Ill Gotten Booty

No, no, my tush is just fine (and completely covered as of this writing. I make no promises about future writings). Not that kind of booty--YARN booty. I promised photos of actual purchases (i.e., the stuff on the ground underneath the wagon) and let no one say I don't deliver.

Well...okay, I mean, I won't bring it to your house or anything...not THAT kind of deliver....but I'd probably invite you in to look at it and knit with me if you came to my house. I'm friendly that way. Bring cookies.

This first is from Angora Valley Farms and is 370 yards of Hand Dyed Monarch superwash wool in the colorway "Ruby Redmond" (which makes it some sort of fate in my devious little mind, seeing as how I live in Redmond. The fact that I didn't notice the name of the colorway until just now....well, we'll just let that slide, mm-kay?)

I had a heck of a time photographing it...that area that looks white is really kind of a peach shade, and the red is really closer to cinnamon. The area that actually looks cinnamon is really more of a brick. I think I will probably not consider photography as a viable back up plan in case I don't get into nursing school.

Next is 390 yards of fingering weight washable merino from Fancy Image, no color name given:

This one actually photographed pretty true on my computer...but don't worry, I won't let it go to my head. In truth, you can be fairly certain that this was the result of luck and not a shred of skill. I'm actually quite proud that I know how to change the battery in the camera. And don't throw it when I can't figure it out. Much. Anyway, the yarn is purples, oranges, reds--kind of like a sunset.

Now, remember that I was trying to find two yarns of the same weight and in vaguely complimentary colors (by which I mean they don't make me want to barf...my standards dropped considerably as I neared the bottom of my sock yarn stash)? Well, I found some Koigu that I think will solve the problem. They also don't have color names, so you'll have to go with "it's these ones":

The one is obviously black; the other is a retina-rupturing combo of hot pink and red and orange that may have been designed with clown wigs in mind. Clown wigs, or knitters like myself that have good taste the same way a four-year-old picking out her clothes for herself the first time has good taste. (What can I say? As a child, I campaigned strenuously to be allowed to wear the purple jumper with the orange shirt.) But do consider--the black will be the ribbing, the heel, and the toe; the clown wig stuff will be just part of the mosaic pattern, so that should tone it down. I tried hard, but I really couldn't resist. While I was there, I was sadly wrestled to the ground and forced to buy still more koigu (not really...but it somehow sounds better than "I have as much self control as the above mentioned four-year-old in a closet full of chocolate when there are no grown-ups in hearing range", which is significantly closer to the truth):

I can't figure out quite why I love this stuff...but I do. And somehow, the fact that I got 10% off with my Knitter Anonymous card made it okay to spend twice as much as I intended. I intend to discuss this with my algebra teacher next time I see her...clearly, she taught me something incorrectly because I'm pretty sure I didn't save with that deal in the way I've been trying to convince Mr. K that I did ("you saved $2.50 so you spent another $23? Really?" I think I was doing better with the "wrestled to the ground" story).

Lastly, the Knitters Anonymous goodies, at the request of my dear Marianne who really wanted to see what was in there (as did I...once I got the 10% off card, everything else became sort of....hazy):

The big red thing in the middle is a tote bag with the warning signs of knitting addiction on it; around it is a whole assortment of goodness. There are two bumper stickers (in the front), a pink antennae ball that says "I knit in traffic", two labels for sewing into finished garments (one says "made with love by a member of knitters anonymous" and one says "made by a knitwit"), numerous postcards with knitters 12 steps and warning signs of addiction, a patch for reducing yarn cravings (I told them at the booth that it wouldn't work; they assured me that it was guaranteed not to), two pencils that will work as size 11 needles in an emergency, a keychain tape measure (I initially typed "ape measure" by mistake....which will have me giggling all afternoon. Don't we all need an ape measure?), a ruler, two memo pads headed "while you were knitting", a package of Knitterette gum and, of course, the discount card for all the stores that honor it. Not too shabby, I think. Oh, and they showed me the secret handshake, too. Truly.

And now, I will stand in the bullring of fate, waving a red flag aloft--that is, I will post a picture of the umpteenth sock I am trying to knit with the Lorna's Laces Mt. Creek. It's become a matter of pride now. It's almost as though the yarn has talked smack about my knitting abilities, and I am duty bound to shut its wooly mouth. (Not that I'm taking this personally, mind you.)

If you're thinking that you don't like it as well as the Jaywalker, you're not alone. Unfortunately, when I tried to make the Jaywalker in a size that didn't require leg buttering on my part, the colors pooled so that one side was completely green and purple and the other was completely turquoise and raspberry. While Mr. K proclaimed it "kinda cool", I'm pretty sure he didn't mean cool as in "fashion forward." So Jaywalkers were out. This pattern is actually kind of fun and scallopy and lacey in person and looks better than the photograph. Besides which it gets this godless yarn out of my stash and off my needles.

And I'm SO all about that.