After much procrastination, Grandma finally sent me a box of yarns from her old crochet stash. The majority is an interesting vintage Caron yarn named Dazzle Aire which is slightly sparkly, slightly fuzzy, very soft and comes in some interesting colorways. In searching the internet for info about it, I wasn’t surprised to find it revered by many knitters and crocheters, but it was a shock to see it mentioned in a discussion on fly tying (as in fishing lures). Apparently the type of sparkly acrylic used in the yarn is quite good for catching fish. You learn something every day…
Dazzling Fish June 27, 2006
Summer, Why Must You Take So Long? June 26, 2006
Here I am with my promise not to buy yarn until Labor Day, and it’s come to my attention that Elann’s Esprit Print has returned. I discovered Fixation/Esprit long after last year’s stock of Esprit Print sold out. I never really cared for most of Fixation’s vareigated colorways and always figured Esprit Print would be equally not to my taste. Boy, was I wrong! Indigo Gold and Canyon Sunrise are the two that immediately stand out as buy me!, but I love all of them save perhaps Phlox. I’ve always been planning to put in a big Esprit order in September. I think it’s just doubled in size. 
Peppercorn Swatch June 25, 2006
My mother bought a cone of this Peppercorn Ombre for me to make dishcloths for her co-workers. Naturally, I wanted to try it out with my new favorite dishcloth pattern!
The top half uses ecru as the background; the next section uses ecru as the foreground (my favorite) and the last bit is only using the ombre.
There will be lots more dishcloths made with this yarn between now and Christmas, but I won’t bore you with endless pictures of them. 
Don’t Knock It ‘Til You’ve Tried It June 22, 2006
Before I went to bed late last night I had a niggling thought: What if wet blocking actually works on dishcloths? Shouldn’t I at least give it a shot? So I stumbled through the then-dark house, felt around until I located the star (unceremoniously dumped on the couch) and Mason-Dixon dishcloth (buried in the knitting bag), and retreated to the bathroom to give them a dunk. In the morning, this greeted me:
So I stand corrected. :p The star’s still not perfect, though I think it could easily be passed off as a starfish dishcloth instead. (That is, providing you don’t use red and white yarn like me.) On the other hand, I’m looking at the M-D cloth in a whole new light now. I’m tempted to try knitting it from the inside-out, though, to get around having to cast on so durn many stitches.
Meanwhile, I should have celebrated the first day of summer by starting on a new pair of socks since it was also the first day of Summer of Socks, but instead I felt the urge to knit the brightest Ballband Dishcloth ever made (photographed along with my first Ballband Dishcloth which I have named Goodbye Yellow Brick Dishcloth!). Ann and Kay would have been proud.
Mid-June KAL Dishcloth June 21, 2006
Mid-June Dishcloth from the Monthly Dishcloths KAL. The yarn is Peaches & Creme in Peppermint.
Believe it or not, this is supposed to be a 5-pointed star. The pattern casually ended with the words “block until flat”. Ha! There’s no way this sucker will ever block flat. Between this and the Mason-Dixon Dishcloth, I can take a hint. Until I learn to loosen up my decreases I should stay away from flat circles knit from the outside in.
Resurfacing June 17, 2006
Sorry for the lack of posts recently. After a frenzied week of knitting at the beginning of the month where I had half a dozen projects progressing simultaneously, I’ve been sidelined with wrist pain and just plain boredom. The log cabin afghan has been left in the lurch, just a bit too small to qualify as a lap blanket; the sock is at a standstill; and the long post I wrote introducing myself to the Summer of Stash crew hasn’t left my desk. On the other hand, the mid-June KAL dishcloth looks to be an intriguing one. Hopefully it’ll change my tune re: knitting.
By the way, the Monthly Dishcloth KAL has started a blog as an alternate way to keep up the day’s rows. If you’ve been interested in the dishcloth KAL but didn’t want to have to join a mailing list to do so, now’s the time to join the fun and add it to your news aggregator of choice.
The Fishy and the Deep Blue Sea June 12, 2006
I’m not a participant in Project Spectrum, but I inadvertantly tuned into their wavelength this month.
Blue legwarmers, blue socks, blue shrug and…
Blue dishcloth. This is the June cloth from the Monthly Dishcloth KAL. How cute!
Getting to Know You June 9, 2006
This is one of the first knitters memes I’ve seen that wasn’t Secret Pal related (and those I’d feel guilty about using since I haven’t SP’ed yet). [via Magic Knitter, a local knitblog]
1.My favorite yarn to knit with is: I haven’t really fallen for a particular yarn yet. It would probably have to be a worsted merino that’s either heathered or striped.
