New Yarn

As you can tell by my title Labor Day Weekend has kicked-in in the US and I am feeling oh so clever. Hey at least it is truth in advertising if not clever. I while back, I hit one of my Local Yarn Stores (LYS), Common Thread in Saratoga Springs. I had not been there in a while and thought I was over due for a visit. Support the yarn economy and whatnot. 

I was thrilled to find two new (to me) sock yarns for my basket and eventually my feet. First up we have Araucania Ranco Multy. I don't think I've ever seen a sock yarn in this color of turquoise before, or else this color has never called to me before. Congratulations on being the first turquoise yarn to the basket. Maybe it is the touch of grey, grey has my number and uses it frequently.

Second we have MadelineTosh Merino Light in the Malachite colorway. This yarn was on its way to becoming mythical to me. I read about it, I see pictures on the internet, I've never seen it in real life till now.

The one thing I am worried about is its single ply. I promised myself I would not buy single ply sock yarn ever again. In my defense, do you see that color? That color is my favorite in the whole wide world. Deep emerald, forest, malachite what ever name you want to use it says Yarnkettle to me! Now does it want to be socks or fingerless mitts or socks or......

I also cast on a hat for my Mom too. We had picked this yarn on last trip home a year or so ago. Hubby and I were delayed due to a thunderstorm/tornado so I got to spend a extra day at home rather than making it to a hub and spending the night in a hotel and arriving home about the same time.

So what do you do when you're stranded? You go to the yarn store too? I thought as much.

Mom has very good taste since she picked out a yarn I had been looking for, in this gorgeous purple colorway. It is Jaggerspun Zephyr 50/50 Merino/Silk blend KD weight. Such a joy to work with, felt like butter running through my fingers.

Now I have a confession to make, which I have already made to Mom. I had already knit this hat in this yarn once this summer. And I gave the other one away. Gasp, I know! I have not made many hats so I bought more yarn than I thought I would need. Three skeins, each hat took one skein. The first one was done in a weekend which was great because I had struggled with it once before this year, I kept messing up the pattern, somehow. 

The next day was my coworker's birthday and while I don't usually give my knitting away, that hat really wanted to go with her on an Alaskan cruise. She was leaving later that week and had not yet pulled out her winter gear to evaluate. I knew Mom did not need a wool/silk hat in July, especially during that heat wave the US was having. So Mom's hat turned into Laura's hat and got to see a glacier. 

Now Mom's hat is done too waiting for pictures to show it off on the blog. And the last skein of Jaggerspun? I think Mom could use a pair of matching fingerless gloves too. I just hope they don't want to see Alaska, because that ship has sailed.