A Wool Gathering

Saturday turned out to be a perfect day for A Wool Gathering.  The day couldn’t have been better. It was sunny and slightly cool and just… beautiful! The drive up was fantastic, even though we got slightly detoured and took the scenic route. I was able to wear my Rogue and received a number of compliments on it, which of course always makes me feel really great. I enjoyed about every single booth there as well as all the animals. I even got to have pumpkin ice cream (we were at a diary farm!), which was very tasty. I found some places that I will be visiting sometime in the near future because they aren’t all that far from me.

There were only a few things that I purchased while I was there. I bought some hand-dyed 100% hemp yarn (600 yards worth for $10), 4 skeins of Jojoland Fingering Weight Wool (880 yards, $12), and a really nice bag made by a Guatemala fair-trade company (for only $25!). I’m happy with my purchases and proud of myself for not going crazy with all the fiber and yarn there. I found some really nice things, but I passed them up because they weren’t things that called to me super strongly. I was able to see some yarns that I hadn’t before and now I know what they are like and feel more confident about buying them online when I find that right colorway. I learned quite a bit about spinning wheels and now have a much better idea of what I’m looking for and what that price range will be. All in all, I had a really good time!

I’ve been thinking about the Jojoland that I purchased.

Originally I thought this was more of a rose color, but apparently because of the red tent, I wasn’t seeing it correctly. It’s okay, though, because I still really like the purple color it actually is. I had planned on making a pair of the Clessidra socks which require about 880 yards of fingering weight yarn for a pair. This seemed like an awful lot of yarn for a pair of knee socks considering I have smallish feet, but I didn’t want to not have enough and at $3/each, I figured I could get the extra. Now, looking through Ravelry, I’m seeing that most people only used about 660 yards (give or take) for a pair. That would leave me with a whole extra one, which would mean yet another single skein in my stash that I have no clue what to do with. So I’m re-thinking the plan. I really like the color and there’s something I haven’t made yet that I would have enough yarn for: Clapotis.

I realize that I may be the last knitter to make this, but I just hadn’t found the right yarn for the project. I attempted the pattern before, but it was when I was an inexperienced knitter and thought that I can substitute any yarn for any pattern and knew nothing of this thing called gauge or yarn weights. I used Sugar ‘n Cream cotton. It didn’t work out – it was entirely too thick and I didn’t like it that much, so it was frogged. I think this yarn would be a good choice, though, and I have enough yarn for it.

Of course, I’m trying not to start new projects right now. I have one that I will be starting very soon, but aside from that one, I’m trying to clear the WIPs I have. This includes two sweaters, a shawl, a pair of socks (which is a given now), a scarf/shawl (Wisp), another scarf, a bag and a blanket. I think it’s the shawl that’s nagging at me because I started it forever ago. I have been working on the bag, but the cable rows are daunting just like they are on Starlight. I think the bag is my new "priority" because I know that if I actually work in it, it’d be done in no time.

There’s still a zillion things I want to knit right this second, but I’m determined to get some things done before casting on all those "new" projects I’m dying to make. So far, it’s working out pretty good. We shall see how long that last, though!