2.I really do not enjoy knitting with: Really tiny sock yarns. I’m trying to adapt but it’s not easy.
3.If I had a choice, I would banish this yarn from my LYS: Fancy Fur. I can somewhat understand the appeal of just plain Fun Fur, but why would anyone want random little blobs of clashing colors in with it?!
4.If I could knit only one more project for the rest of my life, it would be: A Doctor Who scarf. I have no problem with endless garter stitch, and the changing colors would be enough to keep me interested.
5.My favorite flower is: Maybe I’m sheltered but I’ve finally discovered that daisies come in colors other than white and yellow. I love the orange and fuchsia ones.
6.My current color obsession is: Combinations of different reds from pink to burgundy. I’m also keen on chocolate brown and lime green.
7.My other interests are: Britcoms and movies. At the moment I’m Netflixing 70s films. I just finished The Godfather trilogy. The Conversation and Midnight Cowboy arrived today along with The Kid Stays in the Picture for background info. Also Emma (Gwenyth Paltrow) because I’ll need a fluffy, female break after that lot!
8.Something I wish I knew more about is: Knitting health – i.e. ways to better posture and body positioning, ways of holding the yarn, etc. I know there’s plenty about this online, but some things it’s better to see in person.
9.A knitting technique I want to learn is: Combined knitting.
10.My favorite needles to knit with are: Brittany Birch straights and dpns, Clover circular needles, and Addi Turbo for magic loop.
11.Do you knit socks? Heh. I’m trying to.
12.Where would you like to visit? Australia and New Zealand, but I’ve already been there. Next I’d like to see the UK.
13.What was your favorite childhood movie? Annie
14.What is one thing in your knitting bag that you can’t live without? It’s not really in the bag, but I love my little yarn basket candlestick holder turned needle holder (found at Goodwill for 50 cents). It sits beside my knitting seat at home and holds spare needles so they don’t get lost. I also use it to hold the day’s rows from the dishcloth KAL, as seen in the photo.
15.What is lacking in your notions bag that you really, really want? A Clover Kacha-Kacha counter. Especially the mini Kacha-Kacha.
16.What is currently on the needles at your house? At least two different socks, two different legwarmers, turtleneck shrug from Scarf Style, a horrible pink fluffy shrug that escaped frogging last year, and the log cabin afghan I started just yesterday. This list does not include objects that are off the needles, but still need seaming or end weaved in…
17.If you could do nothing but knit all day, every day, for the next month (and get paid for it!), what would you knit? The log cabin afghan. Garter stitch rules!
18.Least favorite color(s): Yellow, teal, light purple, hot pink.
19.Favorite genre of music? The singer-songwriter type, folksy pop.
20.Favorite candy or sweet: Dark chocolate Hershey’s Kisses.
21.What is the most challenging thing you have ever knit? The Christmas stocking pair for which I learned fair isle, short row heels and a bunch of sewing basics for the lining.
22.How long have you been knitting? Two years this September.
Summer of Stash Begins June 7, 2006
If you love a good bargain (and who doesn’t?) Knitty Board is worth a bookmark for its sale section if nothing else. Case in point: Fuzzy Mabel is having free shipping, no minimum, for the month of June. Alas, I joined Summer of Stash (on the last day of signups, natch – bless my procrastinating hide), so there’ll be no lovely sale Regia for me. (Is it my imagination or does every yarn store have Regia sock yarn on sale/clearance right now? Regia, you better still be there for me in September!)
I know what you’re thinking: Why is she surfing yarn sale boards if she is doing Summer of Stash? Well… I had to have one last look. It’s now gone from my daily visit list, and right now I’m turning e-mail notification off for my yarn-related eBay saved searches. Later this week I’ll take inventory and make a list of intended projects with special attention given to ridding myself of the cursed 100% acrylics. Charity knitting is likely. I’ve been looking at Warm Up America and Knit for Kids. Are there any others you’d recommend?
Blowing Off Steam June 1, 2006
Twice in the past week I’ve stumbled across an interesting knit-along less than 24 hours after sign-ups closed. I try to check Natalie’s brillant KAL list at least once a week, but sometimes I forget. Plus, one of the above mentioned KALs isn’t on the list. That’s so frustrating! *sigh*
On the bright side, look: new MagKnits! I definitely need to make this for my bedside table (perhaps substituting Fun Fur? ) The sock pattern is interesting but, like Christine says, has some rather confusing instructions. Emily and Saturday Market Bag are possibilities too.
