Yarn shopping spree!
Mar. 22nd, 2015 11:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzYesterday I drove to Nijmegen and met up with Anemoona. I was glad to have Eisirt along as well, I bribed him with playing Ingress in a strange town while Anemoona and I would shop for yarn, and it made the rest of the day's travelling much more easy!
After a well-deserved cup of coffee at our stamcafé Panaché, we walked to Dol-op-Wol. A lovely light store with lots of wonderful yarns. The Geilsk yarns from Scandinavia were prominently on display, and we fingered fingering-weight and DK-weight and sport-weight yarns to test their scratchiness.
There was a wonderful old-pink gradient but I saw it was hand-wash only. *sad face* And I was looking for some yarn for the Ishneigh celtic cable shawl, but couldn't find any. The pattern calls for Malabrigo sock wool, which they didn't have in the store and in their online/Deventer store only in colours I didn't enjoy.
I had a pretty hard time trying to figure out how to combine Ravelry patterns to actual yarn. Ravelry tells you the approximate weight of the yarn, but the yarn store doesn't. It's like wines: you know what grapes the wine is made from, so you will get an idea of how it tastes. If you know the weight of the yarn you can estimate the gauge of your knitting and see if the yarn will fit your pattern. Using a super-bulky yarn on a fingering-weight (sock weight) pattern will get you some difficult problems to fix. For a shawl it's not a (very) big problem, but for a sweater it can mean the difference between XS and XL sizes!
I picked up some self-striping sock wool in muted colours and sock needles of my preferred brand in 2.25 and 2.75mm. Anemoona picked up some drool-worthy silk lace yarn! (Yarn envy ensued, but I am not ready for lace projects.)
We then continued to Lulay, another yarn shop but in the next street. Where Dol op Wol was bright and light and open, Lulay was classic: tiny, and stashed to the brim with yarn for knitting an crochet and fibers for spinning. Lulay had Drops yarn (quite cheap, but good fiber content) and the Fabel sock wool was on sale -25%. I bought some matching colours for socks and found some more Lammy Superwash 4 to calm my fears of not having enough wool for Project Zeeuwse Lappendeken. Anemoona picked up two lovely melee yarns for unknown future projects.
Obligatory yarn-porn and my stash storage (before trying to add new yarns)
Of course my yarn storage crate is now full to the brim and I really have no space for a new crate for my yarns. Either I get rid of my quilting supplies, or I try and manage my yarn addiction.
One really easy solution to this is: knit more. I can very easily decrease my stash by casting on and finishing some projects. I have a bag with 10 balls of Anell wool for a cardigan. This bag is, understandably, quite bulky and by actually knitting the cardigan, I can diminish the stash quite easily!
I went looking for a pattern -- Ravelry has a very good search engine. By entering the yarn weight, estimated yarn length, type of project I quickly came up with several good patterns. And when I read the description of "Harvest" I was immediately sold! Not only is this a Tin Can Knits pattern, but it's free and designed to help teach the beginning knitter the all-important basic skills.
The page includes tutorials, which I will be taking the time to read after I finish this post, and the pattern is well-written and explains exactly how the project will be set up and knitted. Some patterns just assume you know how a top-down pattern works. In this pattern, they explain exactly which steps you will take in the top-down approach.
Anyway, back to our shopping trip. Eisirt insisted he would treat us to lunch, so we went back to Panaché. Afterwards, we said goodbye to Anemoona, who went home to pick up her husband. We found a florist and picked up a basket of spring bulbs and a tea flower for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dolphirl.
By the time we left Nijmegen it was sunny enough, and since we had a little way to go we stopped for an ice cream to eat on our road trip. (By the time we entered Kaatsheuvel, it was long-forgotten.) I love how we can enjoy such a day together, just driving from one fun appointment to the next.
It was a very enjoyable sight to see Dolphirl and Nexxus again, and we stayed quite a while on their holiday party. Soon enough, Anemoona and Kenshin dropped in too, and then it suddenly was time to get going again.
It was a busy but fun day, so we finished it with a simple meal and snuggling in bed. What a great day!
After a well-deserved cup of coffee at our stamcafé Panaché, we walked to Dol-op-Wol. A lovely light store with lots of wonderful yarns. The Geilsk yarns from Scandinavia were prominently on display, and we fingered fingering-weight and DK-weight and sport-weight yarns to test their scratchiness.
