Progress and some yarn-vulturing..

Luskentyre from Alice Starmore pattern Slow like the gourmet-knit it is. Changing one or two colours every row. 2 purl in one colour, 2 in the next (well, I need to "drop" the yarn inbetween, to pick up next colour). I have almost reached the first pattern-repeat in the middle, meaning, it is going to mirror itself to the top. Jamieson and Smith Woolbrokers (Lerwik, Scotland) is just a spongy, well-spun fab yarn. I do 1-2 strands - and one "swap" almost every night. Anyhow, the russion join takes "forever", and Im soon getting how I should measure so it is perfect. Im most of the time just half a stitch to tight. It is so strange how so "ugly" colours can just spark together. Im amazed everytime I pick up a new colour. I knit this, since I would NEVER have chosen this colours myself. EVER.. And I love them. Really mind boggling how colour changes next to each other. Next progress is how far I have come on the Poetry of Stiches Wedding Cardigan. PoSWC! You can see how early I started the sleeve intake, but I think I will have to adjust later, since I did one more repeat than pattern. (8 instead of 7) ok, I have that last one to go. So Steeking, here I come. I realized if it is wider, it will look more propotional if it also is longer. I must say, this yarn is better than expected (Gunga Din) and from Kempes spinnery. I really do look forward to starting with sleeves, since it is transportable, and then goes so much quicker. A very nice pattern. Recommended. (Solveig Hisdahl behind Oleana of course! is the pattern maker - Dikt in Maskor). The latest started (Wednesday - on my way to Aachen) is of course named "Aachen Bliss" (ok, it should be Aachen travel with Debbie Bliss Yarn (Alpaka silk DK). A true Garngamen knit. First I find a needle in wood that is free - circular, and thick enough to be used for travelling The I look in my stash for some BALLS instead of HANKS. Hey, Im in a hurry, I need somehting easy to take with me on the airplain. Stashed - and with nothing else but making it up as I go, I get going. So, what have I learned. For lace, 4 mm could easily be 6. That somehow the stitch definition on the ball has nothing with reality to do... and that it is sohoho, soft and cuddly yarn. I have two colours, both bought on sale from Nysta. And they remind me of spring green and diantus pink....looking at the picture I realize it looks more yellow than lime. Interesting. But that will hibernate until my next long flight. I would not dream to bring Luskentyre on the flight. Having lost a needle and a ball of yarn (to the Birch shawl for Viola) whiles travelling, only "loosable yarn" gets to go. Ok, 3 kits have arrived from Virtual Yarns. The Jade Starmore "Rheingold kit". And then the Strathglass kit (as you see, very neatly packed in individual boxes/packages). And the third is the Zauberflöte (also in Purple hues). Just fab! And I wanted to know how the original yarn looks and feels. What a heavenly package. It is too easy to click and buy on the internet. If you never have seen VY you got to visit their website (virtual yarns).
The Fair-isle "dream". The colour master. Ok. for some reason I have not showed my yarn buying explorations really. So I was in Gothenburg the other week, Strikk (oh heaven). And got Twinni in "highlight colours"... boy has the Starmores inspired me. So I already have a big stash of colours, but you also need somehting BRIGHT to highlight the theme. Twinni is Marianne Isagers (Danish yarn master) yarn. She has by rumour a new yarn, that I have not seen. Need to go to Denmark :-) Anyhow, when in Aachen I also visited my favourite Görg und Görg at AnnaStrasse. A little gem. She had the Rowan Yorkshire Tweed DK left. I added a bunch of balls in a bunch of colours quickly. Of course it is planned for Fair-ilse. Also, I found Noro Sock Yarn, and the owner told me she was one of the first in Europe to have it. Kudos on her. I bought these two little gems. And- to my surprise, it had a feel entirely different than it looks. It is "dry". But now the sock-KAL have a chance to get back on track. Noro is always fun to knit with.