Back to knitting....

Is this or is this not the biggest ball of yarn that you've ever laid eyes upon? Okay, you might have seen larger, but I certainly haven't. It's quite a glorious bit of yarnage if I must say so. It's a bit of Schaefer heaven chiamata Kathleen and it's so nice and spongy, soft. The colors are fabulous, too eventhough it's not showing up well in this picture. And the smell of it is unique. It smells a little vinegary or something to that effect, but it's really pleasant as it's an actual smell that I associate with one of my LYSs.

Really I shouldn't be buying new yarns, especially not for felting (I am still working on that Very Large Bag and another one, too. I'm ridiculous, aren't I?). I mean I need to be saving money for moving and living on my own. But I bought this lovely yarn for a knitting exchange that I am in. It's the Tote Exchange, brought to us by the people who did the international scarf exchange this past winter. And if you saw the results of that, I think you would have joined as well. Just gorgeous items were exchanged.

Anyway, I was going to make a really cute bag called the B4 Bag. (Isn't it fun?) But while I was in my LYS I saw the Felted Circular Tote (from Knit'N Style Feb 2006) hanging there in all it's glory. I remember almost buying this mag when it came out because that pattern was so cool. Anyway, my LYS provided me with the pattern and now I am starting this lovely piece of work. I'm really choosing sophisticated over fun here with this pattern and I hope that's going to be okay with my partner.

It's actually a bit of a challenge as there is something wrong with the directions and there is no errata posted for this pattern. Moreover, I haven't seen many knitted up on the web (actually none when I googled it). It's a cool pattern, though. It's all about the short rows. You knit up both halves of the purse, then join them together as you knit an i-cord around. How cool is that?

Now I just need to find a lovely button. I am thinking about something from Teyani's site. I love the Raku buttons, especially the extra large Ginkgo. But then again, I am a gingko fanatic. What do you think? The pine rose is lovely and so is the Kiss. Ah, decisions.


You know I was moping around, thinking that although I have been doing a ton of knitting, that I hadn't really completed anything in what felt like months. Well I was wrong. I totally forgot about the two twirly whirly scarves that I crocheted. The basic black one on the left is crocheted from Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande and is soft like no other yarn save cashmere could ever hope to be. It's gift for someone in my family. The one on the right was also supposed to be for that same person. I bought the suri merino yarn as a substitue for the baby alpaca grande because my LYS was all out. Of course, as soon as I was almost finished with the frilly one, they get the Baby back in stock. So now I don't know what to do with it exactly.

So like I said, I have been knitting a lot. I think pretty soon you are going to see a slew of FO's batted in. I mean, look how close I am to finishing this bag! I just need to decide how I want to finish it, do a little crocheting, buy some beads and toss it in the washer.

I guess I am a little behind as this is my Project Spectrum bag for April! :doh!:

And I also started some socks with the yarn that I dyed. I think they look pretty snazzy. What do you think? I wanted to use a pattern that highlighted their self-stipingness. I could have done Jaywalkers, I suppose, but I think this works pretty well, too. I just need to decide what sort of heel to put on this guy. I'm tempted to go short row as I would like to practice that one.

And I wanted to say thanks to everyone that has been sending me kind thoughts and energy. It was really appreciated. I am trying to get back in the saddle, but I seem to keep tripping just as I put my foot into the stirrup. My faux-SO hasn't been fairing too well either. Not sleeping, not eating. He feels all alone. So he up and decided to catch a plane to Italy tomorrow so that he can do some thinking in peace. I hope he gets some, but I don't think it helps me at all. It's just prolonging the breakup. Ah, that's life I guess.

I also wanted to say that I am sorry to have been MIA on y'alls blogs lately. I haven't been able to concentrate very well. So I have a lot of blog reading to catch up on. I'll be seeing you soon.

Bacio!