June confessional

After successfully avoiding yarn shopping and extraneous crafty purchases for most of this year, June was filled with hauls of all kinds!  I decided to write up one giant post with all of my purchases during the month.

 

Year of Projects preparation

If you’ve been following the chatter in the Come Blog-A-Long group on Ravelry, you know that many of us are gearing up for the second Year of Projects.  This year, instead of working my way through one book, I will unveil a list of projects I’d like to complete and techniques I’d like to learn by June 30, 2013.  (My official list will be posted this Sunday, July 1.)  I happened to see a copy of Alasdair Post-Quinn‘s Extreme Double Knitting in real life, and decided to order it, along with a digital download, from Cooperative Press.

Knit-A-Way, Take 1

This month, I had the pleasure of taking a wonderful 3-week Bruges lace class at Knit-A-Way with Tatyana Mirer.  (Side note: She is a great teacher, and if you are in the New York City area, you should definitely take a knitting or crochet class with her!)

For the first class session, I bought a skein of Brown Sheep Company’s Lamb’s Pride Worsted in Victorian Pink.

It didn’t end up being a good fit for the class projects, but it did whet my appetite for more shopping…

July Goody Box Swap

This next shopping spree doesn’t really count because none of it was for my stash.  I joined A Swap A Month on Ravelry just in time for the July Goody Box Swap.  For my swap partner, carajv, I bought two skeins each of Classic Elite Classic One Fifty and Frog Tree Alpaca at Knitty City.  I had so much fun in the shop, feeling all the yarns, that it was almost inevitable that I would go shopping again…

Interweave Hurt Book Sale

And then it was time for the Interweave Hurt Book Sale.  Many of the books I’ve been eyeing throughout the year seemed to be calling me seductively.  And, since a few could also fall into the category of “things I want to learn during the second Year of Projects,” I convinced myself to buy four.

From top to bottom: Domino Knitting by Vivian Hoxbro, Start Spinning by Maggie Casey, Power Cables by Lily Chin, and Pop Knitting: Bold Motifs Using Color & Stitch by Britt-Marie Christoffersson.  Yummy.

Knit-A-Way, Take 2

When I returned to Knit-A-Way for my second Bruges lace class, I brought my own yarn from home (Galler Yarns Parisian Cotton).  It just worked out better for swatching, but I felt compelled to pick up somethings in the store.  After all, that’s why yarn shops hold classes – because they are hoping to increase sales!

From left to right: A set of INOX 16″ circular needles; a Dritz Loop Turner, which is supposed to be helpful for weaving in difficult or short yarn tails; a Susan Bates Silvalume Handi Tool, which seems a wonderful, all-purpose helper notion; and a Clover Soft Touch crochet hook.

Color obsession at Knitty City

When I learned that the Sparkling Wave Scarf from The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet would be the final project in my Bruges lace class, I knew it would make a great holiday gift for my friend, OB.  I have definitely been trying hard to make all of my Holiday Stashdown Challenge gifts with stash yarn, but, after some investigating, I learned that OB really wanted any gift items made in charcoal yarn.  I strolled over to my LYS, Knitty City, to hunt for a machine washable charcoal yarn in a natural fiber.

After a lot of debate – including wandering out into the street with 4 skeins of yarn to see which one looked more grey in the sunshine – I ended up with a skein of madelinetosh tosh sport in Kale.

Even Tatyana agreed that it was a great choice for the scarf.

Knit-A-Way, Take 3

My final purchase of the month was something totally unexpected.

In the last class session, Tatyana brought her sloper for me to see and we were discussing how to design projects that actually fit.  She heartily recommended Sweater 101: How to Plan Sweaters That Fit… and Organize Your Knitting Life At the Same Timeby Cheryl Brunette.  Although I am not necessarily planning to make a sweater, the book really caught my eye.  Once I got home and read about the book’s origin, I was even happier to own a copy.  According to Tatyana, the schematics for different sizes are absolutely flawless, and after seeing her beautiful designs in person, I’m sure she is right.

Tags: 2012 holiday stashdown challenge, a swap a month, alasdair post-quinn, britt-marie christoffersson, brown sheep company, brown sheep lamb's pride worsted, bruges crochet, cheryl brunette, classic elite classic one fifty, classic elite yarn, clover soft touch crochet hook, come blog a long, complete photo guide to crochet, cooperative press, domino knitting, dritz loop turner, extreme double knitting, frog tree alpaca, frog tree yarn, galler yarns, galler yarns parisian cotton, holiday crafting, hurt book sale, inox needles, interweave press, knit-a-way, knitty city, lily chin, madelinetosh, madelinetosh tosh sport, maggie casey, pop knitting: bold motifs using color and stitch, power cables, ravelry, sparkling wave scarf, start spinning, susan bates silvalume, susan bates silvalume handi tool, sweater 101: how to plan sweaters that fit... and organize your knitting life at the same time, tatyana mirer, vivian hoxbro, yarn haul, yarn swap, year of projects