Got Molly?

I'm sure lately that there has been an increase the the word Molly on a few knitting blogs out there, and this blog is no exception. Why the increase you ask? Well the Wollmeise has come out with a worsted weight yarn to replace Lammdochtwolle which was also worsted but more like Manos or Malabrigo (single ply) with Molly which is just like her sock yarn (many piles) just a bit thicker.

I wanted enough Molly to make a sweater. Wollmeise sells Molly in individual skeins, 400 grams, and 800 grams (which I call an 8-ball). There are 220 yards in 100 grams so I ideally I wanted 6 skeins. I got 4 skeins in the update 2 days ago, there are a few sweater patterns out there that I could have made but I went on the hunt to see if someone wanted to trade Wollmeise Lace for Molly. Luckily there was another Ravelry and swapper that wanted to trade with me. So now I will have an 8-ball of Molly, very exciting. I just hope that the two dye lots match, I will probably sort them and then knit from alternating skeins.

I wish that the color I got Fliederbusch, which is Lilac in English was a little more solid than variegated. Because I found a lot of patterns with crazy cables that I would love to make with Molly but I think the color will clash with a complicated pattern (sigh). I imagine that it's the darker lilac that this yarn is in tribute to.



Now to find the perfect pattern which you would hope would be easy.

Also I had to re-start my "I Haven't Bought Yarn In" clock, I've re-set it twice both times for Wollmeise.

My Favorite Thing (right now)

I got a chance yesterday to take my shawl outside while I was running around town, and thankfully I decided at the last minute to take my camera. I took a few shots of my new favorite thing outside and I thought I would share them.





And now on to very cute small lovely baby things. There are three babies coming up in 4 months, gotta get working on gifts.

SIMURGH!

A.K.A. The Stole That Used to Scare the Shit Out of Me.

That's right I'm finished.
It's blocking right now. Don't believe me?
Here are some pictures.



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This was a project that scared me from the beginning, but I always tell people that knitting is just a knit stitch and a purl stitch in different combinations, and that they should be the master of their own knitting. SO I took my advice casted on and I'm happy to report I finished it.

There were several tinkings but over all it was fine, except for a dropped stitch on the first half. I tried to fix it but it was really bothering me but I let it go because the edging it very complicated and it sucked big time to do it the first time. I convinced myself that it was fine, no one would see it and I would just have to get over it.

So when I finished the second side I was so proud, but my lame "trying to fix the dropped stitch" thingy was really bothering me. So I ripped the first half back to the patch, and re-knit it. The bottom edge is directional and the first half of the stole is a pain in the ass because it has a bunch of P2TBL. So if I had to chose I would have much rather ripped the second half, but that's not the side I dropped the stitch. This project is probably the most complicated I have ever knit and since it's lace I didn't fudge anything, if I had the wrong stitch count I tinked it, every time, and I'm so glad I did.

I calculated that the stole takes 61,714 stitches to complete it, needless to say that there were tinked stitches and the entire two bottom sections that I ripped out and re-knit so I figured I was close to 65,000 stitche, pretty cool huh?

I'm so excited about this project I can't even describe it.

The Mail Fairy Was Good To Me Today

Today the Mail Fairy was ever so nice to me.

First up Sanguine Gryphon in Bugga which is a merino, nylon and cashmere blend. People are going crazy over this yarn. I mean so crazy that the traffic crashes her site and she had to get a new server. And while her site was being move she decided to have a Bugga lottery. I didn't get picked in the first lottery but I did get picked in the second (and I think final one). There were colorway choices that you could choose from, two skeins total max.

The first one is called Hogwood Bonking Beetle, it's a bit darker in real life. This was outside my normal color box but I like it and with a name like that how could I pass it up.



The second one is called Agre Moth, this is more green/blue/dark teal in real life, the saturation is amazing and I can't wait to see what it becomes.



The next thing that I opened was a trade that I made last week. The great thing about trading is that both people get what they want and I didn't have to spend more than shipping cost to the other person (even better). I scored two Peppermint Prince (PP) lace skeins from the Wollmeise update that I caught, I figured I would just trade one for one of the purples that I was lusting big time over. I put in the note section of my stash that I would trade for purple lace. I didn't think anyone would bite, but I got a PM asking if I would trade my PP for a skein of lace in Fliederbusch (which was my number one choice). So I mailed off my lace last week and this is what I got today. I'm so in love with this colorway it's not even funny. It's so hard to capture the true color of this yarn, it's a bit darker in real life.