There was a wonderful old-pink gradient but I saw it was hand-wash only. *sad face* And I was looking for some yarn for the Ishneigh celtic cable shawl, but couldn't find any. The pattern calls for Malabrigo sock wool, which they didn't have in the store and in their online/Deventer store only in colours I didn't enjoy.
I had a pretty hard time trying to figure out how to combine Ravelry patterns to actual yarn. Ravelry tells you the approximate weight of the yarn, but the yarn store doesn't. It's like wines: you know what grapes the wine is made from, so you will get an idea of how it tastes. If you know the weight of the yarn you can estimate the gauge of your knitting and see if the yarn will fit your pattern. Using a super-bulky yarn on a fingering-weight (sock weight) pattern will get you some difficult problems to fix. For a shawl it's not a (very) big problem, but for a sweater it can mean the difference between XS and XL sizes!
I picked up some self-striping sock wool in muted colours and sock needles of my preferred brand in 2.25 and 2.75mm. Anemoona picked up some drool-worthy silk lace yarn! (Yarn envy ensued, but I am not ready for lace projects.)
We then continued to Lulay, another yarn shop but in the next street. Where Dol op Wol was bright and light and open, Lulay was classic: tiny, and stashed to the brim with yarn for knitting an crochet and fibers for spinning. Lulay had Drops yarn (quite cheap, but good fiber content) and the Fabel sock wool was on sale -25%. I bought some matching colours for socks and found some more Lammy Superwash 4 to calm my fears of not having enough wool for Project Zeeuwse Lappendeken. Anemoona picked up two lovely melee yarns for unknown future projects.
Obligatory yarn-porn and my stash storage (before trying to add new yarns)
Of course my yarn storage crate is now full to the brim and I really have no space for a new crate for my yarns. Either I get rid of my quilting supplies, or I try and manage my yarn addiction.
One really easy solution to this is: knit more. I can very easily decrease my stash by casting on and finishing some projects. I have a bag with 10 balls of Anell wool for a cardigan. This bag is, understandably, quite bulky and by actually knitting the cardigan, I can diminish the stash quite easily!
I went looking for a pattern -- Ravelry has a very good search engine. By entering the yarn weight, estimated yarn length, type of project I quickly came up with several good patterns. And when I read the description of "Harvest" I was immediately sold! Not only is this a Tin Can Knits pattern, but it's free and designed to help teach the beginning knitter the all-important basic skills.
This year at Tin Can Knits we explore the basic ingredients of knitting. The Simple Collection has quick accessories and simple sweaters, sized from newborn to grandpa, in worsted weight yarn and best of all – the patterns are all free for you to use and share with your friends!
With 8 new free patterns (including 2 sweaters!) and clear tutorials, the collection is perfect for newer knitters building skills and confidence, and also a treat for knitters who enjoy modern lines and simple details. Whether you are knitting your first scarf, cozy socks for your dad, or a sweater for your little man, the Simple Collection will teach you all you need to know to make modern seamless knits for the whole family!
From: Tincanknits.com
The page includes tutorials, which I will be taking the time to read after I finish this post, and the pattern is well-written and explains exactly how the project will be set up and knitted. Some patterns just assume you know how a top-down pattern works. In this pattern, they explain exactly which steps you will take in the top-down approach.
Anyway, back to our shopping trip. Eisirt insisted he would treat us to lunch, so we went back to Panaché. Afterwards, we said goodbye to Anemoona, who went home to pick up her husband. We found a florist and picked up a basket of spring bulbs and a tea flower for
dolphirl.By the time we left Nijmegen it was sunny enough, and since we had a little way to go we stopped for an ice cream to eat on our road trip. (By the time we entered Kaatsheuvel, it was long-forgotten.) I love how we can enjoy such a day together, just driving from one fun appointment to the next.
It was a very enjoyable sight to see Dolphirl and Nexxus again, and we stayed quite a while on their holiday party. Soon enough, Anemoona and Kenshin dropped in too, and then it suddenly was time to get going again.
It was a busy but fun day, so we finished it with a simple meal and snuggling in bed. What a great day!
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Date: 2015-03-22 03:38 pm (UTC)Zie! Ik heb gewoon dagen van 48 uur nodig!
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