Pacafiesta 2008

This is my first Pacafiesta. It was a little smaller than what I was expecting, but there was still lots of yummy yarn and cute Alpacas.


I came home with two skeins of sea silk from the Black Lamb. They are based in Ontario and use the same supplier as the Fleece Artist so they have a lot of the same yarns. The woman sounded slightly bitter over this and pointed out that she used that supplier first.



These two skeins are from a handsome Alpaca named Winston! He lives in New Brunswick. I had to have it because of my sister's dog who is also named Winston and is quite lovable. Winston the Alpaca seemed much less needy then the canine who bears the same name.



The lovely ladies from the Loop had a booth set up where I saw this and fell in love with it even though I do not spin. It came home with me.



And so did this. Now I just have to figure out how to work it. Morgan suggested that vertically challenged folks should wear high heels to spin. Finally I have a use for those painful high heeled boots I bought at Also years ago.


And finally, an FO! Dovetail Pullover by Kathy Zimmerman from Spring 2008 Interweave Knits. It was done in 5 skeins of Cascade 220 Superwash that I got at the Loop last winter. The sleeves are kinda big and I have not blocked or washed it yet so I am thinking it will all be a little big. I think it will still be quite cozy though.

Eye Candy

As we are all working through our Monday blahs, here's some eye candy to get you through your day. I got this when I went to Have a Yarn back in August. It was days after returning from sea so I had some cash to burn and needed to cure my weeks of yarn withdrawal. Have a Yarn has so much Fleece Artist! There is a whole room of it!

First up, Hand Maiden Lace Silk. I don't think I own anything this colour, but this one spoke to me. I saw a yarn the spoke to me once and I did not buy it. This was over a year ago and it haunts me still to this day.



Secondly, Hand Maiden Camelspin. It's soft, it's red. 'Nuff said.



I also got a Perl Grey pin which seems to have gone missing right now. It is a seahorse. Maybe it went for a swim.

Weekend house guest

I was planning a quiet weekend of catching up on the house work and some errands when I ran into an old friend downtown who somehow managed to talk me into having him over for the weekend. I reluctantly agreed as he can be a bit dramatic and needy sometimes.

After a nice little lunch with Mrs.Happy and her Mr. on Spring Garden Henry helped me pick out a new hat looked around some other shops and went for some groceries at Pete's.

One of my errands today was doing something I have been wanting to do for a long time. I went to Lily's on Dresden Row and got a proper fitting bra, or I should say, I invested in a proper fitting bra because it better last 20 years. The staff is lovely there, they really know their stuff and they have sizes for everybody. The price tags are pretty high but I have to say, this feels like nothing I have ever worn before.

Time to go. Henry is going to curl up and watch some Battlestar Galactica with me tonight.

Flu season is on it's way

I just ordered these...

Shrug

Retro Redux Shrug from Lace Style, originally uploaded by leclerc_jk.

Another FO...
Retro Redux Shrug from Lace Style in Rowan Cashsoft Aran that I got on sale.
This knitted up so quick! It took about two weeks. I think I'd like to do another someday.

Tidal Streams

I am way behind on my blogging, but for now a couple FO's to tide you over.

While I was away I did two versions of Ilga Leja's Tidal Streams.  

First, I did the stole version in Estelle Arequipa.  I followed the pattern exactly and used just over one skein.  The deeper colour gives this stole a very different look than the sample on the pattern, so instead of calling this one tidal streams, I call it Lava Streams.  It drapes beautifully because of the bias knitting.

For the second version I did a scarf in Celestial Merino Dream, but I left out the ruffle and instead of only doing the number of repeats suggested in the pattern, I kept knitting until I ran out.  After blocking, my scarf is 80 inches long!  It doesn't have quite the same drape without the ruffle, but I am still pleased with the results.