Yarn and more yarn
Acquistions
I have really tried to curtail my acquisition, but I put myself in situtions where it’s just too hard to resist temptation. It started with a day trip to Phoenix to bring my Dad’s ashes to Oregon. Well that took all of two hours (with traffic), and I knew I’d have four hours to kill before I needed to be back at the airport, so what better thing to do, but visit a yarn shop. I scoped out three, but ended up only seeing one – Fiber Factory in Mesa. The Berroco Jasper (100% Merino) caught my eye and was on sale, and ever on the look out for different fibers, I picked up the last of their Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy (Hemp, Cotton, and Modal blend) on clearance.
Then there was the Knit and Crochet Show in Portland, where I took a class on tatting and broomstick lace. The latter was taught by Stitch Diva‘s Jennifer Hansen, who was an excellent instructor. But I digress…
I didn’t make it to the market till Sunday, which was probably what saved me from buying more than the Teresa Ruch handpanted bamboo and tencel yarns.
My neighbor, Laurie, and I took a road trip to the Yamhill county where we visited Woodland Woolworks in Carlton, where I found to Conjoined Creations Pastimes soysilk yarn in colorway “Strange Brew”.
Next we headed to McMinnville, where we lunched at Orchards Bistro, where I had a fabulous asparagus, turkey, ham and gruyère with baked Yukon Gold potatoes that were good the next day. But again, I digress…
Boersma’s Yarn Basket was our next stop and we were not disappointed. In the end I brought home Jojoland Harmony (Merino laceweight), Dream in Color Classy (worsted Merino) in colorway “Pansy Golightly”, and Berroco Softwist (wool/rayon).
This past weekend, there was the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival (OFFF) in Canby. Laurie and I signed up for a beginning spindling class. That was Sunday afternoon. Of course we had to shop first. There were lots vendors with some interesting fibers and yarns in lots of pretty colorways. Though tempted by many, in the end Lisa Souza Dyeworks yarns were the most tempting—Baby Alpaca Lace, colorway “South Pacific” and Timaru (Merino/Bamboo), colorway “Mother of Pearl” along with Hokulani Farms (Bend, OR) Cashmere/Cotton were the yarns that made it to my shopping bag.
Another skirt
My BFF, Evelyn, finally came to visit us last month (has it really been a month???). I wore Indigo Ripples, and she made no comment on it, till she asked she could commission me to make her a version. She wanted it in a dark brown that could be worn year-round. She chose Knit Pick’s Shine Worsted in Fedora. It took exactly 11 balls to make her skirt. Unfortunately, I only ordered 10 balls, so what would have taken a week was extended out to a month. But it’s done.
Unfortunately, because we ordered the yarn, I can’t claim any stash reduction.
Hand Spun
And finally, there’s the yarn I made. I can’t claim to have been a prodigy and made this in class, but I did spin and ply this yarn the next morning while the process was still clear in my head. My goal is to spin an even thin single, but I can tell that will take a great deal of practice.
