Things have settled down here and we are all so glad. Purl is happily eating away every few hours with minimal or no coughing (which could be permanent or could be because of the surgery). This is such a vast improvement that I still can hardly believe it and still hover anxiously as she eats, listening for any signs of trouble. So far, so very, very good. Can I just say again how much I appreciate everyone’s comments, emails, calls and visits to see how she fared? It is so wonderful to have that kind of support; it means everything during a time of such stress.
So now, back to normal – a little poorer in cash but a lot richer in friendship and peace of mind!
This is such a fun time of year for me. Lovely sales reps travel many miles to show me beautiful yarn. So far I have seen several that I must have – the store is going to be transformed in late summer and fall with many new things for you to fall in love with. There’s only one problem, of course, and that’s saying no when I should. For instance, I made a mental note that I simply do not need any more types of fingering or sport weight yarn. We have at least two dozen choices already, many of which are fabulous, and that doesn’t even count sock yarn! However, I have seen only two reps so far and have ordered at least a half dozen new fingering or sport weight yarns. Ridiculous! And some may get cancelled if I find I have repeated myself too much, but how I love to knit with these weights of yarn. It takes a while to make a sweater in them but it’s worth it for a sweater that is finely knit and light to wear. And there are a multitude of beautiful shawl and scarf patterns available for these weights. And I’m still looking for a certain color story (heathery, earthy, tonal) in a yarn that is sturdy yet soft and beautiful to knit and to wear. I see at least one more lightweight yarn in our futures! I believe I’ve found the perfect worsted weight, but I’m not committing myself until I see more lines – but they have a high bar to clear to beat Lang’s Yak, a 50/50 blend of yak and wool in the most gorgeous color range I’ve seen in years, plus it’s machine washable, which is unbelievable.
Okay, I’ll stop. None of this means anything until you have the yarns in your hand and are overcome with love for color, touch, and perfection.
We re-knit our free Garter Stitch Baby Jacket pattern in two colors of Hikoo’s CoBaSi, a nice washable blend of cotton, bamboo and silk. Fun to make either solid or in two colors, and soft and comfortable for baby this summer:
We saw some very good projects this week:
Brenda Makuch, who is rather new at knitting but absolutely in love with it, made this adorable baby set in Encore Tweed:
So cute!
Jane Gardner knitted this nice cardigan and Donna finished it for her. (By the way, Donna is not accepting any more finishing work until after the 4th of July – she’s got to catch up!) (and possibly have a life!)
And Anne Nordhoy knit this unbelievably beautiful sweater from an assortment of beautiful yarns, using them to perfection for intarsia insets in gorgeous stitchwork.
What a work of art. And then she casually said, “Oh, I made this last year from some linen I had.” Look at this pretty thing::
Great knitter doesn’t even cover it, right? Her finishing and blocking are spot on, too – she takes classes!!
Okay, that’s it. Wish me luck in searching for the perfect yarns for us this fall…
Trish
