My precious-es....!

My very first purchase from Elann.com was sitting waiting for me after I got home from work. I can't remember exactly when I ordered it (a little over a week ago, I think), but I think it has arrived in fairly short order. The unassuming, rather small, white box was stuffed full of yarn! *dances around giddily*



Here are my lovely try-out yarns, just one ball each. Elann has their own line of yarns, and I thought I'd experiment with a small selection. You know, squeeze the ball of yarn, stroke it, nuzzle it and, of course, knit some gauge swatches with it! After all, that was my New Year's Knitting Resolution: I will knit swatches for all my projects, and I will promise to knit proper (to read about good and "proper" methods of knitting gauge swatches, read the article Knitty has) gauge swatches for any article of clothing I attempt. From left to right, I have Peruvian Collection Pure Alpaca in light grey heather, Peruvian Collection Highland Wool in victorian violet, Endless Summer Collection Connemara in victorian rose and Peruvian Collection Baby Cashmere in cashmere blue.

What sweaters are they auditioning for? Well, I've been wanting to knit the Cabaret Raglan from the Summer 2004 issue of Interweave Knits for a while. Yeah, it's an older issue, and I probably won't look that good in it. But I can definitely see my mother wearing it, and something about the style pleases me. So, that's what the Connemara (the pink stuff) is for, maybe.

Then there's the grey Pure Alpaca. I'm hoping that will be suitable for Essential Indulgence from IK Fall 2005. I LOVE that issue of Interweave Knits. I want to knit practically everything in there. Maybe it's because most of the yarns used are gorgeous, super soft, luxurious yarns - such as cashmere and alpaca - and because of the simpler lines of the styles that complement them. Of course, the recommended yarns are a little outside my budget, hence my search for an affordable substitute.

I really, really love the Union Square Market Pullover from the same issue, and I'm even willing to splurge on the yarn called for, Plassard Alpaga, but I can't find a place that stocks the stuff! And, from what I've been reading on other blogs and the KAL, it's difficult to achieve the required gauge. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Baby Cashmere (the blue) I got will have the same dense, slightly fuzzy look as in the original, but will be soft and comfortable, too.

Then there's the Highland Wool in Victorian Violet. It really doesn't seem to be terribly photogenic; the colour is not as washed out in reality as it looks in my pictures, and in the picture on Elann's site. I've been coveting the Yoke Pullover in the Holiday 'o5 issue of Vogue Knitting (another scrumptious issue)! I think it'll be fun to knit the fairisle yoke, and the shaping of the sweater looks perfect.

But, before all that, I am going to knit a blackberry for my supervisor at work, Denise. I'm about to leave my present job, and Denise has been so kind I really wanted to do something for her. Luckily, she admired the blackberry that I'd already made (in white) for myself (I'll blog about that at a later date). So, I ordered 19 balls of the R2 Ruzzy Felt that was miraculously on sale at Elann's, and I'm going to start working on that as soon as I can get (yes, you've guessed it) the right gauge. Knitting this shrug/bolero again should be interesting. So far, I've never knitted the same thing twice. I made some mistakes on the first one, and I'm definitely looking to improve with my second attempt. Apart from a baby sweater I did, all the other sweaters I've done (only 3, and I'm still working on 2 of them!) have been for me, so it'll be fun to knit in a different size. Stay tuned for more!

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Posted by Lana to Bumbling Bees - Girls with Purls at 3/07/2006 09:36:00 PM