y@rn pr0n

Every First Thursday, Hill Country Weavers features a fantastic sale to go along with all the other fun that takes place down on South Congress. I discovered this by chance in April and came prepared in May. My big splurge item was a totally random hank of Road to China yarn by The Fibre Company. Before walking past this particular corner of the yarn shop, I'd never heard of the company, let alone this specific line, but I was really digging into HCW's stock during the visit, trying to make the most of the sale. I was instantly mesmerized by the Lapis colorway. It's a deep turquoise yarn with a bright garnet halo. Unbelievable. And of course it's incredibly soft, being a blend of camel, cashmere, alpaca, soy and yak. (Yak?!) Alpaca was a dominant fiber, however, qualifying the yarn for the sale. And The Fibre Company handily provided a single-hank pattern for fingerless mitts. I was sold!

First Finished Object!

Behold! My first finished object! And it's not anywhere near the first knitting project I started. I got the yarn on May 1 and finished the project on May 6 -- wow! It was very fast working on #17 needles and the yarn did all the color changes for me. I cast on 140 stitches (I think...) so it looked like a really odd mini-dust ruffle as I was working, then burst out as a vertically striped scarf at the very end.

My curiosity about the yarn was piqued by a Ravelry forum post about a sale on Be Sweet Magic Ball. The yarn itself is a lot of fun -- a wonderful variety of colors and textures that change as you work. If you're knitting from a center-pull ball, you don't know what's coming next, so it starts to have the same effect as reading a great page-turner -- you don't want to put down your needles because you're dying to see what happens next. In addition, Be Sweet is a very cool company. The yarn is hand spun and dyed by women in South Africa under a job creation program that has offered opportunity in an economically depressed rural region.

The colorway I used for my scarf is called Shakespeare. I have two more in my stash called Quarry Stones and Wild Berries. I'm thinking I may do a scarf with horizontal stripes with one and a hat with the other.

And Then There Was One...

In the beginning, I had two yarn needles. Then Starla made some of her personalized alternations to the needle on the left this past weekend. By the time I caught her trying to act extra sneaky (which is always a sign of guilt with her), that sad little squiggle was all that remained. All I can assume is that she ate the rest of it. (Fortunately no signs of gastric distress.) I must've knocked it on the floor somehow. And I know the rule -- whatever's on the floor belongs to the dog. I just can't figure out how it got there because I am very careful, knowing Starla will go after anything crunchy or chewy like this. Nick worries that it was on my desk under the computer monitor where I last remember putting it down and that Starla just develops opposable thumbs and an unstoppable appetite for plastic when I leave the room. If that's the case, we're all in deep trouble.