Too Much Yarn, Too Little Time

Last weekend, I told my husband I was making a quick run to the yarn store (Yarn Garden in Portland, OR). As promised, it was quick -- including the drive back and forth, I was gone only 40 minutes, tops. But $60 later, I ended up with yarns for three different hats.



From left going clockwise, the sage green is Berroco's Ultra Alpaca; the blue is Araucania's Nature Wool. I thought I would use one or both to do the koolhaus pattern from Interweave Knit's Holiday 2007 issue. I've also read about the hat on the Brooklyntweed blog -- it seems like a great project.

The third yarn is Jo Sharp's Silk Road Aran Tweed. I actually made a beret from Jo Sharp's "Knit," Issue 3. I gave it to my sister for Christmas, but I loved it so much, I wanted to make one for myself. Plus I had enough yarn left over from the first project that I only needed to buy one more to complete a second hat. So my sister and I will have matching hats, just like we did when we were little girls.

But I didn't stop there. I also bought MORE sock yarn:



I do not need more sock yarn. I already have more than I can probably knit up in the next five years, but as you can see, that is not a deterrence for me. The one on the right is from Noro. I have never knit with Noro yarns before, but they have such an interesting texture (and beautiful colors), I could not resist. The yarn on the left is Araucania's Ranco, a superwash wool/nylon blend that looks soft but durable enough for socks.

Tomorrow I am taking a day off work as a mini birthday celebration for me. I plan to hit a couple of yarn stores, as well as some fabric stores. My purchasing is definitely outpacing my knitting speed at this point.

Good-bye 2007; resolutions for the new year

Along with several other resolutions for the new year, I've decided to start tracking my projects -- part of the "get organized" resolution I make every year.

Currently, I am working on the Skull Isle Hat from Debbie Stoller's new book, "Son of Stitch 'N Bitch." The fair-isle pattern looks deceptively complicated but is fairly simple. I had been trying to complete it as a Christmas project, but with only one day left until Christmas and only half done...well, you know how that goes. I love the yarn, Dalegarn's Baby Ull, which I've worked with before. It's a superwash fingering weight-wool (50 g/165 m).