More Handmaiden followed me home last week. The two skeins of "Smoke" practically threw themselves at me. Then, I got mugged by 4 skeins of Misti Alpaca. Don't let the soft smooshiness of the yarn fool you. That alpaca is tough!

Fibre floozy

I admit it. I've been fooling around lately. It's part of the reason I haven't been blogging. I've been ashamed of my behaviour. Maybe it's the spring air, the blue skies. Everything seems promising and new, and oh so tempting.

I've tried to stick to one project. But it's been impossible. I've had a toe-up cotton/wool magic loop sock cast on for ages. But I keep straying. For a while, I managed to commit myself to My Favorite Cardigan.

But after a couple weeks of dating, a sexy little Wanida caught my eye. Her lines and artistry intrigued me. Tempted me. I cast on. I even imagined I could make a long term commitment to her, so I bought some reinforcing yarn for her heels.

One weekend, left alone while my husband and child were out, I had a moment of weakness as I ran into an old flame. There it was, the block of the month blanket, preening itself and showing off its glorious colors. "Let's have a quickie," it whispered. "No commitment, no strings. Just finish off this block." Before I knew what was happening, mercerized cotton was zipping through my fingers and off my needles. In the warm afterglow of the last row of garter stitch border, we agreed to go our separate ways. But we'd definitely need to hook up again next month.

I ran back to Wanida, telling her my fling with the blanket had meant nothing. I spent a few repeats with her, admiring how her pattern was growing. She forgave me.

But oh, the lace! A fellow knitter piqued my interest by showing off all the lace she'd indulged in while down South. The yarn overs! The nupps! The post-blocking glow they both exhibited. The desire overwhelmed me.

So I dug up an old lace scarf I'd neglected. "Hey baby, I'm free tonight. Whaddya say we get together?" After a few rows I remembered why we'd split up. She felt so soft and silky, meriting her name: Silky Alpaca Lace. But she was finicky. A complex pattern that required constant attention. I enjoyed her, but couldn't relax around her.

And so the cycle, the downwards spiral continued. I picked up some silk and other treats at the Knitters Frolic. Kind of a singles club for knitters looking to hook up with new playmates. I dallied with them but couldn't commit to the long term. For a while, Rona stole my heart. I've even made it almost halfway through her.

I could go on. There are more shameful secrets to confess. But you see the problem. And to top it all off I've bought a couple Kama Sutras of lace making... Victorian Lace Today and Knitted Lace of Estonia. I can only imagine what dark path this will lead me.

So if you see me out and about with my cotton sock, please don't tell her about the others. I've finished one half of her and promised her I'll complete her mate soon. But first I need to put some handles on the market bag that's been hanging around for the last 2 weeks.

Resistance was futile

"I can resist anything but temptation." - Oscar Wilde

"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to give in to it." - Oscar Wilde


I bought the Rona lace shawl pattern and yarn. taps fingers, waiting for order from Knitpicks.

Lace love

I'm totally in love with the Rona Lace shawl from KnitPicks.* The full link is here. I love blue and something about this shawl just calls out to me. But realistically, I'm not a shawl person and I have about a bazillion WIPs and queued projects already. I'm so tempted to get the yarn for this project, but I know it'll just gather dust in my stash...

I'm showing such restraint......





*I didn't want to link to their photo and thus 'steal' bandwidth, so I've copied the photo here. It's KnitPicks photo, not mine so I hope I'm not breaking netiquette here in any way.

You know you knit too much when

You see a bluejay on your drive to work and think about one of your knitting friends who is a birdwatcher.

Yarn: A mood enhancing drug

The last couple weeks have been busy. Busy at work and busy at home. I'm the kind of gal who needs a certain amount of time to myself to recharge my batteries, and I haven't been getting it lately.

The past couple Thursdays, I've debated whether I should even bother to attend my LYS's Sit 'n Knit. More people. More chatter. Not the quiet time I needed. That was just passing thought though, brought on by stress. The knitter in me knew that hanging out with my knitting crew was just what the doctor ordered to combat a case of stress-induced blues.

I started out the evening quietly, doing more listening than talking. But gradually I found myself laughing and chatting along with the rest of the ladies. And without fail, every Thursday night I walk out of my LYS wrapped up in the warmest feeling of camaraderie and contentment. That feeling is just so magical. To spend a couple hours of pure enjoyment with new friends in lively conversation, doing something we all are blindingly passionate about.

I love to knit because it is a relaxing and creative outlet.

I am grateful for the people has brought into my life.

Too much of a good thing

After my knit retreat (more about that in a later blog), I needed a bit of a break from knitting. Apparently you can have too much of a good thing. I'd tried to work on my Primavera socks while I was away, but couldn't bring myself to do it.

I found myself drawn to my mitred square blanket (MSB) instead. The MSB is a truly indulgent knit, which I often don't have time for at home. It requires me to pull out about 15 balls of the Noro Silk Garden and spread them out in a rainbow of colors. I'm being very careful to select just the right color placement, so it's not a quick knit project.

On my mini-vacation I hit up Sheepstrings and scored 10 balls of colorful Noro Silk Garden for my MSB. The 10 balls are all the same colorway, but after a moment's contemplation I realized I could wind some balls from the center and some from the outside, to vary the order of the colors. Then, with the scent of fresh Noro in my blood, I searched eBay and found a lot of 10 Silk Garden in complementary colors, which I promptly snapped up.

This blanket, when all is said and done, will have consumed at least 30-35 balls of Silk Garden. But I have a feeling this is an heirloom in the making.