If you're joining in the MasonDixon Knitting BangOut a Sweater KAL -aka the Stopover KAL LopapeysaLooza--whatever you're calling it ---you'll love my yarn shopping tip.
Let me preface this. 1) the words "yarn shopping tip" do not roll easily off my fingertips and 2) I love my LYS.I always try to Shop Local. My local clubhouse , Knit New Haven*, does not carrry Lopi. Nor does the yarn shop at the other end of town, The Yarn Basket, nor my 3rd closest, the artsy and fun to shop at Madison Wool. So, last month, when I decided to satisfy my colorwork jones described here with Mary Jane Mucklestone's Stopover, I hit the internet.
I'd seen this Frank Stella piece, in Kay Gardiner Herself's IG feed in late November. In an uncharacteristically decisive move, I declared it my Stopover colorway. Or as Kay calls it, my #Stellover. (always with the great hashtags, that one)
Looking online I had trouble finding just the right colors in any one shop. I landed on a new-to-me yarn source, Nordic Store and gleefully saw the LettLopi price set at $ 2.49 a skein. And not just some, but ALL the colors.
WHAT? Lopi is a bargain even at full price (usually $4.50/skein) but this was cray-zeee. I grabbed my four colors, added a fifth because why not, I go to the shipping and WHAT THEWHAT? The 4-7 day shipping price is $21.??? Almost equal to the price of the yarn?
So. Turns out I was online shopping in Rekjavik. But - I had the exact hues I wanted, and more, and the price was the same- or less- than ordering in the US with shipping. I hit OK and BOOM 4 days later I had my international mail with this inside .
Yup a video, because Icelandic wool by Icelandic mail gets the full Hollywood treatment.
And also because I hit the video button on my phone by mistake.
I'm going to consider myself a KAL member anyway, even if I already cast on. Without the CC on the bottom ribbing because that's not a good place for me to have a horizontal line. If you know what I mean. I'll have a good chunk of it knit while away this coming weekend- but I bet you'll still be done before me.
* At KNH they suggested subbing Quince Osprey. Different feel but nice option. I also considered Brown Sheep Lambs Pride, my old go-to for scandanavian style sweaters. But- a knitter wants what a knitter wants and in this case, it's the real Lopi and a package from Iceland.
When we last spoke, I was up to my elbows, wrists in Trip Mitts. How about a bulleted catch up?
• Work in print! As the year turned, my office filled with work shot a while back, coming home to roost in the form of books, magazines and booklets. I'm thrilled with the spreads-and cover--of the new Vogue Knitting. Note to self: share some of the other recently released work in future posts. Like the adorable Finger Knitting book in the back here. And the Faerie magazine pieces. (Don't raise that eyebrow over Faerie. Read what The NY Times says- raves, really- about it)
• Another view inside the Vogue Knitting. I shot two stories--one on Modern Bohus knits, and one is winter whites. Normally I'm all about the colors and contrasts but the whites one? All about texture and avoiding color. I like turning things upside down like that- makes me see/ think differently. Sort of like how we're supposed to brush our teeth with the opposite hand than normal every so often, to stretch our little brains.
• If you are at Vogue Knitting Live this weekend in NYC and you happen by the Vogue Knitting booth, let them know how smashing this issue looks. It's been re-designed, looks quite wonderful and fresh. Yes, I'm biased but it's still true :-)
• And-- a super dorky me with the cover.
• Let the record show that I am at Level 5 Handknits here: an unreleased Mary Lou Egan sweater that is drop dead easy to knit, Honey cowl with my Aristida shawl on top, L'Arbre hat and Trip Mitts. Yes, I actually did meet my friends looking like that and we were not at a fiber festival. I forgot I was wearing the cowl when I added the shawl over it. That's my story.
• I'm missing Vogue Knitting Live this weekend, due to a family trip. I'm the one who scheduled it on the same dates as what is always a fun knitting party time. I am so annoyed at myself, increasingly with each IG post and photo of friends yucking it up on Broadway. I plan to, at the very least, take advantage of car knitting time and finish a shawl. Maybe start a sweater. Who knows? Caution to the wind! Maybe more mitts.
If you're going to VK Live in NYC , here're my recommendations:
- Hit the Marketplace and go straight ot Jill Draper Makes Stuff . Snag some Rifton before it is gone. Love that yarn, and she has some new colorways. Also, the Dragonfly Fibers ladies will be there with their brilliant colorways. Say hi from me.
- While you're hitting the marketplace, check out the Knitty City booth and their special guests schedule. Lars Rains will be there with his new book, Modern Lopi..It's lopapeysa weather. So get on it. Say hi from me there, too. The same booth is also hosting Kay and Ann from Mason-Dixon knitting, with their popular coloring book. A knitting coloring book. I bet they'll sign it in crayon. And...say hi from me.
- I'd also recommend joining Ann & Kay of Mason Dixon Knitting on their trot through Central Park on Sunday morning. Because this is something you can't do at any other VKLive. Seize the day. Might be my 2016 motto.
