Yarn Highs

Lots of knittin' going on in these here parts lately. I swatched for the Hourglass last Thursday and had so much fun swatching that I went ahead and swatched for Astrid, the lovely boho shawl/scarf that resembles spider's webs clinging together. The only difference with this swatch, however, is that the swatch is part of the FO, the first large circle:

Here is Large Circle 1 after blocking. It needed blocking because without it, the edges are too tight and don't allow the circle to lay flat. I tried to get the true color (cardinal red) into the photos, but my mean camera with its heart of cold, cold metal wasn't having it. But it did relent and let me take a detail shot.

Berrocco's Ultra Alpaca Light is lovely. I haven't worn it next to my skin yet, but it's soft to work with and didn't bleed when I tossed Large Circle 1 into a bowl of suds. Red yarn! No bleeding!

I did see how making so many Large Circles and then Medium Circles and then Small Circles would get rather tiresome and tedious. So I set LC 1 aside and told her (it has to be "her,"
her name is Astrid!) to stay put because I will make sisters to join her when I get bored of whatever else is on the needles.

Like this sock:
It's the Uptown Boot Sock from IK's Favorite Socks. The yarn colors are coming out a bit bright. The fuchsia portion is much more of a deep raspberry-burgundy color. It really looks like red wine that's been flung over grass. Although the wine getting absorbed into the soil is not a part of this image.

Has anyone ever heard of this yarn called Koigu? No? Well, let me tell you all about it. It's beautiful. So beautiful that I would squeal while knitting it up if I weren't completely sure that one of my roommates would hear me and think I was being attacked by wild pigs. It is a bit rope-y in texture, but I consider it part of the appeal. I knit oddly: I don't wind the yarn at all around my hand, I just hold it between my thumb and forefinger. And it's kinda nice to feel the ridges along Koigu as it flows between my fingers.

You know, I am so enamored of the stockinette portion of socks that I really should just knit a pair of plain ol' stockinette socks. I also realized that there is nothing ever wrong with purchasing more sock yarn. Sock yarn is meant to be stashed. It likes it. It enjoys marinating in your yarn bins while you think of a pattern to go with it. And it's so pleased with itself when you ooh and ahh as you knit it up. Yup.

I also started the Hourglass, after waiting for the swatch to dry. I've heard people say that Karabella Aurora grows like a mofo when it gets wet, but my swatch behaved quite nicely. I dunked it in cold, sudsy water, pressed it dry in a towel and laid it out on my bookshelf to dry flat. No change. Gauge? Same. Overall size? Same. Feel? Same...still soft and luscious. This is where I am now:

I'm making just a few mods to it. I'm adding an extra decrease and increase to make the waist a little smaller. I'm making the increases more rapidly than it says to accommodate the girls. And, I'm not hemming. No hemming. Instead, I'm using seed stitch. See?

What else can I say about this project? It moves so fast that I had to tink back twice when I overshot how many rows I needed before the next set of decreases. The yarn is so soft that I almost can't believe it sometimes, especially after knitting with Skye Tweed. The melange is perfect for such an otherwise plain-jane sweater. Preliminary attempts to hold it against my body make me think it might be a perfect fit: Loose and swingy, but not potato sack-ish. So far? Lookin' good, Hourglass.

In other news,

1) I am going to purchase yarn for Rannoch. It's going to happen. Yoda says, "Do or do not. There is no try."

2) My mom bought me a Korean knitwear book that has some very appealing patterns in it. She also promised to help me translate it so I can figure out what I'm doing. I'm very excited about some of the patterns and I'll post photos of the book later this week. I'm not so excited about having to resize everything because Korean fashion designers think that every woman has a 32" bust.

3) I am working on my first design. It's small. Nothing crazy. I am not jumping into design with a ginormous sweater with cables up the wazoo. But I think it's purty. I'm hoping to finish by Friday. Again, Yoda says, "Do or do not. There is no try."