Tuesday 28 October 2008

I Lykke Me Some Yarn

I don't know about you, but I can't just pop into a yarn shop. If I'm there- it's for the loooong haul. I spend a good hour or two even just combing the isles. This probably seems ridiculous to some who research their yarn choices, ravel everything and go with yarn in mind-in/out boom. Done. Not that I don't (I usually write up a guide list) but when I walk in to my LYS fanciful thoughts like those fly out the window. Romni is like crack for yarn addicts. I'm a total freakin zombie when I go there. Shuffling slowly down the isles... MUST.. HAVE.. YARN! So on this particular occasion I needed fiber for two projects. A scarf for John, T's friend, and Spiral Boot Socks by Veronik Avery(love her!). I got nothing close to what I wanted for either project and instead chose these: 2 skeins of Drops extra fine merino in charcoal
yarnporn4-4
I'd been wanting this stuff for ages and the fiber is soooo soft and perfectly spun. Merino has to be my all time fav fiber. This will either be a cowl or a marigold hat with some fun mods for better slouching like ifandany's marigold. and then I fell in love with Cadence sock yarn. Two skeins and 700 shy yards of beautiful caramels.
yarnporn-1 yarnporn2-2 Cadence Caramels
However in purchasing these, I knew another big LYS shop had to take place. Crap!(j/k) I finally got around to it last Saturday after work (we're starting to get winter in and fall will be on 40% sale soon, fyi). I combed and combed and found what I wanted. For John's scarf: 6 balls of Cascade Superwash 220 (4 black & 2 dark emerald green) Let me tell you how nice and springy this stuff knits up. Exactly the density and material I was looking to create. This swatch was knit on 4.5mm. Sorry for the photo quality, it was batshit cold outside and I couldn't hack it! Cascade Superwash 220 Superwash 200 Swatch Then I chose the sock yarn. It was between Sublime extra fine merino, RYC cashsoft and Lana Gatto VIP for the longest time but I settled with the VIP. It was the exact color and blend I wanted. 3 skeins of this, although I may only use two depending on my gauge. Lana Gatto Beauty. Speaking of that, I saw Lykke Li at MOD CLUB this past Friday. Fantastic show, absolutely on point. Amazing covers of Vampire Weekend's Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa and I lost it when she did Tirbe Called Quest. Yes girl, you can kick it. This version isn't as good as ours was but you get the idea. Pretty dope. I've mentioned her on the blog before ages ago, but she's now blowing up! Get your hands on everything by this girl, her voice will haunt you! Two other musics to love: Grizzly Bear-Knife. Watch this video. Have your mind blown. Kaiser Chiefs-Never Miss a Beat. Video here. **one last quick note** This new layout is driving me mental. I don't like that our photo edges get cropped. Jules and I had a great surprise over the last week and I'm happy to say that it looks like a bigger and better TEAMKNIT is peaking around the corner. Hold tight folks. xo Jen

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

i'm the same way. but i really have to have a budget in my mind before i go into a yarn store, otherwise i am completely unable to exert any kind of self control. but i just need to touch everything i see once i'm in the store, mull over colors, pull things out, put things back, and sigh longingly many times before any kind of decisions can be made.

i love the look of that caramel colored yarn!

Anonymous said...

that caramel-colored sock yarn is soooo incredibly pretty!

Anonymous said...

I love that sock yarn!

erngrn said...

that caramel sock yarn is gorgeous!

Hilary said...

Yummmmm...it's all so pretty! Can't wait to see your spiral boot socks -- I've been admiring that pattern for awhile.

sarahcee said...

i LOVE that sock yarn, who is it by?

Anonymous said...

Romni is mind-blowing - I stumbled upon it on a recent trip to T.O., and wandered around the store for an hour in a daze. Amazing stuff - I would have happily spent a whole day there if time had allowed.