Hello My New Yarn and Welcome to my Stash

Last week was the Estes Park Wool Festival in beautiful Estes Park, Colorado at the foot of Rocky Mountain National Park. I know lots of people go to see the llamas, alpacas, rabbits, sheep and goats, but I straight go to the vendors' barn.

The dark blue and green variegated yarn is a worsted that I am going to use to make a  hoodie sweater. The grayish blue is a wool and silk blend, and is going to be used to make a lacy pullover. The dark pink is also a wool and silk blend and will become a lacy shawl. The bright blue lace yarn is probably going to be a scarf. I just loved the color so much that I had to buy it.

This year, my husband Ken came with me and we met up with some friends, Eric and Margaret and their baby Oscar. Eric has been my son Dane's best friend since grade school, so I have always called him my 'third son.' I guess that make Oscar my pseudo-grandson, and he is just adorable!  Margaret is the knitter so we touched and pawed and stroked yarn all day. Margaret is into making baby sweaters. Go figure! I go through the entire barn before I purchase anything, I brought three patterns along that I want to make. Now I just have to find the time to actually do the knitting.


As much as the new yarn is calling me to start, I vow to finish my teal shawl before I cast on more sweaters. Considering it is in the '90's, and it is only June, I have lots of time to finish them.

My Next Project - The February Sweater

February Lady Sweater

I know it is called the February Lady Sweater and it is May, but I am still having a wonderful time knitting it. I like built-in raglan sleeves because I never seem to get set-in sleeves quite right. They fit okay, but I can tell them are not exact. I also love doing lace

If you are on Ravelry, you are familiar with this sweater. It has been one of the most popular projects on the site. It is kind to all body shapes which is critical to me and all ages (since I just turned 60), and it has been on my bucket list for years. Be sure to check out the pattern yourself. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/february-lady-sweater

The yarn has a story of its own. I purchased it at the Estes Park Wool Festival but I don't remember which year. It has been at least a couple of years because I know I didn't buy it last year. I figured I better knit it up since the Wool Festival is in two weeks and I will have to buy some more yarn. It's 100% merino wool in bright red and I think the reason it took me so long to pull the yarn out of my stash is because one of my sons told me the color reminded him of Elmo. For a long time, Elmo was all I saw when I looked at it. But it's okay now. I'm over it. Besides, I like Elmo -- I just don't want to look like him.

Estes Park Wool Market

It is Sunday and I am recovering in woolly bliss from the Estes Park Wool Market. It's an explosion of color and fiber surrounding by an estrogen-raving environment of knitters, crocheters, spinners, and just basic lovers of all things wool, cotton, silk, bamboo, cashmere, etc.

A felted helicopter -- ingenious! 

Yes, I bought stuff even though my finances shouldn't really allow it, but it's only once a year, right? I prefer to look at it at what I didn't purchase, okay? I resisted the ultra-soft vicuna skein in cream which was $99.00, lace-weight brown buffalo yarn at $60.00, not to mention the small tiny cake-like ball of tan qiviut which is like holding a pre-heated cloud about the size of a golf ball. I read once the qiviut yarn is 8 times warmer than wool, and all you have to do is hold onto it to realize that might be true. I think that golf ball was $55.00.  It didn't buy any of those, so I 'done good.'

100% Baby Alpaca from Bliss Ranch Wool
in red, navy blue and pink

I find that I have color moods, which is usually purple, but this year, I found myself drawn to pinks and reds. Maybe that's because every time I picked up a skein of purple yarn, I thought "I have this already at home." I used to think "I better buy this now because I'll never see it again." I guess I have hit the tipping point that I have more in my stash than I need to purchase. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Lace weight yarn 50% wool, 50% silk
from Skaska Design in coral

It also gave me chance to visit one of my favorite vendors, Skaska Designs. They have the most wonderful lace yarn and I always seem to buy something from them and talk to Galina Khmeleva (author of Gossamer Webs) who makes these wonderful lace shawls and scarves. I told her that instead of buying more lace yarn, I should just knit the lace I purchased from them five years ago ...  or four years ago ... three year, ... well, you get the picture. She said "I am so thankful that knitters don't think way!" I purchased the coral lace yarn.

52% cotton / 48% rayon from
Textiles a Manos in either
light blue or lavender,
depending on the light.

So I purchased yarn for three projects. The coral lace from Skaska will be used to make either a shawl or lace scarf, depending on what I feel at the time I finally wind it. The blue/lavender cotton rayon will be used to make a sweater. I have the pattern picked out and it will probably be on of the first projects I start with once I finished some UFOs (unfinished projects), hopefully this week. I think I purchased enough of the baby alpaca to mix and match to make five or six hats.

My Wool Market Buddies:
Amber and Zane Beach

I designed and re-designed several hats, scarves, and sweaters in my head while walking through all those aisles of fibers being bumped and jostled by bulging bags, overweight backpacks, strollers of sleeping children and full-hipped women, all with that glossy look on their faces of total bliss and anticipation. Yarn shoppers are wonderful people because as our bags knock each other slightly off balance as we pass, we laugh at each other, and then open the bags to show total strangers our newly purchased treasures as well as the detailed plans for their final endeavor.

Back to the needles.

Angora Bunny

Paco Vicuna - the softest wool ever!

Off to the Estes Park Wool Festival

Tomorrow is World Wide Knit In Public Day, and I am celebrating by going to the Estes Park Wool Festival. This wool festival is like Christmas and the Super Bowl all in one day! I am going with my friend Amber and her little boy Zane (who is the cutest little boy since my boys were little).

I think this is the 5th or 6th time I have attended in Estes Park festival and I never get tired of it. In fact, I have also been to the wool festival in Taos NM, and the one in Frederick, MD. The Maryland Wool Festival was my Mecca, you know, that once in a lifetime trip. Aw...

This year, I am doing some planning. Usually I just go there and buy yarn I like with no idea of what I am going to make with it.  Then I find out I either have too much to justify using it for a simple hat, or not enough to make a sweater, even though it is the perfect yarn for that raglan sleeve swing sweater. Sure, I could contact the website on the label, but I never get around to it.  So, I will do it right.

More once I make my purchases! I must get a good night's sleep.  So much to plan, so much to do, so much to knit ...