Playing with Yarn

Always read stuff that will make you look good
if you die in the middle of it.
-P.J. O'Rourke

This post will be something akin to a Random Friday. (It is Friday, right Jenn?) I had a great night last night playing with yarn, knitting, and books. In no particular order:

1. I did get that Merino Style color card, as Rachel recommended. Oh, wait. I forgot to tell you that I returned the Rhubarb. I do want to brighten up my wardrobe, but that theory only works if you actually wear it, right? The new color of the day will be Tide Pool. It's bright turquoise, so it's bright and cheerful and will add fun to my wardrobe, but it will also match things I already own. A good combination.
2. Speaking of that massive KnitPicks order, I spent some time figuring out what I had intended to knit with all the yarn I bought. A few were obvious; others I managed to narrow down to one or two, or three . . . time will tell. Time will tell.
3. And my next personal Book-of-the-Month club selection will be from that order. I'm making the Rowena cardigan from Knit 2 Together in Ambrosia. Yum. 80% baby alpaca and 20% cashmere. It's a joy to work with, and looks great on US 5s, nice and even. And soft. Look: I swatched!
4. But in the meantime, I also fulfilled the UFO Resurrection Challenge for January. I had some technical difficulties with the zipper concept for the Ribby Cardi, so I ended up finishing Branching Out. This is just a teaser - it will have it's own special post to follow.
5. And also, I got a little distracted in the middle of my swatching. It's still (kind of) the Christmas season, right? Check out the contrast from last year. And do note the adorable irony of my mohair fuzzy mittens hanging on a California Fan Palm, the only palm tree actually native to California.
6. It must be still some sort of giving spirit, because look at the great gift that just showed up at my door: A package from my aunt. Apparently she was cleaning her closets recently and came across some yarn she wasn't going to use. I am now the happy (and surprised) recipient of a bunch (maybe 800-1000g?) of a purple DK-to-worsted weight cotton. It's an unmercernized single ply with a thread plied around it, kind of nubbly. Something about it is saying Ballet T-Shirt to me.
   
7. And . . . speaking of gifts, I forgot to mention my first finished object of 2007: The Hug, a scarf in an Old Shale variation in a brushed New Zealand mohair. I neglected to take a finished photo as, once again, I was in a mad dash to the post office. But it came out beautifully, everything it should have and was sent on it's way to a friend who could use a little warm and fuzzy at the moment.