Happy days

Happy days are those when there's a lot of yarn coming in. 

My postman (postlady, actually) was busy recently, delivering load after load of woolly goodness.  Let's take a look at my haul.

This pretty thing...

is a mixture of alpaca, merino and mohair, with a tiny bit of synthetic thrown in for durability.  It's very thin, somewhere between lace and fingering, and the jury is still out on whether it's scratchy or not.  I bought it for next to nothing, together with this fiery baby:

It's just as thin, but less fancy - half wool, half synthetic.  The best part?

I have plenty of both!

Seriously, that's a lot of yarn in there.  Both red and cream clock some 350-400m per ball, so we're talking of kilometres of yarn here.  Now, what to make?  A shawl (or five)?  A light sweater?  Decisions, decisions...  Maybe I'll ask my Puppy for help.  She seems interested:

The second package is a belated birthday present from my Mum and I smile at the very thought of its contents.  Look at this gorgeous mountain of sock yarn:

There's enough for 9 pairs in there.  9!  Plain colours are destined to become Fireweeds - the pattern has been haunting me for almost a year now.  One colour is chosen by and booked for my Other Half (guess which...) and one will become socks for my purple-loving sister.  The rest?  The rest is all mine, mine, my precioussssss.  For now. 


BTW, you may have noticed how I don't mention specific brand names when talking yarn.  I do this on purpose.  I don't mind sharing fibre content, weight and other details, but I have this thing against brands in general.  If you recognise the make from the picture alone, good for you.  If you don't, but you really really want to know, send me a quick email and I'll tell you.  But I'll let people do their own advertising.  Unless, of course, they persuade me otherwise :)

On the beauty of Christmas avoidance

The sun is shining in a fairly uninterrupted pattern, which is mind-blowing for Irish standards.  The weather is, in fact, so beautiful, that it tempted my Other Half out of our den and both himself and the Dog are off for a long walk.  It takes more than a few feeble December rays to drag me outside so instead I chose to stay warm and blog. 

The light is perfect for a photo shoot and I even have some prime snapping material - a package full of yarn arrived in mail yesterday (I love you, Mum!) and my stash grew by another sweater's worth.  Despite these obvious hints from Fate, I'm stubbornly ignoring my picture taking responsibilities, hoping instead that I can get away with offering you a random pic of my dog from the times when she was still a tiny puppy.

A ton of super-concentrated cuteness, wasn't she?  She's posing on one of my creations that REALLY deserves to be shown properly.  One day, I promise. 

I begin to worry that there are more dog pictures than yarn pictures here.  I am told that puppies are super popular in the Internetland so it might be OK.  Do let me know if I'm badly misguided and need to reform ASAP. 

I promised you a little elaboration on the non-existent Christmas theme, and even if I'm little late (I was supposed to post it yesterday, did anyone notice?), I'm going to deliver. 

In short - I don't bother with celebrating Christmas  (do you envy me now?  Pity me?  Feel outrage for my blatant disregard of cultural traditions?).  This means a couple of things:

1)  I enjoy blissfully stress-free Decembers

2)  I'm not broke in January (well, no more broke than usual)

3)  I sometimes need to fend off public Reactions to my heretical attitude

It's not that I have some deep grudge against the whole shebang, I just can't see any point in working my ass off to participate in something that's rather meaningless to me.  I'm not religious.  My family lives some 1500 km away.  I'm not very social (and come December, I am particularly grateful for this fact).  I don't have a standard 9 to 5 job.  I don't much care about doing things because everybody does. 

If I had children, things could be a little different.  I have tons of good childhood Christmas memories.  I got the presents, didn't have to go to school, got to eat all the food that someone else cooked, what's not to love?  If I ever stumble towards motherhood, I'll probably restart the tradition, just to produce the same memories for the sake of next generation. 

I the meantime?  I'm the only one who cooks around here, so I can eat Christmas fare any day I like.  I still get presents (yarn from Mum arriving just so in December would be too much of a coincidence, wouldn't it?).  My Other Half is even more intense in his Christmas bashing, having been scarred for life many years ago by annual pre-festive crazes - for the sake of distant relatives who thought it proper.  And come January, I'll be able to take all the money I didn't spent on lights, reindeer and other Yule crap and buy yarn.  Ha!

Heretic and proud!

PS.  Red aran sweater grew by another five statutory rounds since the last post.  It also got a name - Amaryllis - inspired by a beauty just a-flower on my window sill, exactly almost the colour of the yarn.  Today I'm wildly optimistic and I think I MIGHT avoid ripping by adding a couple of extra rows.  A Christmas miracle in coming?  Keep your fingers crossed with me.

