One reason I wanted to finish my Bohus Blue Shimmer is that I needed to start playing with my Royal Alpaca. Somehow, I keep getting shipments of it from The Tangled Skein in St. Peter. I don’t know WHO could have been placing orders for additional skeins on my behalf. It’s a mystery.
After Susan posted about her Berry Cluster Pullover, I was reminded how much I wanted to knit that. As I may have mentioned, I have yarn in my stash — the actual yarn called for — to knit it. But I kept picturing it in my Royal Alpaca. So the question became: Cameo (the dusty pink) or Spanish Leather? I chose the Spanish Leather. The color is not real true in these photos. Although it’s a brown yarn, it has almost a pink undertone to it. It’s very pretty. And it feels like butter. I just started it a few days ago and will finish the back this evening.
Of course, I’m already mentally looking ahead to my next project or projects. I have several head starts I’d like to revisit: Mermaid, Lismore, and my Feather and Fan shawl. But I was also tempted into buying some yarn today. My friend Jennifer and I met for lunch today. Before we enjoyed our Burmese food (which I had never had before), we visited a brand new yarn shop in Hyattsville, MD. It just opened Tuesday. A Tangled Skein is a lovely store and the owners are delightful. (If the name sounds familiar, it’s true. There is The Tangled Skein in St. Peter, MN — the source of all of my lovely Royal Alpaca — and A Tangled Skein in Hyattsville.) There is no website up yet for A Tangled Skein, but there should be one shortly.
I bought — hmmm, this is embarrassing — more alpaca. My new yarn is Ultra Alpaca by Berroco. It’s a 50% alpaca 50% wool blend. It knits at 5 stitches to the inch and comes in 100 gram skeins of 215 yards. I bought this with the Eris zippered cardigan from The Girl from Auntie in mind. I even bought some Wildfoote sock yarn from Brown Sheep (color Mistletoe) to match.
Can you tell I have a thing for blueish-green? ‘Cause I do. I also bought a new sock book from Interweave, Favorite Socks, which is a compilation of many of their sock patterns from back issues. I have ALL of Interweave’s back issues, but I couldn’t resist. It’s nice to have them all in one place.
Love that ultra alpaca!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Jen — January 25, 2007 @ 7:31 pm
Wow, it looks totally different in the Royal Alpaca. Gorgeous, but different! That might suit my lifestyle better.
Comment by Marina — January 25, 2007 @ 7:40 pm
Birds of a feather! That is exactly the shade of blue/green that I have in mind for a new comforter/quilt/duvet cover for my room. I like it mixed with taupe. I love the yarn !
Comment by Michelle — January 25, 2007 @ 8:32 pm
I saw that Ultra Alpaca last weekend and it’s fantastic! It looks wooly and scratchy, but it feels so soft! The best of both worlds.
Comment by Renee — January 25, 2007 @ 9:59 pm
From Susan — I love how the Berry Cluster looks in the less fluffy yarn. I had originally swatched some extra fine merino — which looked very nice BTW — but ended up with the Jolie. Now I kind of wish I had stuck with the merino! Maybe I’ll make it again (!?!).
 RE: Eris — Surly, how about a sisterly knitalong? I’ll wait to start until you are done with Berry Cluster as long you keep plugging away at it! I have a very nice Cascade 220 to use for Eris.
Comment by lv2knit — January 26, 2007 @ 9:21 am
Berry Cluster looks berry pretty! And I’m just taking a wild guess- you like blue green and alpaca yarn.
Comment by Carrie K — January 26, 2007 @ 4:01 pm
quess you are not doing that knit from stash thing?(: Your pictures and knitting look so professional!
Comment by katomliz — January 26, 2007 @ 7:55 pm
From Susan — as I posted a couple of days ago, I have a sad and puny stash. Sally, on the other hand, could knit for years from hers, but why? Isn’t part of the fun in the hunt?
Comment by lv2knit — January 26, 2007 @ 10:04 pm
That first photo is suitable for Vogue — wow!
Comment by kmkat — January 27, 2007 @ 12:14 am
You know, after reading your post last week I looked for “Favorite Socks” at Barnes & Noble… and they said it wouldn’t be in until April. Is it released to LYS’s only until then, or did you somehow finangle a copy??? 🙂 I’ve all ready knit a few pairs (embossed leaves, waving lace) from the patterns listed, and am interested in seeing the anthology IK put together.
Comment by Debra — January 29, 2007 @ 12:40 pm