1.  So, guess what?  Do you remember that I posted about that Rockin' Sock Club last week ... it's closed!  I didn't even get a chance to join! -- bummer.  Grasshopper, just remember ... it's neither good nor bad.  (Okay, it's really probably a good thing.)

2. Are you as excited about that new Knitpicks yarn as I am?  Have I not been asking for a quality worsted weight cotton/wool for some time now??  Please tell me if you order this yarn what it's like ...

3.  And ... I thought I'd be coming out of the closet this week.  I mean, this closet:

(EDIT: Oop, sorry the photo of the closet should have gone here ... Off to take that photo ...)

Yes, this is the closet.

This is the closet that hosts the hordes of yarn that is saved for future sweaters.  Mostly just bags of Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran and Aran Tweed ... and a lot of Noro.  (Remember I used to have that whole eBay-store-thing ... and that I got the Jo Sharp for 30% off wholesale ... wouldn't you have bought bags, too??) 

I sort of thought that I'd be able to let go of this yarn, because I'm starting a new phase of home-and-crafty-entrepreneurship ... I have yet to blog about it, but I'll be sharing in my trials and tribulations soon.  Meanwhile, I thought I'd at least be able to sell these yarns in order to finance my new venture ... and now I'm not so sure about it.  I can't explain it, but when I take the yarn out of the bags to take photos for selling, I start to get panic attacks.  I mean, my heartrate increases, and I get into my "The World Is Against Jenifer" mode, which (believe me, or ask the Big Sweetie to verify it) is no fun to be around.  (Very un-Zenifer-like.) 

What the f*ck is the matter with me??  It's just yarn!  There's always more deals around the corner (check my Friday posts of the last several  months just to prove it)!  Even that new Knitpicks cotton yarn!

So, maybe next week I'll be posting my link to my eBay sales ... Maybe.

*Anyone out there a Finnish speaker?  I, completely randomly, know about four in my area.  The Big Sweetie and I recently watched a documentary called "Winter of War"  about WWII in Finland, too.  (Yes, we do those kinds of things for fun.)  So, I guess Finnish was on my mind. 

FO Report: Shetland Triangle
Designers:  Evelyn Clark
Pattern Source: Wrap Style
Yarn: Kaalund laceweight (that yarn I bought last Labor Day weekend in Steamboat Springs) -- less than 400 yards!
Needle Size:  same as called for (US 6 I think)
Gauge: ??
Date Completed: March 2006

Woo hoo, here I am with another FO to report from Wrap Style!  And, I can tell you, there are at least three more projects that might be in my future from that book ...

I started this in January at some point, just thinking that I'd work on it here and there ... and wouldn't you know it, it's turned out to be the perfect project to come home to after I teach my two night classes.  I've been working one repeat at a time late at night -- the easy repeat was a must for this project -- and there's nothing like a good bit of lace knitting to settle my mind so I can get a good night's sleep.  I looooved working on this. 

The size turned out to be fairly small ... I was nervous that the one in the photo was pretty small, so I added one extra repeat, for a total of 9 instead of 8 repeats.  As noted, the width is about 4" longer with the extra repeat, for a width of almost 60".  If I do this again (and I will) I think I'll add even one or two more repeats.  It's really much more "scarf"ish than "wrap"ish.

I had no other issues or deviations to make about this pattern, until I blocked it ... and there's some really jagged edges along the top straight edge where my pins really distorted the blocking.  I think that some good blocking pins are finally in order in my house.

More silly photos:

The "Isn't it cute over my shoulders?" pose.

The "But then it barely covers my shoulders in the front" pose.

The "Is there a way to keep your butt from looking huge from the back?" pose. 
Unfortunately, not the " Check out my rockin' a$$!"  that Cathi suggested yesterday. :)
I mean it ... is there a way?

And what will my next lace project be?  I think it's perhaps time to finally cast on for that Fiddlesticks Lotus Blossom shawl ... hear that Kristi? :)    (Check out Deb's Lotus that she just finished.  That really does it for me, Deb.)  Now ... what yarn shall I use? ...

FO Report: Spiral Shell
Designers:  Deborah Newton
Pattern Source: Wrap Style
Yarn: DB Cashmerino Aran, only 5 balls (see below), not the 6 recommended
Needle Size:  8
Gauge: ??
Date Completed: March 2006

Hello ... My name is Jenifer ... and I'm a poncho knitter.  Yes, it's true ... After being on the fence for some time now about whether I was "pro-poncho" or "anti-poncho," I can no longer pretend ... I am a poncho knitter.  Let's get this out of the way here at the beginning ... we can call this a shell (doesn't spiral shell sound so elegant?);  or perhaps a wrap (wait -- that's what I order at Q-Doba for lunch); but we all know what this really is.

I don't care -- I love it. 

