Yarn shopping

Oops, I suppose. I went yarn shopping today, AGAIN. I mean, it’s not like I just went and bought sock yarn on Saturday, no. I had the random urge to try out the biggish yarn shop somewhere at the end of the world in Hamm, and I had a car, and I had a little money burning in my wallet. So I went. And spent that money, obviously.

First, the store. It’s a little way off from the city center, which doesn’t really matter when you have a car and come from my direction, since it is actually before the center from here. It looks a little grungey from the outside, but inside? Yarn, yarn and more yarn. Lots of Lana Grossa and the biggest selection of Regia I’ve seen so far, but also Opal and other/no-name brands. And two or three shelves full of clearance – I got three balls of yarn for 75 cents each!

These are the first two clearance balls – simply gorgeous, variegated yarn with gold threads in it. Gorgeous, I tell you, gorgeous! It’s Ornaghi Filati (which I’d never heard of in my life) , New Wool/Polyester blend for 6-7mm needles, and likely to become a hat or neck wrap of some sort. For colder days. Or maybe wristwarmers… hm.

More clearance yarn – I fell in love with this and randomly grabbed it, not knowing how much it was. Turns out it only cost 75 cents, too! Cotton/acrylic for 4mms, and I have absolutely no idea what to do with it. It’s only 100 m… maybe I should go back and buy another ball. Or make yet another hat with it. Or a summery, skinny Quant entrelac headband? With the changing colors, I imagine it would look interesting to say the least, but I don’t know if that’s the right yarn for it. Time will tell, eventually, I’m sure. And until then, it can just chill out in my luxury/other yarn bag.

Then, with all the cheap-ass yarn, I decided to ‘splurge’ a bit. Meaning €2,95 per 50g ball, which is still pretty cheap. Especially for what I got – pure wool.

I have planned socks with these, even though the label says approximately 150g for a pair of socks. But I’m just gonna knit them toe up and see how far I get. I wonder, with the 100% wool, if they’d felt? *tries to decipher symbols* … hand wash at 40°. Sounds like they would. Well, that’s cool with me. They’d be more of a pair of slipper socks, so if the sole felts nicely and smoothly with wear, that’s awesome.

Last but not least, the priciest purchase of the day: new DPNs. I’m kind of rolling my eyes at myself for this, cause it isn’t like I don’t already have bamboo 2.5mm DPNs. My only justification is that they’re 15cm (6″) instead of 20 like the ones I have, and I’ve heard a lot of good stuff about shorter needles. So I figured I’d give it a shot since I saved so much money on the yarn.

Look at how tiny they are! But I suppose it will make redoing the toe on the mojo sock a lot easier, and I can do it NOW. That is, after I’ve extricated the carefully weaved in yarn from the tip of the toe. Groan.

Sommer, Palmen, Sonnenschein

I’m more than halfway done with the leg of the second Primavera. After those, I won’t be done with the pattern though – I gave my mom a voucher for a pair of socks in a pattern and with yarn she wants, and she requested a pair of Primavera in red. Which is alright, I might make the legs a little shorter (11 or 12 reps) or something, and make the ribbing slightly longer.

At the same time, I’m scrolling through my Ravelry Queue looking for something new to do. I discovered I have 26 adult sock patterns plus three baby sock patterns. *facepalm* And also I added the Hemlock Throw, which is amazing, but also uses 300g of yarn. Thick, though, on 6mm needles. I’d have to get a super long 6mm circ for that though. It looks like fun. Maybe when it’s not as warm – in the fall. As therapy for Uni starting, and as a housewarming gift to myself maybe? (at least the yarn)

Once I’m done with my oral exam, I’m planning on weighing, photographing and cataloging my stash on Ravelry. Long overdue, really. I like to be organized. I mean, the are sort of organized, in plastic bags according to yarn type (wool, cotton, sock, luxury), but, you know. It’d be nice to have a better overview.

Iiiiiiiii want ebony sock DPNs. Or KnitPicks Harmony. Sigh.

Mmmmh knitting

Seriously I knit too much. But not enough, obviously, since I have 4 1/2 WIPs at the moment: the kneesocks, two pairs of gloves, a scarf, and a hat I forgot I started about 4 months ago because it disappeared in my stash box, haha. And I want to do so much more… yes, practically all my money these days disappears in the hungry maws of my yarn store. Good thing I have my grandma’s box full of needles that I only had to add to with DPNs in several sizes, or I’d spend even more money I don’t really have. But knitting is addictive, and I already have thirty projects queued in my Ravelry notebook.