SEX

Well, that title should get attention from some search engines or something... (For the non-knitters reading this, SEX is, of course, an abbreviation for a Stash Enhancement Expedition. Read on, and all will become clear. Or, at the very least, you'll see pretty pictures of yarn.)

Last Sunday was the Royal Oak Stitch'n'Bitch's grand summer roadtrip to Threadbear in Lansing. Three of us went - Julie was meant to join us but had family commitments at the last minute. Still, we're definitely going to plan an Autumn trip there too. Just as soon as my budget has had time to recover ... from...


This! Here's my Stash Enhancement from a store that I could quite happily spend all day and all my money in. Let's break this down a little.

Starting at the front. This is Kid Seta from Madil. According to Rob at Threadbear, this is the exact same yarn, from the exact same mill as Rowan's Kidsilk Haze ... but in a wider range of colours, and $5 cheaper per skein. It's wonderfully soft and fuzzy, and as you can see, has already found its way onto the needles. It's going to be a rectangular shawl, with a simple lace pattern. Coz I'm working my way up to...

This - 3 skeins of the same yummy stuff in a deep deep green. This is destined (currently) to become the Kiri Shawl from All Tangled Up. I figure that once I've done those two, the Fiddlesticks seacreatures one should be a breeze. Ah, nothing like optimism.


OK, continuing on. I also purchased a bunch of Trendsetter's Dune yarn, to make three more Potato Chip Scarves. These are destined for Christmas presents. From the bottom left working clockwise, the shades are 61, 06 and 84.

Here's the next splurge (and this was a total impulse buy..er.. unlike..well.. the Dune at least). This is Angel, from Lorna's Laces, in Purple Club. It's 70% angora and 30% lambswool. They had a simple 2x2 ribbed scarf on display and I just fell in love with how soft it was and how yummy it felt. And then they happened to have just the right number of skeins in the purple shade for me to make one too. Definitely destiny. Or fate. Or something.

And last but not least ... Cascade Fixation. This is a wonderfully elastic and stretchy yarn that is ideal for ... yep ... socks. I can't let Michelle and Suz and all the other sock-knitting bloggers be the only ones to have fun. So I have the socks, and a pattern ... and I've got to go out and do a needle purchase soon anyway... so keep an eye out for sock-happenings. As they say on the QueerKnit email list, I am indeed crossing over to the dark side.

It was a wonderful afternoon, capped off by a wonderful mexican meal. And then the next day, I got to show it all off at Stitch'n'Bitch. Jodi was there, and Amanda and Julie for a bit - and Terry got off work early so came along to watch this strange phenomenon. I got some good help and advice on TSP 2 - which is now probably about 85% done. I'm so impressed with myself, both because of how it's coming out, and also because I've managed to refrain from posting pictures of it here.

TSP 4 is about 2/3 done, but has stalled because I've somehow managed to lose my 10 1/2 dpns. I usually keep everything together for one project in a bag - and the green envelope containing them is no longer in there. I've looked around the house, but may just have to sigh, and go out and get more.

So that's the knitting updates. Wavy has progressed a bit, as has the aggressive scarf which I'm now really rather fond of. Branching out is starting repeat 2 (of 27!) but I think I'm going to take it with me to Colorado next week, where I should be able to get in some good knitting time inbetween trying to pretend to be a knowledgeable researcher.