The next thing that came was the last installment of the Wollmeise Sock Club. Which come to find out from the Wollmeise herself will be the first and last sock club. There was too much drama so she said she didn't want to do another one, which is sad but totally understandable. The last two colors are Blue Bells and True Love. I love Blue Bells, I'm not so sure about True Love, I will have to find the right pattern for it I think.

True Love is on the top and Blue Bells on the bottom.



And last but not least here is the latest installment of the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Sock Club. The colorway is called Pepe Le Plume and the pattern is called Fraggle Squiggle Socks by JC Briar. It was inspired by the old cartoon Fraggle Rock, I thought that it was going to be much brighter but the colorway is interesting. I haven't casted on yet, and I don't know if I will right now. Here is a picture of Pepe La Plume:

I Think It's Safe Now . . .

. . . to admit I've been trying to knit a project that scares the shit out of me.

I've been hording my Wollmeise in Versuchskaninchen I(which means guinea pig) and looking for the perfect project. I first thought that since I had 4 matching skeins of it that I would knit a sweater. But I didn't know what pattern to chose and I didn't want something that would fall out of style or not fit me if a gain or loose weight. So the next thought was lace (I'm coming around to the thought of a a triangular shawl) but I have always loved stoles. And I have always loved Anne Hanson's lace patterns, and thanks to Ravelry I found the stole I wanted to make.

Simurgh.

Even typing it sort of scares me. But I keep telling myself that it's just a bunch of knit and purl stitches and that no one's life depends on it so just go for it. The only reason why I'm even blogging about it because I'm already 112 rows into it so hopefully I can hang in there. It's made in two parts from the center so when you get one part of it finished you have to remind yourself that you have to do it again. I have done a few beginning lace projects and my Lakeside knee high socks were a more complicated lace project so I thought I would try this pattern.

Here is a picture, it's a bit wonky because it's hard to get a picture of lace pre-block.



The colorway that I chose is more variegated than it should be for the pattern but it doesn't matter to me, I love this yarn and the pattern. I just hope that I can get it done and not stall or have a melt-down. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

You Had Me At Lace

Saturday was a really good day. I got my wonderful package from Germany. And all I have to say is you had me at lace. The lace is more than I can describe, it's amazing. The yardage is HUGE, 1740 yards per skein, per skein! I was lucky and I got three colors of lace, here they are:

Pfefferminz Prinz (Peppermint Prince): a really cool mix of green and blue


Miss May: purples, pink and little bit of brown


Rhabarber (Rhubarb) shades of green and red (it's a bit darker IRL)


I have some projects in mind for the yarn, but right now I'm not going to commit, I'm just going to sit and admire it.

Another reason why Saturday was also great because ItShe, Grape and I went to a book signing party for Knitting in the Sun because our friend Anne of CraftyDiversions has two lovely patterns in the book. It was great to see Anne again and met her friend Chia (hopefully we will see them again soon). It was really nice to be able to see the patterns from the book all knit up. There are a lot of really nice patterns in a lot of different categories, something for everyone. There are a few patterns that I wanted to knit right away, but I have something on the needles that scares the shit out of me right now and that's what I'm concentrating on right now. If the "project that scares the shit out of me" ends up working I will post pictures of it soon.

44 Days 16 Hours and About 6 Minutes . . .

That's how long I lasted without buying yarn. It is with mixed emotions that I post that I have broken my streak.

What yarn could be worth breaking the "trying really hard to knit from the stash streak"? There is only ONE answer for me and that is:

WOLLMEISE LACE

I have been stalking Wollmeise lace since it first debuted. I have always wanted it, desperately. I have managed to catch about 7 or 8 updates but never bought anything because there was no lace. I even put up two skeins of matching Versuchskaninchen 1 to trade in hope of catching the elusive beast, but there were no takers.

But I have broken my no new yarn fast for a good reason. I was able to get my hot little hands on some Wollmeise Lace . . . I still can't believe it. This post is edited to add that I did the math (I know the horror of me doing math) and I figured out that the entire cost of the yarn plus international shipping divided by the yardage (which is incredible) comes out to about .0252 cents a yard, which is less than a cent a foot, which is a price I can totally live with.

When it gets here I'll take its picture so you can all see it! Yippie!