Wednesday, October 14, 2009

practicing

I am trying to train for Rhinebeck. Last year , I came home with a bottle of cranberry wine. Period. Full stop. In a year that had me at 5 fabulous fiber festivals - I know! weep for me! professional duties!- I purchased all of 2 skeins of yarn and a handful of mohair locks. Total.

1009fanvar307So when my friend Shelly asked me to meet her at an alpaca farm shop near her house yesterday, I thought it'd be good for me. I was missing my friends at Victory Ranch, and my visit there last October.
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Bozrah CT is no match for the mountains of New Mexico. But still, not so bad on a fall day.

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The alpaca were predictably adorable. Six Paca Farm has a coffee shop in its farmhouse shop too. In training for my pledge to be decisive and acquire some yarn this weekend at the NY Sheep & Wool hooha, I forced myself to practice.

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Look , a skein of tealish, overdyed brown alpaca. Sportweight. 160 yards. Lovely! But what will I do with it? One skein. Why?

I am not meant to be a stasher. Instead of working later today, I just know I am going to dig around and see if any of my alpaca leftovers might be similar enough in weight to knit a stripey Felicity hat. Or I'm going to do what I began at 6 am: go through every freakin' sport weight alpaca project on Ravelry, in search of the right one.

Note to self: make shopping list before Saturday with quantities/projects . Or else, stick to the wine.

7 comments:

Carole Knits said...

I'd be happy to help you shop at Rhinebeck. Just a little service I offer for my friends.

Mary Lou said...

Thirteen mile - you must have some-- would be nice with that I'm sure. Or, you'll just have to buy some other yarn at Rhinebeck to help it along.

Ellen Bloom said...

Oh come on, Gale! You could make a very nice scarflette or skinny scarf with that teal alpaca...it's gorgeous.

Just keep in mind how many yards/oz. you need for a full-on sweater. Buy, Buy, Buy! I need about 1200 yards. You can really find faboo bargains at the festivals. Have a GREAT time!

Julie said...

or you could make a hat, fingerless mitts or that new "Pretty Thing" cowl...

Cathy R said...

Ah, alpacas. They are just so. Photogenic.

I'm with Ellen - use your beautiful yarn to make a skinny scarf. So warm for the winter.

Good luck at Rheinbeck. I'm sure you will manage to perservere and buy yarn.

Turtle said...

i miss those perfect new england days!! hey, thanks for the camera info. Doing some research now!!

Birdsong said...

Homespun Handknits has a lot of great projects for small amounts of yarn.. you could buy the book at Rhinebeck! I agree about making a list.. did very well at a festival a few years back that way. I made a list of projects I wanted to make soon, and quantities needed so I would remember the right amount.

You could always send me the alpaca... I love the color combo.