Monday, February 06, 2006

More yarn

Another week has gone by. We still don't have the first FO of 2006; we still don't have a gallery of last year's FOs; we do, however, have more yarn.

More?

'Fraid so:



This is three skeins of Henry's Attic "Monty" which is going to be transformed into the Spanish Christening Shawl from Cheryl Oberle's "Folk Shawls". (There is a picture of the shawl on that page, if you want to see it.) This is the yarn specified in the pattern and I am so pleased I got it.

It seems the yarn is only available in the US and it just seems ridiculous to have wool sent half-way round the world (it probably came from Australia in the first place, which means it's circumnavigated the globe), so I thought about a substitution. Preferably something that is easily available in the rural backwater. A little bit of research on Yarndex and Wiseneedle and I decided on Jaeger Baby Merino (50g=200yds, which compares well with the Henry's Attic, 8oz=840yds) Note how we are mixing the metric and imperial measures here - I never was great at maths and this just adds to the general confusion. I wasn't confused about the price, though. It was going to cost me over £40 to get the stuff I needed. I decided to check out using the yarn suggested. Various places on-line stock it (some of which don't ship to the rural backwater!) and tracked it down in an ebay store for only $11.50 per skein. This is quite a saving and even when we factor in the cost of shipping, I have still saved over £10. Many thanks to Marty at Catnip Yarns, for quick and efficient service - a very quick response to my query as to shipping cost, an email to tell me the yarn had been shipped (on the same day I ordered it). Special mention must also be made of the USPS and the good old Royal Mail. The yarn was shipped on 2nd Feb (last Thursday) in New Hampshire and arrived, safe and sound, in the rural backwater this morning. (Monday) I don't see how it could have come quicker.

The yarn feels beautiful - soft as butter. I haven't had the chance to wind it into balls yet but I know it's going to be a lovely job.

Clapotis is still boring - I have finally reached the decreasing section, it's all downhill from here. The pink baby jacket is almost finished - I have bought in 85% chocolate in view of the large amount of grafting there is to be done.

Today is #1 son's birthday - I have spent the day making birthday cake (chocolate coffee delight); meringues (with the egg whites left from aforementioned cake); asparagus rolls; hummous; pizza dough and all whatnot. I have managed 5 rounds of knitting on the pink jacket cuff. It's a wonder I have time to do any knitting at all!

Happy Birthday, Babe.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The yarn looks lovely. Just a note of caution about buying from overseas (you probably know anyway): I have just bought some yarn from the States and was stung for customs duty of £11 and handling fee from Parcel Force of £13!
Good luck with the shawl.

Daisy said...

Oooh that yarn looks yummy - thanks for the link.
All that food sounds yummy too...

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday kiddo!

The yarn looks beautiful and it will make an incredible shawl. I love the feel of good laceweight yarn. Sometimes I just buy the stuff to just have it around to touch.

Keep decreasing on the Clapotis- the end is almost in sight! I have gotten a lot of compliments on mine- for some reason people seem to notice it.

Anonymous said...

Dear Kate : Yes!! snow is normal. Last week we had the hottest day - 38*C ish, for over twenty years, and today the International Cricket One Day match ( Sri Lanka/ RSA)was on and people were 'frolicking' in the snow on the mountain!! We have actually had snow on Christmas Day. Tasmania has real weather. We even have a special Bureau of Meteorology. Most of Australia is on level 3 or 4 water restrictions : 5 lites a day per person and that's all. We are lucky here. We have a big Hydro dam just 5 km up the hill.
Today at our Knitting Coven we were bemoaning the lack of lace weight yarn available here : ie NONE!!! If you can buy it, it has to be imported - very pricey postage!!!
Cooking sounds great, hope the Birthday is a Happy One!!! I will look into the lace knitting thing!!
Love
Cindy,
Harki-Parki-Parker-Posey and
Peri Naughty the Golden Labradors