In Defence of Acrylic Yarn

I have attempted this topic once before, for a different publishing platform, but I grew too heated in my arguments and the article was scrapped before publication.  I'll try to keep it polite this time, but I feel quite strongly about some aspects of the subject so please let me apologise in advance if I ruffle some feathers. 

From what I observed, for most of the knitting community 'acrylic' seems to be a dirty word.  Hardly any patterns specify acrylic yarn as suggested material (some baby knits excepted).  'Anything but acrylic' appears to be the obligatory answer when you're asked which yarn is your favourite.  In general, knitting with synthetic fibre is a crime akin to farting in a ballroom - you may not be jailed for it, but it's certainly not something that happens in a polite society. 

Well, I've always had a soft spot for the underdog and I have to confess that I'm often irked by such attitudes.  While acrylic does have some disadvantages, it also has many qualities that more than make up for it.  A knitting book (the title of which I cannot recall just now) once described it as 'low in snob value' and I think this explains perfectly why synthetics are shunned and also, perhaps, why I like them so much. 

Because, let me say it loud and proud, I love acrylic yarn!  Ok, maybe love is too strong a word but I certainly can see nothing wrong with it.  Some 80% of yarn in my stash is non-natural and I intend to keep it this way.  Why?  A couple of reasons.

1.  Ease of washing

This is the big one.  Since I tore my hands bloody many years ago in a washing machine-less student accommodation, I get pissed off when I even think of hand washing.  Why, then, would I want to keep on making clothes that can only be cleaned this way?  I throw my acrylic sweaters to the washing machine, spin the hell out of them and voila, the job is done.  By the way, did I mention that acrylic fibre dries really, really fast?  And doesn't felt?

2.  No need to block

I may not hate blocking, but I don't exactly love it, either.  Acrylic does not need blocking, just the opposite - heat blocking may destroy it.  Off the needles = ready to wear.

3.  Softness

Hair shirts may have been in vogue back in the medieval times, but we've moved on since then.  I can't think of any reason why I would want to spend time making a garment that I could not comfortably wear afterwards.  Obviously, you can have soft natural fibres - fair play there - but I've seen wools that I would not dress my worst enemy in.  So what if it's natural when it's also unwearable?  Acrylics - especially baby acrylics - are almost universally soft and smooth.

4.  Price

I am very against turning knitting into budget-breaking, elite hobby.  Let's be frank - natural fibres are waaaaaaaay more expensive than acrylics.  Sure, I get that hand dying and spinning are work intensive, time consuming crafts.  I'm happy for those who manage to stay afloat in the business and I wish them many loaded, snobbish clients.  In the meantime, can I have my yarn with low price tag, please? 

I could probably think of a few more arguments in defense of the humble acrylic, but this post is already too wordy for comfort.  I hope I managed to convince you that synthetics are not quite as bad as the rumour would have it. 

If you disagree, feel free to voice off in the comments. 

A Bagful of Yarn

I don't know about you but around here getting the car through a technical inspection is a cause for celebration.  Since my Other Half did all the repairs himself (I'm! So! Proud!), we still had some car money left - rather than giving it all away to assorted mechanics - and I was able to treat myself to a bag full of yarn.

The bag contains enough fibre for two sweaters, which chimes nicely with the changing season.  It's bloody cold around here, y'know?  The gloriously red aran should be just the thing to remedy this. 

Believe me, the image does not do the colour justice.

I'm not a massive fan of aran sweaters but recently I've come across a few nice patterns that I can actually picture myself wearing.  Plus, I've had a curious, aran-themed interaction with a local knitwear supplier which may have (and didn't) resulted in a commission, so I thought it best to be prepared.

You see, I live near Galway and a stone's throw away from Aran Islands themselves.  THE Aran Islands.  There are plenty of tourist-oriented knitwear shops nearby and they inevitably attract my yarnie interest.  I'll leave a detailed analysis for another day, suffice to say that I've come across an interview with one of the local entrepreneurs where the lady (which shall not be named) complained bitterly of advanced age of her knitters.  Aran knitting, she claimed, is a dying art so hurry up and buy your sweater!  Always ready to help out, I emailed the lady and offered my services.  It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, partly motivated by genuine interest and partly a test of her sincerity.  I even offered to knit her a sample garment - hence the yarn. 

The lady never got back to me, so I guess aran knitters are not so scarce after all and the aran yarn I bought will be warming my own back, eventually.

The other yarn is some very soft, very fine acrylic, the same stuff that I used for my opera gloves a while ago.

I got my hands on a copy of Alice Starmore's Tudor Roses book and I fell hopelessly in love with the Elizabeth I pattern.  Seriously, I HAVE TO have this pullover.  My yarn is rather finer than specified and Ravellers warn that the pattern needs some serious mods so I predict a long tech editing session before any knitting begins.  I'll get there eventually.  Possibly next summer, or one after that, but I will have this sweater.  

