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.