A knitalong? Me?

In a move that is very much not like me, I joined a knitalong. While I usually don't like to let anyone influence what I am going to knit, it turns out that this one came along at just the right time. So which knitalong did I join? It's Trek Along With Me. It just so happens that I bought a ball of Trekking XXL at Webs that is next in line for socks. And it is more likely than not that any given weekend I'll be hiking at some point. So this time, I can knit along with a whole bunch of bloggers without changing my knitting plans (or weekend plans) at all. Here's the yarn I'm going to use:



It's Trekking XXL in color #90.

My first hike of the KAL is scheduled for June 3, and will be somewhere on the Kenai peninsula in Alaska. Hopefully I'll get a great picture! Ill see you when I get back.

Wet.

In spite of the wet weather last weekend, I did make it to the NHS&W. I really didn't think I was going (we were spending the weekend with my husband's family who happen to live in NH), but it turns out my mother in law has been wanting to go to NHS&W all year. So, on Sunday we all piled into cars and braved the wet weather. I brought a camera, but it was raining too hard to pull it out. I think that my husband and mother in law were the only other members of the group who really enjoyed the experience. It might have had something to do with the fact that they were the only other members of the group dressed for the weather. Hats and mittens were really necessary. And jeans were not a good choice of pants. I did, however, manage to make a little purchase:


It's a Bosworth mini spindle made out of Tulipwood. It is beautiful, and spins effortlessly. I love it! Jonathan pointed out that it might have been a bit silly that we both drove up to NH so that I could buy one of his spindles, and that it probably would have been closer for me to just visit them in Acton, but I was at NHS&W anyway, and I liked the spindle, so why not buy it then?

I have also finished my felted bag:



It has been through the washer three times now, but I think it needs at least one more washing. I don't want to see any stitch definition! You can see the moebius twist on the left side of the picture. I was a bit skeptical about how a twist would work on a bag strap, but it does actually work well to keep the bag closed when I'm wearing it.

I've also started a new project:



It's a scarf to match my yellow and purple Latvian hat and mitten set. I'm using some nice bulky alpaca that I got on my recent Webs trip. The stitch pattern is Diagonal Brioche from Barbara Walker's Treasuries of Stitch Patterns. The reverse side of this pattern makes Brioche Knot Stitch. That means that this scarf will look great on both sides! In just three short evenings of knitting time, I'm almost a third of the way done with this scarf. If this weather keeps up much longer, I might actually get to wear it this season!

As quickly as my knitting has been going recently, I'm getting sick of these big needles! Somehow progress isn't as satisfying when it comes so quickly and with so little effort. I have a feeling that I'll be back to smaller needle projects soon.

The Spoils of Webs

There has been knitting here, but there has not been blogging.

There has also been yarn buying. In fact, so much new yarn has entered my tiny home in the last week that I'm not going to show it to you. Instead, I'll just quietly start to use it and mention that it came from my most recent trip to Webs. And I'll hope that you all have very bad memories and won't actually realize how much yarn I bought at once (here's a hint- I had trouble lifting the bag of yarn off the counter). My husband (who actually told me that I should buy some yarn on this trip to Webs) does not know how much I bought. He only saw this:




He is quite sure that the two cones of yarn were not there before, and he doesn't think that the basket was quite so full before, but he doesn't really know how much yarn I hid away in other stash storage areas. That's a good thing.

So the first thing I did when I got home (after I hid the new purchases) was to start using some of that new yarn. I quickly realized that it was not all going to fit in the space that had been previously occupied by yarn, so I started by knitting a project that would use a lot of it up fast. This is Cascade 220, knit doubled on size 11 needles. If I didn't own the Boye needlemaster set, I would not have needles even close to a size 11. I never really thought I would use the larger sized needles in the set, but I guess they really are there for something.



This rather strange looking object is a mobius bag (I've really only knit the strap/handle so far)from Cat Bordhi's The Second Treasury of magical Knitting. It will be felted, and will hopefully shrink significantly. I'm on my third 100g skein since Sunday afternoon. This is clearly making space in the stash quickly.

I did plan for this yarn-buying trip by using up as much yarn as I could in the two days before I left. I made some more dishcloths...



...I made a bear for Mrs. Longwool's new baby...

(Magic Friends pattern from Idle Hours, purchased at my LYS. The yarn is Katia Velour, which is not really hairy enough for this pattern, but it did work)

...and I did my best to make good progress on my wheat ear rib sweater.

I'm not sure that the raglan shaping on the back is going to work, but in the meantime I started the front. I'll figure out the shaping when all the pieces are done. That way I'll get to rip out the tops of all four pieces. I like to do things the efficient way around here.