Thursday, October 19, 2006

Pre-Rhinebeck Post

Okay, I think I mentioned before that I'm going to be a square for Rhinebeck Blogger Bingo. For those of you who don't know me, I am about 5' 6", chin-length dirty blond hair and a big round Polish moon face. I will probably be carrying a large LL Bean tote bag with my initials in red (CJS). I will also try to remember to wear my Lyme Disease vinyl bracelet - it's lime/lyme green, har, har. I will probably have a Canon camera around my neck. I am highly likely to be in the company of other bloggers, particularly The Knitting Curmudgeon, KnitterGuy, NorskyBear, and QueerJoe. Please say hi. I am always so surprised and happy when people who read my blog introduce themselves. (Of course, at Maryland Sheep & Wool, I had the very humbling experience of going to the blogger meetup, and every time I told someone what my blog was, they looked puzzled and said "I've never heard of it.")

Finished the languishing red vest project and although it's quite simple, I'm very pleased with it.



Good thing, too, because it won't fit N. much longer.

I'm also working on 2 little kid sweaters for Dulaan or Afghans 4 Afghans. This vest is done in Nashua Wooly Stripes; it's a free pattern that is knit sideways.



There were a few things about the pattern I didn't like; the angled fronts of the vest curl, and the pattern suggests a crocheted edging, which I wasn't crazy about and ripped out. (May be more my lame-ass crocheting than anything else.) But I am in love with Wooly Stripes. It would substitute very well for Noro's Kureyon, as it's a 100% wool, loosely spun, self-striping yarn at around the same gauge. However, it has some distinct advantages over Kureyon (which, p.s. I'm not denigrating because I'll always love Kureyon -- those color runs!), namely it's uniformly spun (no stretches that trickle out to a thread, then get slubby a few yards later); the color ranges only span 3 or 4 colors, instead of the 8+ colors you can get with Kureyon (easier to match stripes and easier to tell what the finished color will look like); and it's softer than Kureyon. And I found no knots in any of the skeins.

The second is with Nashua Julia, a worsted-weight wool/alpaca/mohair blend. This is a very nice worsted weight yarn. It has a slight halo but shows great stitch definition and comes in lots of good, rich colors. I picked up the Julia at a long-ago Stitches and figured I'd play with it since I liked the Wooly Stripes so much.



Also a free pattern recommended by the Dulaan Project: it's a T-shirt-styled sweater. I knit the bottom in the round up to the armpits, then cast on stitches on either side for the sleeves. Very simple and quick to knit; also very warm.

I am working on another juicy post about the seamy underbelly of the yarn world, but I doubt it'll be ready 'til next week. In the meantime, you can be sure I'll take many photos this weekend so that those of you who can't make it to Rhinebeck will feel like you did.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey there--

You and Mar are both on my Bingo card (I'm a square, too) so I'll be especially happy to meet you and compliment you again on the beautiful "fern" roving which is still waiting for me to disentangle myself from other projects (and housework).

Have a safe trip--

Jude in obscureknitty

Sherry W said...

Have fun! You do NOT have a moon face!

Anonymous said...

I'm soooo jealous! I live way too far to go to Beck, but I am considering going to a closer festival in a couple of weeks in North Carolina called SAFF. It would still be almost a 4 hour drive each way though. Sigh... Have fun!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Huh. Just think. In 2 days I get to see what a Polish moon looks like.

Can't wait.

Carol said...

Be careful what you wish for, Ted. There are lots of different kinds of moons...

Anonymous said...

Ted, you'll actually get to see two Polish moons.
Or one-and-a-half--I'm only half Polish.

Mel said...

I am sooo looking forward to this weekend. I'll try to remember to bring along the BBF Dulaan sweater to show you. See you there!

mindy said...

You guys all have fun! Can't wait to hear all about it.
(by the way, vests and sweater all look great- and the Wooly Stripes does look like a fun yarn. Not BBF of course, but I'm a tad partial...)

Kelly said...

Where did you get that yarn from? I'm somewhat interested in knitting something with it now that you've mentioned it in your post.

Have fun at Rhinebeck, Carol! Make sure to get something that you really like, no matter what it is.

Carol said...

Hi Kelly. You can try emailing Lisa at rosiesyarncellar DOT com. She can tell you what's left in stock of both Julia and Wooly stripes.
Thanks!!

Norskybear said...

Can't wait to see my little pierogi!

Unknown said...

Hey, what about us Germans? I want to be someone's little Knodel.

Carol said...

You are, my little wienerschnitzel, you are.

Anonymous said...

Hi there! You're on my bingo card so I thought I'd pop into say hi!
See you at Rhinebeck!

Anonymous said...

Hi Carol, I will be at Rhinebeck and I hope to see you. I'll be wearing a scarf that I made from some of your lovely yarn. It's in the Autumn Leaves colorway to be exact, in case you spot it walking around the place (Hopefully, it will be attached to me at the time.)