On to the details ... (that's what you really want to know, right?):

I knit the smallest size, and had no issues with this until I had just a tad too much wine at Thanksgiving last year, and then the spiral shell became a poster child for "Friends Don't Let Friends Knit Drunk," or in other words, I made a sudden jerky movement and about one and a half repeats ripped down about 6 rows.  Arrgh!  My absolute worst nightmare as a knitter is to drop multiple stitches on a lace project!   So, I instead threw this wrap into the naughty corner where Rogue is still residing (remember Rogue? -- which I cast on for in August! --he made the same offense to me some time ago [and yes, he's a he now]), and I just had the courage to pull this little shell out again during the UFOlympics.  (Rogue may not officially come out of the naughty corner until next August, I just decided.)

So, after I recovered from that point, I had no more issues until I came to the BO row ... and I ran out of yarn!  In the middle of the row!  More to the point, I ended my fifth ball of yarn and started my sixth ball on the BO row.  When I tried the poncho on, it fit WAAAAY too big on the top -- there was no semblance of wrapping around my shoulders, despite the fact that it looks perfect on Caitlin Fitzgerald (yes, that's Pam Allen's daughter).

So, I ripped back the ribbing on the top and just the very top repeat -- which wasn't too bad, actually, though I thought it might be.  I then decreased one more stitch in the FIRST row of that repeat by creating a P1 of the P2 section, and then on the last row of the pattern I decreased AGAIN by making a "YO, K2tog" where there didn't need to be a k2tog. 

In total, I turned the 12-stitch repeat into a 9-st repeat by the end, with three decrease rows total, instead of the just one dec row total.

I ended the shell with a k1p1 rib instead of k2p2 (I thought it might be more tightly fitting), and the result seems to have worked out pretty well. 

(Honestly, I still think I could have made the top even smaller.)

So, I love it!  I think it'll be so cute over a tee, over a tank, over a dress ... So, who cares if it's really a poncho?

The "Look, I can still put my hands on my hips" pose.

The "Check out how gracefully the Spiral Shell drapes across my back" pose.

The "Is that the FedEx truck coming with more yarn?" pose.

Come back tomorrow ... and you'll find another FO Report from Wrap Style!

1.  Need to find out where a yarn shop is?  Check out the new, interactive yarn shop finder on mapmuse.com right here.  You can click on your area, and find, add, or delete shops (but only if they've closed!).   When browsing the Denver area shops,  I found out about ...   dum dum dum ... (for suspense, that is)
Denver's newest yarn shop, opening in March!  A coffee/knitting bar!

LambShoppe
3512 E. 12th Ave.
Denver
(this is the only linkI could find to their shop.  Note that the address is different than the one above, however.  So, if it's the same shope, we know they'll have Trendsetter yarns ... yippee.)

This is the yarn shop that we've been hearing about for some time, and just down the block from where some local mommies like to stitch and drink coffee as well.  Exciting!

2.  Only because Scout made me do it ... go click for yourself on this link.  Beware ... if you are a knitter of little self control, as I am, and/or if you're a collector of sock yarns ... click on your own risk.  I'm not responsible for any damages incurred to your credit card. 

I haven't had much time to browse sales lately ... have you come across any great deals to share??

Here's the list of links that were over at my old blog ... I'm just updating them here on this blog.

Question:  What can you do with one ball of lightweight yarn??

Answer:  There are a variety of free patterns on the internet for lacy scarves, and here are the ones that I found. Some may need to be tweaked a little to fit the 227-yd requirement if you only have one ball of kidsilk haze, but here they are (and of course, if you have more than that, these may work for you, too):

Cher's traveling scarf - scroll down -- this scarf takes 100 - 125 yards of a fuzzy yarn

Knitting patterns for scarves - many patterns are listed here; browse through them!

Knotted openwork scarf - takes about 220 yards of laceweight yarn

Charlene's scarf - takes 160 yards in a heavier yarn, but could easily work with laceweight

Lace Sampler scarf - a laceweight scarf that uses patterns from Barbara Walker's Treasury Vol. 1, and is very adaptable to different weights and lengths

Morning surf scarf - written for laceweight to worsted yarns, this pattern uses dropped stitches

Long-ways scarf -  this side-to-side pattern takes about 600 yards, but adjusting it is easy

Old Shale Mohair scarf - the pattern is classic, and this pattern calls for a worsted fuzzy yarn, but you know that a laceweight would look beautiful here, too

Simple Knitted Lace scarf - this calls for 400 yds of worsted weight yarn ... playing around with yarn weights and widths are a strong possibility here

Soiree lace scarf - takes 320 yards of a lightweight yarn; make the pattern more narrow and one ball of kidsilk haze would work

Madeira Cascade lace scarf - this pattern calls for 848 yards, though Stephanie writes to say that it only needs 300 yards -- and thus a smaller version would be great for 1 ball of Kidsilk Haze.

Little Leaf scarf - this beginner-level cute little scarf takes 200 yards of laceweight or fingering weight yarn (and can't you just see this in Koigu, too?)

And there you have it!  (And yes, I could easily make all of them.)  I had many of these saved as bookmarks before my computer crashed, so I thought it might be wise for me to post them here, and why not let other people see them as well?  Thanks to everybody who sent me in a pattern, and if you're interested in sharing another pattern, why not leave me a link in my comments, or email me the link, and I'll add it in here.