Coming clean with snazzy jazz

When I returned from Stitches West this year (February), I took inventory of my stash. I was astonished to find, no, really I was, that it had turned into some behemoth blob squishing out from every corner I had it stored in. Actually, I was almost embarrassed that it had become so ridiculously out of control. Then, I saw my friend Tracy's after she organized her stash room, and I had nothing over her! It was too late though.....I had already made a promise to myself, my husband, my knitsibs, that I wouldn't be purchasing anymore yarn for the rest of the year. Trust me, the knitsibs have been watching me like a hawk!! And there was no way they were going to let me rescind that promise. They did make an allowance for me though when I joined my local guild for a field trip to Lisa Souza's. I do have to say though, that when I made that promise, in the fine print, I stipulated that if I were to buy more yarn, I had to already have a project in mind for it, and I had to cast on immediately. There would be NO stash enhancement, and I first had to check my stash to see if I already had something that would work for the project I chose. Also, it excluded any fiber I wanted to spin. I could buy that all day long if I wanted! I know, sort of contradicts the promise, since I can turn that fiber into more yarn. That's different though, in that I usually knit something right away with handspun, or I gift it to someone.

So, in order to maintain the integrity of my promise, and to be honest with all that know about it (which is pretty much everyone in my life), I'm going to share with you what arrived in the mail today. Last week, I found the perfect summertime top to knit for myself, so looks like I will be casting on for it tonight. It only takes one skein, or so the pattern says, but I always like to cover myself and buy an extra one...you just never know. I might decide I want it longer than the pattern. The original is a crop length, and I was thinking tunic length might be kind of fun too. We will see....

This is Calbuco, by Araucania. It is a fingering weight and is 84% cotton and 16% nylon. I ordered it from Bella Yarns, and it only took a few days to arrive from back east. I love that it will be cool for summer into fall, and that it has the nylon in it, which should keep the cotton from drooping and growing. I believe this is a brand new yarn for Araucania, so I'll keep you posted with my thoughts on it.

Lisa Souza is one amazing woman (just in case you didn't already know that)!!! I placed an order with her less than a week ago for two pounds of Wensleydale in her colorway Forbidden City. She emailed me right away to let me know she would get started right away dyeing it, and all two pounds arrived on my doorstep today! It is the most intense, gorgeous, color with what looks like will spin up into a bit of a tonal. This isn't the most flattering picture of it, but maybe I can get better ones later when I can get the lighting figured out.

Before I can start spinning it though, I need to clear some singles off my bobbins since I haven't gotten anymore ordered yet. I filled up another one this morning with the merino blend (wish I could remember what it's blended with?) I've been spinning, and tomorrow I will begin plying it. I like to let my singles rest for a day first, as do a lot of spinners. I may have shown this to you in my last post, but this is what I will ply tomorrow.

I just had a brilliant idea as I was typing this! Since my 13 year old granddaughter has started knitting, maybe I will show her how to knit the same top I'm going to knit with the yarn I just purchased. I'll do the shorter version so she can have the second skein of it. It's a very easy pattern, done on larger needles (US 11, I think), and I'm pretty sure she will like the pattern when I show it to her. It's one of those type of open fabric tops you can layer over a tank top.

Wow, now I'm really jazzed, and am feeling no guilt for buying more yarn!!!