six extra stitches for it and following the row directions verbatim-wtf?), and half of a 15-in sq. blanket, all from the Cashsoft.  I’d post pictures, but my batteries ran out as I was photographing them, so it’ll have to wait.  I suspect I’ll be needing more Cashsoft to finish the blankets and to make a larger replacement hat.  Figures, it being the most expensive of the three yarns.

All week I’ve been meaning to post about a marvelous LYS experience I had last week.  As I’d posted earlier, I’d run out of the golden Plymouth Encore for my crocheted log cabin blanket.  I’d called all the yarn stores nearest to me (of which there are many, being in Los Angeles), and the only store that had it was Black Sheep Knittery. 

So Saturday comes along, and I get all set to go to BSK, but I couldn’t remember the cross streets, so I went to the SnB mailing list to get the exact address, and lo and behold, there’s a post from BSK, announcing that they would be closed for the day due to a large anti-war protest going on nearby.  Grrrrrrrrrr!  Need! Yarn! Now!

I was too desperate for the yarn, having been unable to work on my blanket for a whole four days, and I didn’t want to wait until it reopened on Sunday.  I had posted to the list earlier asking for LYS recommendations, but the only other two that were mentioned were terribly far away, one in Westlake and one in the far reaches of Burbank, further into the Valley than I’d ever been except to pass through on my way to Yosemite or San Francisco.  Compared to Westlake, though, the Burbank store was much closer, so I printed out a map and away I went.  And no, I didn’t even call first, because if I was going to be disappointed, I wanted to put it off for as long as possible.

But it wasn’t a disappointment!  First, Handmade wasn’t nearly as far as the map made it look, which is a good thing, because it was adorable!  There was plenty of Encore, in many beautiful colors, as well as my favorite felting yarn, Cascade (they could use more 220, though).  The Encore was totally reasonably priced ($5!), which is always a joy after shopping in the more expensive “boutiques” of West Hollywood and Santa Monica.  And  the owner was truly a delight (which isn’t always the case, in my experience).  She was warm and friendly, accessible but not obtrusive, and wonderful to talk to.  She was all decked out in green for St. Patrick’s Day, which was also her wedding anniversary, and the beautiful green stained glass window in one of her interior walls that had been made by her dad years ago proclaimed her to be Irish all year round and not just on the 17th of March.  (Perhaps this is only important to me, being all Boston Irish myself.)

I wish the store was a little closer, because this would easily become my first choice LYS, but even with the 10 miles between us, I suspect I’ll be there again.  Heck, according to Mapquest, it’s really only 23 minutes away!