Homework, Yarn, and a Finished Sweater

This post has been in the making since Saturday when I had actually planned on writing it, so needless to say, it's a loong one (but fun and full of yarny pictures!). But, after some Alpaca fun (which will be discussed shortly) I had a ton of homework to work on and I spent most of the day researching, not being able to justify spending time blogging when I knew I wouldn't be doing much school work at all on Sunday (just to cut the suspense- I didn't).

So, Saturday:

I got up and played on the new PC for a while, and then I let the BF have it before I started school work. I cleaned a little (a really little) while he was doing that and I got a call from Wendy, saying that she wasn't feeling well and was going to go home and rest instead of going to the Alpaca event with me. Sooo instead of waiting to go until the afternoon like we had planned, I left my house right around noon to head over to the Ohio Expo Center.

So I get there (it was like a 10ish minute drive) and I pay to park (ugh) and I'm driving through the parking lot, thinking "Man, it looks empty, where the heck should I park? Where are the Alpacas? Am I here on the right day?!" I see a livestock building and figure the Alpaca stuff is probably in there. I park my car and get out and head into the building. I immediately notice a smell, obviously an animal smell but not something you'd except from an animal like an Alpaca (I'd imagine it'd be similar to Horse or Cattle or something like that... hey, I grew up in the country and I can discern between these scents). I see birds, well, chickens. Lots of them. Then I walk into the main room and see.. well.. many, many rows of cages of chickens, and I think "These aren't Alpaca."

So I walk around a little in the building and gaze at some chickens and then I walk out and look around at the (seemingly) deserted parking area (cars but no SIGNS or human folk) I see a group of wome getting directions from another woman and think "Aha! They're looking for Alpacas, too!" so I follow them (discreetly) and I find...






(Crappy cell phone pic! After all the exitement about being able to use my good camera, I forget it!)





Lots of cuties like this. I even talk to one of the farmers (she was very nice).

There was tons of Alpaca products, some hand knits, sweaters and the like. I also saw some beautiful handknit mittens with a top that flipped back to reveal fingerless gloves.

Hats like this:





There was also a decent amount of yarn. There was some really nice hand painted stuff, but I couldn't help but pass up this:



600 yds of tweed alpaca, sport weight, $29. =D

There were also 700 yd solid colors for $27, but I really loved the tweed. I had a hard time choosing from this skein, one with black and tan, and one with mostly black and some of the silver grey in it.

It's so soft. I ♥ it. It was sitting on my desk while I was doing research on Sun Myung Moon for a class on world censorship. (BTW I couldn't get the link to Wikipedia to work for him.. weird)





On Sunday I got almost no school work done. But, I did happen to finish a scarf! That's right! I cast on Reversible Lace Ladders with Plymouth Baby Alpaca Worsted Glow (whew, that's a mouthful). This was my 4th attempt at a scarf with this yarn (Previously Reversible Brioche Cable, which was LOVELY but I wasn't going to have enough yarn to make a nice length scarf, Braidy which curled far too much for my taste, and Dad's Sharfik by Grumperina which wasn't reversible and didn't suit the yarn) and finally, I have a match! I cast on Tuesday during the election results, and I wove in the ends yesterday. But, I haven't blocked it yet, so no pictures because it is lace and rather unimpressive right now.

Man! I was so excited that it knit up so quick. I guess that's what happens when you're monogamous with a project!

One more person off of my Christmas list! =D


Also on Sunday (technically Saturday, but I didn't get it until Sunday), I got my package from Knit Picks! My mom said after I finished her sweater she'd buy me yarn to make my own! So of course I got right on that after her sweater was done and I picked out Knit Picks Main Line. I found a pattern that I really liked and went off in search of a cotton/wool blend because I didn't want it to be too heavy and this was perfect! Plus it was on sale!! I got Adobo and I absolutely love the color.



The pattern that I had originally picked out is Bella Paquita by Marnie MacLean, but I went to look at the pattern again and wondered if it would look right on me because I am fairly busty. The blurb on Knit Picks suggests cabled things for this yarn since the stitch definition is really nice (It is, I swatched it and I love this yarn), so I think it's going to be Wicked with 3/4 length sleeves, if there's enough yarn.

Well I only needed 1000 yds for the project, which came up to about $43 ($43!!) and with a purchase of $50 you get free shipping, so I ordered some more yarn... Knit Picks Shimmer, Alpaca/silk laceweight in Spice (Yes, I realize they're almost the same colors)



I thought about getting Sherry, the lovely dark red, but I really want this to be Waves of Grain and this colorway will be just perfect for it, I think. It will be fun picking out some beads to go with it. =)

I almost forgot! Since I was still a little short of $50 I ordered a small bottle of Kookaburra Woolwash Delicate. Unfortunately I left it at my mother's house so I won't be able to use it for a couple of weeks.



Of course, I can't knit any of this yarn until I'm finished with my Christmas knitting. =( Well.. I could, but I really need to get serious about my Christmas knitting! ;-)


An aside: Do you think I use too many emoticons? I feel like I need them to convey my intent of the text... hmmm...


Where was I?

Oh yes, Sunday. So aside from finishing my scarf I also managed to make homemade cinnamon rolls and cheesecake. The cheesecake turned out DIVINE, while the cinnamon rolls were merely okay.


Also on Sunday I got my mom to model my finished Emerald (Ravlink). Well... she wasn't feeling super and was a little grumpy because I made her go out in the cold to take pictures of a sweater, but she was a pretty good sport about it. =)

*drumroll*

Here she is!




Front shot



Back shot



Close up of shoudler cable detail

Specs:
Pattern: Emerald free from Knitty
Yarn: Cascade Ecowool
Needles: 10.5
Mods: I had to account for the difference in gauge, because mine was smaller, I cast on more stitches and started increases in the sleeve much sooner and much more frequent. I also made the button band much thinner because the body came out pretty wide.

Thoughts: The pattern was easy to follow and would have been much easier if I didn't have a different gauge, but I liked the end result! If I knit it again, I might eliminate the YO around the cable because the k3tog was a little annoying, but I do like that the YOs hid the holes that might have otherwise occurred.

Also, I absolutely love Ecowool, it's such a value for your money and it's squooshy and soft. I am definitely going to make myself a cardigan out of it (eventually...)


Whew! That was a long post (see.. I really don't do much at work...).

I hope you're not overloaded! Thanks for reading! ;-)