Carpe Skein!

Last week was one of those weeks where events conspire to remind you just how short life is. If I follow this logic through to it's rightful conclusion then I should have realized I'll never get through my stash and then proceeded to destash. Instead, I did what I always do to remind myself that this is a beautiful world...I buy more yarn.

Last Saturday was the annual Downtown Knit Collective (Toronto Knitter's Guild) Spring Knitter's Frolic. And after getting a surprise bit of mad money - frolic I did.

I was thrilled to see that Lettuce Knit would have a booth there. I was even more thrilled to see the lovely yarn they were selling - a line called Dream in Color. The colours are dyed using a process that causes "veils of colour" almost like a colour wash. You get the interest without the pooling. The deal was sealed when I discovered that they had a shade called "In Vino Veritas". My current mantra is to try and knit with colours out of my usual scope. I've wanted to do more red and this red is a deep garnet with a rich violet wash. Here it is in the lovely Spring sunshine. Laura Chau of Cosmicpluto Knits designed and made the most divine jacket out of this exact yarn and shade. You can see it here - it's worth the trip! I tried the sample on and Steph took a picture of me but my lack of modeling ability coupled with poor lighting doesn't do the jacket justice - Laura's pictures show the stitches and colours perfectly.

I think I'll use my In Vino Veritas to make the beautiful Cabled Down Raglan sweater by Stephanie Japel. This yarn feels nice close to the skin. It's a good stash enhancer!

I also purchased the Belle Shrug pattern also by Laura Chau. It uses Blue Sky Alpaca which I have in stash and had planned to make the Blue Sky Alpaca Silk Shrug. I like Laura's better. The collar is so feminine. You can get this also at Lettuce Knit. Julie had a booth at the show as well and had many of the Blue Sky Alpaca samples on display. It was great to see them up close.

Also from Lettuce Knit I got this great little knitting pouch perfect for hooking over a belt loop or chair arm to hold the yarn while you knit. Some loop it around their wrists and stand or walk while knitting. This is called the Origami bag and I got a lovely vintage pink and red one. Made by Lettuce Knit, they're "sewn from vintage barkcloth, and trimmed with Mokuba twill tape. These little pouches feature an adjustable toggle closure. How they are folded prior to sewing means that they are fully lined and have little pockets on the front and back. A great little project bag for lace or sock knitting". I've used it so much already to knit on the go with simple one or two ball projects. There are pockets in the front too. Here you see the progress on my Socks that Rock Club sock. It's coming...slowly.

At Gemini Fibres I picked up the Harrisville Cashmere and Wool to make the Norah Gaughan Architectural Rib Sweater. It's a fall project but Cheryl at Gemini had just the right shade and it was on sale!

The show was at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre in Toronto. How nice to have fresh fruit and sushi at lunch with green tea instead of a ham and cheese sandwich chased down with a soda. It was great to touch base with other knitters and show off our FOs and UFOs. I was almost to the waist ribbing on the Bonsai Tunic when I showed it to Stephannie on Saturday. After finally getting some knitting on the needles, I discovered that my gauge was off and it was 2" larger than the intended size. I sucked it up and ripped back Saturday night. I'm glad I did - it's much better as the smallest size. Boy that hurts though to rip out days worth of work.

I have made some progress on Rheingold. Here's a sunshine shot of it as I head towards the armholes.

So in the end, I my visit to the Knitter's Frolic was as close to a perfect day as I could imagine. Maybe it's not so strange that those of us who knit love yarn so much. After all, it carries with it so many possibilities, dreams and potential. What could be more life-affirming than this?