A finished object! New yarn!

No, really! It has been for-ever since there has been any productivity on this front (or any other really). I have been making progress the Secret Project and will have photos of the finished thing soon.

As I noted my dear friend Glamour Girl has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Treatment for such things requires chemo which means hair loss. Poring over patterns in my collection of magazines, xeroxed sheets, and of course the internet resulted in a lot of ideas and some hesitation. Which one, what yarn do I have in my stash that would work.

Finally I settled on the New York Hat, which is appropriate as she lives in NYS. The flower and bow options did not inspire me so I knew I would have to search out a button. Oh, and of course yarn. This yarn was some I purchased off eBay eons ago in this colourway as well as a pink version (which I used for Tigger). I had no idea what I would use it for but evidently I bought it for this.

The pattern called for size 10.5 needles which of course I don't have. But no matter. I used a size 10 circular to cast on and switched to some nasty vintage white plastic double points. Gauge was a funky thing as mine didn't match the pattern in stitches or rows so there was some knitting, ripping, knitting, and fudging. The pattern is a fun, fast knit. But then came the really exciting part - shopping for a button. Stone Mountain Daughters, a store that is way too much fun. It took a little while as there were some lovely choices but then suddenly it was an easy decision.

Is that not a great button? Here is a not great shot of the hat, modeled by The ever patient GF.


I actually popped into the mail quickly and Glamour Girl has received it already. Yeah me.

Saturday Jennie and I went to Lambtown for a day of chatting and fondling fiber. It was a fabulous day and yes, I bought yarn. Jennie is such an enabler! We stopped at Carolina Homespun where we learned about long draw spinning. Jennie had great time playing with the wheel and even made me sit to give it a go. I certainly can see doing this in the future! We spent a lot of time over at Yarn Place where I found this yarn that intrigued me but I said, "I have no idea what I would do with it." It was then that The Great Enable struck her vulnerable prey. "Oh, there's enough yardage to make Cozy!" A pattern she knew I wanted to make. Curses! I was ruined. The ten hanks of what turned out to be banana fiber fell into my hands. Sorry for the lousy photo, it was hard to shoot and I wasn't able to capture the accurate colour and the sheen in one shot. I really hope it works for the pattern. It has taken all my control to keep working on the secret project (the finish line in sight - finally!) and not ball up this stuff to swatch.


On the way out I saw some soft lovely yarn in great colours for my next secret project... It was on sale too, only $4 a ball so I picked up 3, just in case though I think I will only need two. Alpaca with a Twist "Punch", in Gooseberry. In person the colour is pinker, again not a great day of shooting here at Casa de Cedar.

We also stopped at Maia's booth, Sincere Sheep. Oh the colours, all natural dyes. Also Maia was so friendly and easy to chat with it was hard to move on to see other booths. She invited me to a spinning potluck on Sunday and I am trying to figure out if I can go!

So now I have some new things inspiring me. Oh, I got suckered in and signed up for Ravelry. At this point it will be mid-late October before I get my invite. Just as well since I will be up to my eyeballs in boxes and hopefully renovating a house until at least then.