Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Yarnshine and cold cuts

Another gray day... cold and raw outside. This is not a bad thing, though, since the fridge has died. Luckily, I think we salvaged most everything except the milk and a few frozen items, and got them onto the screen porch in time. The repair will be covered under warranty (just barely), but it will be another two weeks before they can get here to replace the compressor... so it can stay cold until then, but not too cold!
This, however, put a significant ray of sunshine into my day: Sock yarn, from The Loopy Ewe! Left to right: Yarn Pirate merino/tencel in the Malamute colorway; Claudia's Handpaints merino in the Ingrid's Blues colorway; Sweet Georgia Speed Demon in Black Orchid colorway; and Zen String BFL in Living Lights colorway. I'm usually a blues/greens/purples person, and am a sucker for bright, intense colors, and anything in rainbow colors, but the grays and browns interspersed in these particular skeins are just breathtaking, especially grouped together like this. They've been sitting on my desk, and every now and then I have to stop and just look at them. I particularly like the Sweet Georgia yarn, as it's a heavier weight than regular sock yarn; when you have large feet (women's 12+), socks made with regular sock-weight yarn on size 0 needles become something akin to the Bataan death march after a while. Alas, both boys are well on their way to a good understanding as well; Boy 1 is only 11 but wears a men's 10 already. I'm about 8 rows from finishing the first of a pair of socks for him from Opal 6-ply that he picked out, using the International Sock of Doom pattern.
Speaking of sock yarn and the wanton purchasing thereof, I seriously considered joining the Knit from your Stash effort for this year, but decided not to -- instead, I decided to join in with the spirit of the UFO Resurrection folks and get rid of some of the projects that are lurking in the dark recesses of the guest/stash room. This is the second sleeve of a Lopi sweater I started last year, out of Lopi vol. 18, sweater #18. I got the yarn when we lived in MA at the Reynolds/JCA warehouse sale for about a buck a ball. A couple of nights' worth of effort should get this baby done. I'm not too fond of the bright red color, but I'm thinking it might have a meetup with the dye pot. I've never tried dyeing an entire garment, so this should be interesting, if not potentially a disaster.
What else... the next Eagle hat is well under way, thanks to the cold weather and a couple of good long treadmill sessions (I am a native Floridian, and though I love cold weather and have lived above the Mason-Dixon line for 23 years, I am a wuss when it comes to going out to exercise in it -- I have visions of freezing to death in a ditch somewhere!) and a book on tape. So many other projects vying for attention, but by remembering to focus on just a few keeps me from getting so distracted that nothing gets done.
Mmmm... baked pasta is done, and so am I.

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