In other news, the Puppy is as always extremely interested in all my activities, including the photo session.

She's over a year old now, so technically not a puppy anymore, but tell me one thing - doesn't she model like a pro?

Happy knitting, guys!

Sock Yarn Bonanza

Over the last 6 months or so, I had been dying for sock yarn.  I've never made socks in my life but I so wanted to learn!  Besides, I was tired of DK weight yarn and eager to try something new. 

Unfortunately, no matter how strong the need, facts were against me:

- I was going through a tight spell financially, and sock yarn tends to be rather costly

- even if I had the money, the selection in my  LYS is rather poor.

To get around these obstacles, I first tried to recruit my Mum's help.  She lives in Poland, so she has access to some rather attractively priced fibres.  After a few weeks, my package arrived:

This is cotton/polyester blend.  It should be great for warm weather lacy socks.  I'm also tempted to turn the coral red skeins (I've got three) into a little pullover...  We'll see how it goes.

Some more time passed and I finally had extra money for yarn shopping.  I raced to my LYS and bought this lovely thing:

As you can see, I'm already swatching for gauge.  The yarn is a very posh mixture of superwash wool with a tiny bit of synthetic fibre added for durability.  It costs almost 10 euros/100 g, so it's pretty expensive in my book, but this is what you can usually expect to pay for sock yarn around here. 

Unless, of course, you find a yarn sale.  Sometimes I have to travel for work and when I do, I never miss the chance to check out local craft shops.  This baby...

...was a steal at 5 euros/100g and it's destined to become socks for my Better Half.  He's not particularly enthusiastic about the idea, but I bet I'll be able to turn him around.  Or else...

Anyway, soon after that trip I found even better bargain.  A discounter in my area got some yarn in stock and after seeing their rock bottom prices (2.50 euros/100g) I went haywire and bought a kilogram of delicious, fingering weight wool/polyamide mix:

AND I might acquire some more - if only there's anything left...

I can definitely say that my hunger for sock yarn is temporarily satisfied.  I am a proud owner of 1.7 kg of suitable fibre.  Now the only thing left is to knit all those socks...

Quick knits - Mary Jane slippers

Sometimes crafting is an inspired creative frenzy, at other times it's strictly practical. 

Ryanair is not known for generosity*, so when my new favourite model, W., arrived to stay with us, she carried only limited amount of luggage.  Slippers, deemed essential post factum, stayed at home.

We seldom entertain, so we don't have a stash of guest slippers waiting at the ready.  I could, of course, drive twenty kilometres to a nearest shonky shop and buy something made in China, but I chose a different approach. 

I dug up my trusty crochet hook and after only a day, these were ready:

Custom made, so they fit perfectly.  Colour, pattern, every detail - exactly as requested by the future owner. Money spent:  zero, because I used odds and ends from my stash.  Petrol burned - none.

It might be a little thing, but this small victory against consumerism really made me happy.

To tell you the truth, I like them so much that although I am not a slipper person, I will probably whip up a pair for myself at some stage :)

PATTERN:

Found online, here.  A fantastic, step-by-step tutorial included, so big thanks to the author.

* If you haven't yet seen this video about joys of flying Ryanair, watch it NOW.  Hilarious!

Purring happily - new yarn

I got my hands on a whole lot of new yarn and I'm a very happy creature indeed.  If you happen to be a fellow knitter, you must know the satisfaction of enlarging your stash and if you're not - take my word, or better still, become a yarnophile and experience the feeling yourself :)

Here are my spoils:

Three shades of red may look the same but believe me, it's my camera lying again.

This little baby will join another four skeins already in my stash and one beautiful day they will become a pullover (I think). 
Shade:  beetroot red 
Fibre:  acrylic

Another prospective pullover, or a warm weather vest (depending on whether I have 3 or 4 more skeins stashed away).
Shade: dark magenta
Fibre: acrylic

I love bright colours, but this orange is too bold even for me.  As a one-tone garment it would never do, but I can quite clearly  picture it combined with something more reasonable in a fair isle knit. 
Shade:  eye-blasting orange
Fibre:  acrylic

Another random buy, with no clear idea what to use it for.  The stash must grow, right?  Right?
Shade:  capuccino
Fibre:  acrylic

Finally, my most precious loot in this batch:  500g of pure cotton in my favourite colour of all time.  At some stage it will become a tank top (hopefully before the summer is over...), but for now I'm simply happy to look, touch and sigh in blissful admiration. 
Shade:  red wine
Fibre:  cotton

I'm purring happily, because looking at new skeins and dreaming up patterns for them is probably my favourite part of knitting process.  Anyone out there feels the same?