Last Stitches Post 2007

I bought this knitting bag at Stitches. It says "Baskets from Cambodia" on a label in the interior. It was SO hard choosing the color, but when in doubt, go with the wildest, least conservative. Thus, spring green. The photo doesn't show this, but the base is kidney shaped to hug the body. The thing I'm having issues with is that I can't snug up the drawstring so that it shuts completely, try as I have. This is the kind of perfectionist I am. I end up breaking things once in a while because of it. I definitely overcook things. A little is good, a lot is better. I managed once to partially felt 900 grams of llama/wool that I'd overdyed by zapping it too long in the microwave. Oops. Another example is that I have a really, really, really hard time not putting more gas in after the pump stops. This is not what I set out to blog about, but I'm just killing time while the picture of the purse uploads. La di da di dum, di dum. Here is the rest of what I bought at Stitches. Just 5 skeins of yarn from Newton Farms' four-dollar yarn man. Last year he was the seven-dollar yarn man. This year he was the four-dollar yarn man and the skeins were smaller. Not a problem. The 2 pale blue skeins are 60/40 angora/merino. I have a weakness for angora. There was another color, but I had to think about the unknit angora I had at home. The other stuff is 100% rayon. It's soft and drapey. After returning home I realized it was a lot like some of the cotton I visit occasionally at the Elann site used for a vest I like. See? I think it'll knit at 5 to 5.5 stitches per inch. The labels were marked 80 yards, but I knew that was wrong. There is definitely more. The angora labels didn't state yardage at all.






How to measure? I remembered hearing that one could put a hank on the swift, measure the circumference of the swift, then count the revolutions as the ball is wound and do the appropriate math. I had no confidence in my ability to count the revolutions. But never fear, I figured out a way that probably everybody else already knows. Anyhow, first I laid out one hank so that it was double. I measured that length and doubled it to get the full length. Then I counted the number of strands in the hank and multiplied that amount by the length I'd gotten. Here is the best yarn shot I've ever taken. Actually there are 2 as you plainly see. The thing is, I couldn't decide which illustrated the counting of the strands better, and besides, I'm powerless over angora.

The next task was winding. All five hanks unrolled cleanly off the swift. That was a treat. Either I'm getting better or Newton Farms has a superior hanking method. A problem did develop between one of the angora skeins and the ball winder. Halfway through the skein this happened:





Oh, oh, big mishegoss (Yiddish mess).










Down to one little snarl. Piece of cake








The heart of the matter. It looked like I'd have to break the yarn.









Glasses off. Now I'm serious, and look! Success!









Aw, not again! Only 9 yards from the end? Sssssssssnap! Problem solved.