Oh Yummy!

Nothing more delicious than new yarn. This pile of lusciousness just came in the mail today. It's all Cascade 220, which I just scored off the Webs website (www.yarn.com) for $5 a skein (normally $7). Not sure how long it's on sale, but I checked tonight and it's still at that price. Cascade 220 is just a nice, basic, all-purpose, affordable wool yarn that comes in a kazillion colors and felts REALLY well...and it's quite soft too.

The colors may seem somewhat random, but I actually have two projects in mind for all these skeins. When I will find the time to actually sit down and make those projects is another matter entirely.

This is in addition to the 40 balls of yarn I purchased on sale last weekend...enough to make two sweaters. I already have the patterns picked out and downloaded...and so the yarn and patterns sit, waiting patiently until the day I find make the time.

So all in all, I'm about 7 projects deep at this very moment. But hey, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Cascade also comes in 'paints.' Here is a color called 'Thunder.' It's gorgeous. My photo doesn't do it justice, so here's the one off the website...

I think I will make another pair of those French Press Felted Slippers with this yarn. It will pretty much match 50% of my wardrobe. The green ones I made match another 40% of my wardrobe and if I get ambitious, I will make a red pair that will match the remaining 10%. But let's be rational.

Currently...

I am testing my baby parka pattern, by knitting another of the 3 sizes offered in the pattern. I bought the cheapest yarn I could get at the local yarn store, which is still a nice 100% New Zealand wool yarn in a vibrant 'Superman' blue. I am just making sure the pattern makes sense in all the sizes represented.

Cozy Toes

Too cute! I just finished these felted slippers from French Press Knits. I was inspired by two things: 1) The Yarn Harlot had made them and 2) It's starting to get a bit chillier here in New Zealand as winter approaches.

I got the yarn on the north island while traveling. It's from Creative Fibre in Tauranga, New Zealand. The color is called 'Fern' and is inspired by the 'Ponga,' a native New Zealand tree fern. It is an '8-ply' yarn which works out to be similar to worsted weight.

The buttons are made from 'Paua' shell, the New Zealand Maori word for a shellfish similar to Abalone.

These cute slippers are a pretty fast knit as you use big U.S. 15 needles and worsted-weight wool yarn. The Yarn Harlot says you can knit them in 90 minutes. I'm not sure about that -- but I should time myself if I make a second pair (and I JUST MIGHT!). You knit 2 or 3 strands together to get a denser felt on the finished product. The pattern calls for 150 grams of yarn, but I made the largest size (9/10) and weighed all the pieces on my digital scale and it only weighed 115 grams before felting...so 120 grams would cover it for the largest size, but I guess it depends on the kind of yarn you are using as well. Probably best to go with what the pattern says, just in case.

I have been forming a relationship with my front loading washer in order to figure out the best way to felt. It's going well. We are bonding. I discovered yesterday that the hot water does not enter into the washer until at least 20 minutes into the cycle. So I leave my stuff in there for 30-35 minutes to start. Then I stop it, drain the machine, check the work and repeat for another 30 minutes if it needs it. My washer won't let me stop mid-way in the cycle...the door stays locked until I drain the washer, then I need to reset the whole thing and start the cycle over again from the beginning. Kind of a pain...but it's working.