Been to lots of knitting stores over the past week! Whew! Visited some good ones, and not so good ones. Have to say I was kind of disappointed in the NYC ones I visited, but very impressed with Rosie’s Yarn Cellar in Philly. Very nice selection and wonderful help. The place was small (and packed in the middle of a Monday!) but overflowing with good feelings. Not what I’ve come to expect from yarn stores. Sad, isn’t it? I walked away with a ball of Calmer (I think this will be the yarn for my yet to be born niece or nephew’s blanket) and five balls of Valeria di Roma Angora. This was completely an impulse buy for a scarf I want to knit from the Vogue On the Go Scarves book. Silly me, I don’t have nearly enough (that’s what you get for buying yarn without the pattern in hand) and I don’t think it will work out anyway, so now I have five balls of expensive angora. I’m thinking a lacy scarf or something. It’s available at elann.com for about half the price, but I don’t think I want more.

And then I came home to my big box of Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran! The Knitting Garden is amazing! I ordered the stuff on Friday and there it was bright and early Monday morning! Free shipping too! I will definitely shop there again. Thank you!

I was silly and didn’t gauge first – instead I cast on 159 stitches and finished the 1×1 ribbing on the vest. Ugh. It was way, way too long. So I took it all out and started to gauge instead. The yarn is interesting. At first I didn’t think I liked it – it’s pilly a little bit – but soft, and once I had a bunch of rows done I think it almost feels a little bit like a sweat shirt. A felted sweat shirt. But I think Georgie will like it – he seemed to like the swatch I had knitted and I told him I thought it would only get softer with wear. So today I’ll figure out the right measurements (god I hate the MATH involved in knitting!) and start again. I need the project on the needles. I need something in progress. It’s funny though – it’s so different from the Wool/Cotton I was knitting with. That had a sheen to it and was much silkier – the Silkroad is flatter and duller. Hope that makes sense.

I also ordered some Koigu KPM for the scarf in the Vogue book. That’s what they call for and since everyone raves about Koigu, I thought I’d try it. I ordered it from Patternworks in what I think it is an ice blue kind of color (#2171). We’ll see. I’m excited about the scarf. It’s a geometric pattern and I’m going to put little beads on the end. I really just like the pattern. If I could figure it out, I think it would make a really neat blanket.

Oh and I took pictures of the kids in their sweater and poncho. I’ll post those later as right now I must do some work….

so I’m going to make him this vest using the Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed in the #129 Enamel. I’m going to order the yarn tomorrow. I’m not quite sure how much to order though. Hopefully the yarn will turn the pattern into a masterpiece and not the outrageous Seventies Snobby tennis party garb pictured in the link. I’m still deciding whether or not to join the Man-Along. Never done anything like that before, so I’m trying to get up the nerve.

I’m procrastinating on the last sleeve. Ugh. I have to finish it tomorrow.

So my husband wants a sweater. I’m still settling on a pattern, but it’s going to be a simple v-neck pullover in a cable and rib pattern similar to my nephew’s sweater (which, by the way, now has a sleeve attached. Did I mention I hate finishing?). I’m trying to decide on a yarn. So far the yarns in the running are as follows:

Vittadini Trina
Filatura di Crosa Zara Plus
Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran
and last but not least, Jo Sharp’s Silkroad Aran. I can’t decide here between a tweed or a solid.

I figure I’ll knit the sweater using 8/9 needles. All of these yarns fit the bill. I’ve knit with both the Cashmerino Aran and the Zara (well, the DK Zara) but all the projects have been blankets. I enjoyed both yarns. But, I’m really looking forward to trying the Trina and the Silkroad. Both have gotten really good write ups on Knitter’s Review. I just hope I can find some in my LYS. Not that there aren’t a million of them in the city, but still, I’d love to find all the yarns in ONE STORE. Don’t think it’s going to happen though.

I think he wants a navy color like my nephew’s. I’m sort of sick of blue, which is why the Silkroad Tweed is sounding nice. Spice things up a little.