the blue blog archives: shopping spree

Apparently my mother has VERY good taste in yarns. When I'm browsing in the store, I always manage to fall for the luxury, designer yarns that go for $12 a ball (see below). It's a curse! Well, mom saw some yarn that she absolutely loved (all knit up in a baby sweater) and just had to have it. Colinette Fandango, thank you very much.

Ahh, like daughter, like mother. Now we needed a pattern. I remembered flipping through Sally Melville's The Knit Stitch once and seeing a lot of stylish, loose fitting sweaters that I thought my mother would like. We settled on the asymmetrical vest (less yarn!!), which she wants done in stockinette. So I'll be redoing the pattern. If she'll love it, I'll do it. (It'll be a breeze compared to native, which by the way will be appearing as an f.o. this week!).

And then we picked up a little something for me. I've been dreaming of making something in pink. I've had a pattern in mind for a few weeks and have been poking around for the right yarn. And I still have that pale blue cotton that I won at the Granite State Knit In, which I wanted to turn into something oh so lovely with 3/4 sleeves. So, I just happen to see the Chaise pattern in Jo Sharp's new book, The Holiday Island, show it to mom and she says I have to make it. Any idea what yarn I want to use? I didn't remember the Granite State yarn right away and so we picked out some of the Noro Cash Iroha. In the prettiest pink.

*Light bulb moment.* Use the Cash Iroha in the winter sweater and the pale blue yarn for Chaise. Three new projects in one trip. I'm one happy knitter!

posted by alison at 6:45 am | in fandango , holiday island

Comments

Your mom buys you yarn?! What a cool mom.

Posted by: claudia at August 18, 2003 9:50 AM

Fun shopping trip !
Cash Iro ...sigh !
Fandango...delicious !
What fun and pure pleasure you have in store.

Posted by: Emma at August 18, 2003 10:45 AM

Yeah, my mom bought me some yarn. :) This and my birthday are the first times though. I guess when you don't knit yourself, it's hard to know what would be good or what the other person would want. Despite not being a knitter, my mom was obviously impressed with the yarn store and all of its lovelies!

Posted by: alison at August 18, 2003 11:44 AM

I have yarn to make Chaise, too! In a beautiful brick red Plymouth Yarn Stone Cotton. Let me know when you plan to start, I am thinking mid-September. This is a great autumn transitional project, before hitting the wool. What do you think? =}

Posted by: Nora at August 18, 2003 12:27 PM

Hey Nora, how cool that you'll be knitting Chaise as well! I have to admit, though, that I've already cast on. I just couldn't help myself. I don't think I'll be able to wait until September. Sorry! :(

Posted by: alison at August 18, 2003 3:46 PM

Great buys. I love the Chaise pattern. What gauge is the pattern?

Posted by: Melissa at August 18, 2003 5:10 PM

Chaise is written for Jo Sharp's Soho Summer Cotton and the gauge given is about 5.5st/in (22.5 over 10 cm). The yarn I'm using however has a gauge of 4.5st/in, so I'm redoing all the math. A price I'm willing to pay when I can use a size 7 needle!

Posted by: alison at August 18, 2003 5:24 PM

A bit of Fandango advice! It's REALLY lint-y. Whack those skeins within an inch of their fluffy lives before you knit. You'll still get fuzzy but much less than if you don't whack them - speaking from fluffy experience! I made a huge scarf out 3 skeins of Fandango. I love it but despite whacking and washing it still sheds like mad and messes up my black wool coat.

Posted by: Regina at August 20, 2003 1:29 PM

Thanks for the tip, Regina. I'll try to de-fluff mine before starting the project. It's such lovely stuff - too bad that it has shedding issues. Note to mom: don't plan on wearing any black turtlenecks under the vest!

Posted by: alison at August 20, 2003 4:17 PM