A long time coming

I lost my knitting groove for a while there. Knitting, and writing, and lots of other things fell by the wayside while I settled into a new routine, a new job, etc. Well, we're at the end of the school year, I'm off from June 15 to August 15, and in even bigger news, I'm getting married on Saturday!

So that's the Real Life news. As for knitting, I've been doing a lot but not finishing much. Since the spats, I've finished one of a pair of opera gloves (also in the bamboo wool), most of a Minimalist Cardigan in Carbon Twit Wool of the Andes, and started about fifty thousand other things. I'm halfway through a vest from Fitted Knits, and am on the third rip-out of both the Hexacomb Cardigan from the Spring Interweave Knits and the Honeycomb vest from the current issue of Knitty.

I've set that all aside, though. Yes. I have been seduced away from complex projects by the simple beauty of a pair of socks. Actually, it's not the sock pattern-- "Celebrate" by SockPixie-- so much as the yarn. You see, I went to Maryland Sheep and Wool last weekend, and much yarn carnage ensued. I came home with three skeins of naturally-dyed Wensleydale fingering weight yarn for 16th century stockings, a skein of "Cherry Bomb" handpainted fingering yarn from CloverHill Yarn Shop in Baltimore, and a skein of Woolarina Handpaint superwash merino/bamboo/nylon sock yarn in "Shimmer."

And it's that last yarn that has sucked my attention away. It's so soft and squishy and pettable, and it knits up so very beautifully, that I just want to knit and knit and knit. Nevermind that it takes most of a movie to do a repeat of the sock pattern.

I did wrangle a couple of good bargains at MDSW. I nabbed a copy of Richard Rutt's A History of Handknitting at long last, from a merchant who I have seen at local SCA events. I took the opportunity to snap up another baggie of grains of paradise while I was there. I also found a jar of hand salve in a honey-almond scent. Happily, the lovely stuff has no lanolin or other allergens in it.

And then I had my grand moment of weakness. I was examining the skeins of yarn at one of the mill-ends shops and I ran into a fellow Raveler. Jessica and I were both eyeing up two huge hanks of a mystery wool-- a pound of wool for under $20 each. We both sort of hemmed and hummed and prodded and squished. . . and somehow ended up daring each other to buy a skein, make a project, and keep up with each other on Ravelry. So now I have a project buddy and a pound of what almost looks like handspun wool (in a barberpole-style ply) in a colourway that shades from a plummy purple to brown/green/gold/tan.

Jessica, I think I'm going to make the Cozy V-Neck Pullover Sweater from Fitted Knits. If I'm right, there should be about 1300 yards in the hank I grabbed. As soon as this wedding thingie is over, I'm going to swatch up a bit and see what it looks like.

Pictures imminent.