Triumph, Tragedy & Yarn Shopping

I am feeling the full spectrum of emotions on the knitting front these days. One minute I am swinging on bliss that my latest blanket project is off the needles, on the other end, I am wallowing in the mitten that bit me back just a little too hard. And whether I was celebrating, or wallowing- I also bought yarn. Sit back and let me show you what's happening.

Firstly- let's begin on a positive. MY BLANKET IS DONE and it is lovely. (And yes, it resembles a girly princess birthday cake.)

Pattern: Classic Ripples by Meredith Montross
Yarn: Bernat Baby Softee Solids in "Pink", "White" and "Soft Lilac" (Acrlyic and I'm NOT apologizing for it!)
Needles: US size 6
Thoughts: I'm actually very satisfied with this- it's soft and pretty and I kind of find myself having a hard time parting with it. That's not to say I won't, (because how many baby blankets does a childless woman need?), it's just to say I'm a little fond of it. BUT, and oh is is it a big BUT here- this is one boring pattern. B.O.R.I.N.G. If you want inane knitting- look no further.

So- feeling triumphant- and proud of myself I celebated like a knitter- and I bought yarn: (Totally impractical, but pretty and unbearably soft yarn.)

It's Twist of Fate Bunny Love- and it's part angora and silk and so deliciously soft I just run it over my skin to feel it sometimes. It's also insanely impractical, given that it's cobweb lace weight and I have never knit lace in my life. However- I feel like if I ever have the time to experiment again and my friends take a break from the pro-creating for five minutes, this is just the yarn I want to play with. I bought it on a wim at the "Not Sock Summit" event we had in Calgary for those of us feeling a little bitter that we weren't in Portland. The lovely Erynn brought the yarn- and apparently has zero respect for my yarn diet.

Celebrating more- I committed myself to a little mitten knitting, given that I have been so charmed by the Druid Mittens. I spent Friday in Saskatoon- and while my friend was at work, I snuggled up on her couch with my ipod and the mitten. I had dreams of coming home with one mitten off the needles and feeling and additional sense of "Oh My God I'm Awesome!" feeling.

Oh my God I am NOT awesome. Behold- a mitten so badly screwed up- I could not fix it. (If you want to sob, I'd understand.)

I started dropping stitches on the side cables. The yarn is dark, and small, and the cables are tight and try as I did, I could not pick up the stitches and they just kept dropping. I had to stop and face my fate. Restart. 75% done a mitten and I have to rip the whole thing back. Tragedy of tragedies! And so I ripped back.

All the way back... *sigh*.

All those tight little cables, bobbles and stitches didn't want to be torn up- so instead of ripping nicely, it looked like this when I was done:

*sigh*

I can't even use that yarn any more. I've wasted alpaca and I feel so sad!!! I still think I have enough yarn to knit a pair of the mittens again- but do I have the heart to do it? Screwing up that mitten really sucked the wind out of my sail. Suddenly I don't feel so keen on knitting on it anymore. SO, I wound the yarn back up, put it in a ziploc bag, and I'm not going to look at it for awhile until I can get past what it put me through. Perfectly good alpaca-- gone forever. *sigh*

Facing the brunt of my tragedy, I was left with no choice but to console myself. I bought more yarn.

This is "Jubilee Alpaca"- pure worsted alpaca yarn from a farm in Saskatchewan. It's another softee. My very patient friend in Saskatoon (who is not a knitter*) took me to not one, but TWO yarn stores** during my visit and I fell in love with this. Miss E took me to the "Wool Emporium" after I had a tip from the lovely Anne that they carried local wools and yarn. I walked into the store and made a bee line to the "wall of Sask". (They have a wall dedicated to Saskatchewan yarn producers and it is AWESOME.) The lovely couple who owned the shop were very helpful and so charming I coudln't help it, I joined their shop's club and I'm going to have to figure out a way to get some more of this alpaca- STAT. I justified this purchase by telling myself I'd knit the mitts I promised my father in law nearly a year ago. I am convinced that he is never going to want to take these mittens off his hands agai. I'm crossing my fingers that there might be enough for mini mitts for me- this stuff is glorious. I paid more "generously" than I ususally do for yarn, but it felt good to support a local producer and I couldn't not leave with this yarn. Seriously- I'm thinking about taking it to work so I can pet it on bad days!

And so, dear reader- it's been a big knitting week around my humble home. I'd experienced the good, the bad and the ugly, in a matter of speaking and I've survived it all thanks to the healing powers of yarn. My email tells me that my latest Knitpicks order is destined to arrive tomorrow or Wed and I need to enjoy my last little time away from the blanket knitting before it all starts again. Hopefully that's going to be a story of triumph! :-)

*Seriously- how awesome is it that she took me there on a horrificly rainly, miserable day? She is made of awesome. I shall make her socks!

** I also feel I should note that I visited the Prairie Lily in Saskatoon who not only had a wonderful selection of yarns, but an incredibly friendly and helpful person working.**