The Yarnarian Chats.

We survived our foot of snow. Fortunately, it was of the light, fluffy kind, with no ice at all, so the Hubbo and his trusty snow blower got in cleared up in good time. We are a corner house, but with no sidewalks, which is great. On the other hand, we have a long driveway and a long walk from the street to our house.

Somebody's foot prints, probably a deer. They are all over our area. You can walk down the block and there will be 3-4 of them grazing.




I'm taking a break from dyeing for a couple of weeks. There will be new yarns on Etsy, but they appeared first here. So, if you want the latest and greatest, check out my shop: http://fritzl.etsy.com

I have been doing some knitting. I started another lacy scarf in Bambi, which, if you haven't tried it, has the most wonderful drape. Not to mention that it's a cozy, comfy yarn. This little sweetie probably won't keep me very warm, what with all that open work, but she is cute, and I like her. When she's all blocked, you'll really see those holes and that edging.

Last night we were watching something unmemorable on TV, and I knit about 4 inches on her, only to discover that I had made a mistake 2 inches back. And it was one of those cases where I couldn't fudge it, so off to the frog pond she went for a bit. Knitted some more, didn't pay much attention to the scarf, made more mistakes, frogged again. I swear I knit the last 6 inches about 3 times. The pattern is not difficult, I was just distracted.



Then I decided that I needed to finish a sock. I have to Kitchener the toe, and then knit the second one. This one is done in Linda BFL yarn. How to get American knitters to try Blue Faced Leicester yarn is one of my goals. We seem hung up on merino, cashmere, silk, and such. But BFL is one stunning yarn. Long fibers which give the yarn strength and a soft sheen. Gotta dye up more of this. Maybe I'll keep it all. Evil laugh here.

This is my Lacy Waves sock pattern, available on Ravelry. Elder DD walked off with my original pair, and I liked it a lot, so here we are, with just the 2nd sock to go.



The Hubbo's Corner: Look what the Schmutz Meister managed to find me at a gigantic yard sale: Leg warmers, and I think they might be hand-knit. At any rate, they are amazingly warm, and I'll bring them with me when I go to the frozen Northland. Gotta keep the body warm there.



Scrabblequeen - I don't find it itchy. It's very different from merino. Remind me in a week or two, after I've finished the second sock, to send you a sample. It doesn't feel at all like any other woolly yarn I've used. I've only used it for socks, however. I don't know How it would feel in a scarf wrapped around my neck.

The Yarnarian Has Pictures.

I do, finally some nice new pics of yarn and projects.


A Winter's Tale Scarf for me knitted out out an almost solid Alexa yarn. I made it a bit longer than I usually do, just to see the yardage. It's about 60 x 5 inches and is so soft and cuddly. I wore it yesterday into Brooklyn. We went to Bubby's for lunch and hung out by the playground so that the Benster could have some fun. It was damp and chilly, but my neck was toasty and warm. I like this yarn even better for scarves than for socks; it must be the softness factor! I'll post the pattern on Etsy and Ravelry as soon as I get it written up.

It was delightful to knit, even though I had to frog it 5 times. I just wasn't paying attention at all, silly moi. Once you get into the swing of the pattern, it's so pleasant. Not auto-pilot, but not very difficult either.





Knitting News: I started these socks last night out of Rose Yarn. The poor skein had been sitting unloved in my Etsy shop, and I liked it, so I grabbed it. The advantages of doing your own dyeing.

These will be called Rapunzel's Braid. See that braided cable and that lacy pattern that swings back and forth? Those are the braids. Just in case you couldn't figure it all out.

I'm doing a theme for Etsy for January: Fairy Tales! And I remembered this lovely braided cable and thought of you-know-who. So here she is. I was going to put a lacy ruffle covering the cable, but I don't think that a gal stuck in a tower and trying to get out would use lacy ruffles. She's much too practical for that.




The gansey is proceeding nicely, and I have about 8.5 inches done. And I've started a Revontuli shawl in Kauni, but no pics because there's nothing much to see.

Dyeing news: The first fairy tale of January is going to be Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. So, here is a first peek at the yarns to be listed.

1. Snow White - see her black hair, white skin and rosy lips and cheeks? And she's wearing a gown of green with gold trimming.



2. Here's the glass case in which she rests until her prince comes to rescue her.



3. The huntsman and the mines.




The prince:



Other yarns are in process for little Snow White.

More news and pics coming as the week progresses.

Wow! You all really like Snow White and her buddies. That's so nice to hear. I was going to dye up this afternoon, but got back too late from the Mommie's Chanukah party. So instead I made up a list of what I want to do for each fairy tale.