Rhinestones are a girl's best friend...

I just don't understand how people enjoy knitting lace. People actually make whole shawls out of lace...crazy! I am just terrible at it. Although I do like the way it is coming out...when I am not ripping back. I picked up a skein of 100% cashmere at Rhinebeck from Still River Mill in Connecticut. They had an example of a cute knitted lace hat (Buffalo Gal Lace Cap). Their hat was knit from buffalo fiber, but I wanted the greyer color and went with the cashmere instead.

This project which is only a quarter of the way started has required several life lines and the purchase of reading glasses. That's right...I went out and bought reading glasses (the inexpensive kind that are magnifiers) so I can stand some chance of seeing the stitches when I make a mistake. The bonus: The reading glasses have rhinestones!



It is hard to see in this picture but the holes (intentional holes) are coming along quite nicely. I just really have pay attention when working the lace repeat. And then count at the end of each row to be sure that I have the right number of stitches. Paranoid I know...but I have messed up so many times that I figure it is better to be safe than sorry.

I bought a sheep!

That's right I bought a sheep! It isn't a Shetland, or a Jacob, or a Blue-faced Leicester....it is stuffed! Fooled you! He is a stuffed hand puppet named, Baaah...ob. He was one of many things that I couldn't resist this past weekend at Rhinebeck (and for you knitting muggles, that is one of the largest fiber events in the area). We had a great time searching for fiber among the bales of hay.

My purchases fell into 3 categories: fiber, animals/smelly stuff & notions/etc.

I bought six skeins of Socks that Rock yarn (2 for a hat, 2 for mittens and 2 for socks), a skein of cashmere for a lacy hat, some merino embroidery thread and a mitten kit from Morehouse Farm.

Here is Baaah..ob my sheep along with the smelly stuff "Moth Beware" from Got Soap?. It actually smells quite nice which is good because everything that was in the same bag with it smells the same. The black sheep is a sachet filled with lavender and was for fun.

Here are the miscellaneous items. I bought small wooden pins for blocking, but I really am going to steal a friend's idea to make knitting ball Christmas ornaments out of scrap yarn and two of theses pins to look like knitting needles. And then I bought a small original etching of asparagus (one of my favorite veggies) I really wanted to buy this print, but it was a bit out of my price range...there is always next year.

And Baaah..ob has already begun making pals with my cat Winston.

Yarn Harlot Fun

For those of you who A: enjoy crossword puzzles and B: like the Yarn Harlot...here is a little crossword to test your knowledge of knitting and Miss Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.

Crossword