I knit, too...

I've been posting photos lately, and written about what yarn I want, but today I thought I'd write about what I've actually been knitting...in case you think I just look, buy, and read about it!

Tahoe still owns the honor of being "main project." I'm enjoying the way the Heirloom Breeze looks when knitted up in large-scale stockinette stitch...almost like French terry, with its nubbly, squeezable texture. And the color's all right, too. When the light hits it, there's a mauve-ish sheen that deflects the sheer purple-ness of it:

My plan, if I can find the right yarn, is to end the sleeves a little early and crochet a lace edging on them to make up the last two or three inches. The problem I'm running into, though, is that I can't find a Louet Gems Pearl-type yarn (like Koigu) in the color I've imagined: a dark, dark plummy purple, so deep it's almost black...but not black.

The closest I've seen is Sundara Yarns's delicious Bittersweet colorway. In fact, I'm pretty sure that will be my choice, unless I unearth exactly what I've imagined at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival (or, as we call it, the Meat & Wool Festival...Last year, Chris consumed more lamb in one day than any human being should eat in a year!).

I've also been spinning, with the end result being a bobbin of natural colored fingering-weight wool yarn. It's actually a bit finer than I'd anticipated, so I need to decide what to do with it. My initial plan was to spin up some more yarn to use in a shawl I'm making for Chris' grandmother. But the yarn didn't want to be as thick as what I'd previously made, so I just listened to the wool and let my fingers play...

The smokey lavender yarn (color is truer in the photo below) is Jo Sharp Silkroad Tweed (DK). I knitted the swatch with three needle sizes: 5, 6, and 7. Amazingly, the gauge didn't change very much between needle sizes! The row count was the primary difference. Must have been me...relaxed with the 5s and stressed with the 7s, or something like that.

I absolutely adore this yarn! It's scrumptious. My hands can't get enough. I was swatching with a sweater in mind, though a bit worried about the hot and itchy factor. But when I washed the swatch it relaxed to a drapey, felty, mouth-watering softness. I've never been able to wear wool next to my skin, but this yarn may change all that.

Sometime soon, I predict, a slew of Silkroad DK Tweed is going to land--PLOP!--right in my stash!

Other projects on the needles:
1) Lace Sock #2 in the orchid-colored Koigu
2) Argyle tea cozy in Blue Sky Alpacas (regular and melange - burgundy, pesto green, and mustard yellow)
3) Ribbed hat required for Level 1 of the Master Handknitter course (brown, mauve/rose, and sage green Ella Rae)
4) Tubular Scarf from AlterKnits...I'm determined to finish it, but it is one BORING knit (deep pink KidSilk Haze)
(I just realized that, without meaning to, I typed those in a specific order: from most to least interesting...)

One more thing: Looking back at all my projects, it's become obvious to me that I need to break my pink and purple habit. Perhaps a lightweight green or espresso colored sweater? Maybe I'll buy a different color of that Silkroad Tweed. Hmmm...

I knit, too...