Knit One, Purl Too: A Knitlog

Yesterday was an excellent day for knitting in my house: I’m halfway through the heel flap on my first Broadripple sock (for the life of me, I cannot remember whether I’ve done seven or eight repeats of the heel pattern - c’est la vie). Though the yarn will give me a thicker sock than I generally wear, I can’t say enough about how nice these are to knit and how much I like the yarn.

I’ve been good about sticking to my yarn diet, except for a tiny Regia sock yarn purchase (that’s color 5272, by the way), so I was incredibly excited when my husband called me at work and said “Just how much yarn did you buy?”

I knew the answer - none! It was the Slip Stitch box from the Great Stash Redistribution Project organized by the lovely Amy. It was chock full of good stuff and weird stuff, yarn and needles and even sachets to make your yarn smell pretty. The box was brimming over with…creativity - does that sound too sentimental? In any case, I helped myself to a few skeins of Cashmerino Aran, some sock yarn and…wait for it - the Woolcraft This Morning book that has the patten for Alice Starmore’s Marina cardigan. Though this book occasionally pops up in remainder bins, it’s basically out of print, and the only other source for the pattern is another out-of-print book, The Scottish Collection. So, I jumped on it, though Marina is currently out of my league - a knitter’s reach must always exceed her grasp.

I left behind just over 1000 yards of navy Anny Blatt wool and 150 more yards of Anny Blatt Chicago (a navy yarn with multicolored slubs), and navy mohair. It’s beautiful stuff and was a destashing gift from my mom, but I just don’t wear a lot of navy anymore, and I don’t have a project in mind for it. I know someone will, so enjoy! Even though having a large stash makes me strangely anxious (perhaps because I think I should be knitting faster), letting go of this yarn made me a little sad - what if I miss out on making something great? Then I remembered: I’ve heard there could be plans afoot to make more yarn. This knitting thing seems to be taking off.

In other news yesterday, The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns arrived via interlibrary loan; a second look convinces me that it would be an extremely handy addition to my library. Something else to acquire: what some people claim is the best knitting equipment bag, ever and it comes from BassPro. And a virtual visit to the Red Cross Knitting Museum, complete with vintage patterns. Finally, what else to do with your finished sweater but take pictures of your friends wearing it: the sweater project.