Tuesday, November 02, 2010

What I bought......

And honestly?
This might be a little bit of a let down because I didn't actually buy that much. lol

I was sorely tempted by the mountains and mountains of squishy sock yarn but I currently have enough sock yarn stashed to outfit the entire US Army so I was.....*BIG SIGH*.........good and didn't buy any more. (Not gonna lie though - I died a little inside leaving there with no sock yarn. There is currently a teeny tiny black hole of deadness in my soul. Just a speck, really but *weeps*.)

So what did I get? For starters I got some more Mini Mochi balls - same thing I purchased last year, only in a different color. I just loved how the colors on these little guys knit up on my swirl scarf and LOVE LOVE LOVED this colorway in particular. It seems like a 'grown up' or 'fall' rainbow:
What am I going to do with it? Not sure. There is more than enough for a good sized scarf or shawl or even 1 pair of socks and small scarf.

I also got two skeins of Manos Silk Blend:
They had a sample scarf, very simple pattern (which was free for the taking!), that was adorable and luscious and I liked these colors.

And then..................... there was this:
It looks so innocent in this picture, doesn't it? I assure you it is not. lol
What is it? It's a Giant Skein by the Hand Painted Knitting Co. It's a MASSIVE skein of yarn (comes 16 -32 ounces, this is the 24 ounce) made up of TWELVE (!!) different kinds of yarns. It looks like one continuous line of yarn when in a ball like this but the 12 yarns are very carefully skeined so that you can pull each one off, one at a time, and 'cake' them like this:
 There are two boucles, a couple mohair, a couple 100% wool ones, a couple bamboo/silk/wool ones, two glitter ones, one fuzzy 'fantasy' one, a tweed one, etc..........all in the same hand painted colorway.

I wanted one of these with a white hot burning last year but I was not prepared in any way for how much they cost (which is considerable, IMHO) so I ended up not getting it. So I squirreled away some money in preparation for this year's show and........I was still hesitant to spend that much. I was still walking around deciding what I was going to buy (this included) and when I met up with the husband again (he was off watching the Rally to Restore Sanity on his phone) he actually had gone and purchased one of these skeins for me!!! ENABLER! CRACK PEDDLER! So I got my Giant Skein and none of guilt - WIN/WIN!!!!!!!!

What do you *DO* with a Giant Skein? Well, you can do a lot of things with it but I really wanted it to make a lap blanket. They have a bunch of samples knitted up and I lurvvvvvvvvvvved them to death. They are soft and warm, but not too heavy, pretty, and I liked the way it has a lot of different textures because of the 12 different yarns. (Kathryn Ivy's blog has one she did not too long ago and it is to die for, IMHO. She didn't use a Giant Skein but it's the same idea - many different kinds of yarn in a feather/fan pattern.)

After I got these babies caked up, I got to work on it and.............
 ...after two nights of working on it I'm still not through all 12 kinds of yarn yet! (Each one is used for 3 rows, in a feather & fan pattern, before you go on to the next kind of yarn. THAT'S A CRAZY AMOUNT OF KNITTING, Y'ALL. I think I may have just signed up for another project that will take me 3.86 years to finish!! lolol And I need a longer cable needle because the one I have now is dangerously short for holding on to 226 stitches on size 10 needles! (I have no idea how wide this thing really is because I have to keep it scrunched up to stay on the cable!) I'll keep ya posted on how it is coming. :)

Oh, and I also got a couple patterns to try making a hat:

So, all in all, not too much damage? I wanted a Della Q knitting bag really really bad.........but didn't want to spend $40 on it. (Maybe next year.) Wanted some more Bugga! sock yarn but, really, I do NOT need anymore sock yarn. I didn't even LOOK at the Blue Moon Fiber Arts display because that would surely be a black hole in which I would  never see my wallet again. There were the fair isle mitten kits that I looked at........twice...but I know I can put my own 'kit' together for half the price. Sooooooooo......I think I did a good job at being reasonable! :)

11 comments:

Julie said...

Great buys, that huge skein of yarn is amazing, the blanket looks so gorgeous.

Love the hat pattern

Sharlotte said...

What terrific yarn Melanie!! I don't know which is my favorite. I have seen the first one in the yarn store here. It is really gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, my husband is my crack dealer, too. The man won't say no to me. Oh the monster he has created! Love the new yarn!

Margaret said...

Ooooh nice!!! I absolutely love that 12 yarn blanket! Fantastic! I can't wait to see more of that one! Love all the yarn you bought - nice patterns for hats too! I think you were very good. I would have gone crazy. lol!

valerie said...

Fun yarn! That giant skein is amazing! I'm going to be watching your progress because I just know that will be a big WOW when it's done! I'm glad you had fun! We have Stitches coming soon...got the brochure. I haven't knit in forever though. Thank goodness I have a one track mind. Cross stitch is dangerous enough! lol

KarenV said...

Oooh! I love everything you bought, but particularly the colours of that Mini Mochi (I might have to track some of that down for a hat for me) and also the lap blanket - that is going to be gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

That blanket is going to be a work of ART!!! Such beautiful colors.

Ranae said...

That yarn is to die for
Have fun!!!

Pretty Things said...

Maybe you should find a Yahoo group, or a blog, that trades yarn stashes? I've run a few bead swaps before, and it's a great way to get new stuff and part with old stuff and not spend money!

ViviBijoux said...

I love the first batch of yarn, the colors are unbelievable ^_^ Virginie

Pumpkin said...

All I can say is thank goodness I don't knit or crochet because I'd be in SERIOUS trouble! Those fibers and colors are delish :oP

Your lap blanket is going to be gorgeous!