Extra Inspired

I’m feeling extra inspired this week after our wonderful trip to the Twist Fibre Festival. There were so many clever people! Among the best were the lovely mother/daughter team from PureLaine Etc. where I procured two amazing skeins of Shibui Staccato. Since we were staying in the same guest house, we had many opportunities to talk over our wonderful craft. (Many thanks to Sylvie for helping with my terrible French 🙂 Also in the magic mix were the incredible Purlin’ J and L’il Dorothy. I managed to scoop a coveted Purlin’ J project bag, lucky me! I spend a dizzying few minutes at La Maison Tricotee. Oh. My. Goodness. La Maison specializes in the rare and gorgeous. I swooned over brands that are without distributors such as Jill Draper and Blue Moon. Though they can certainly be found online, one seldom has the opportunity to touch and admire them. Got me some “Socks That Rock” from Blue Moon.

We managed to get our booth set up in record time due to the amazing fact that we were able to drive Chuckles-the-Subaru right inside the arena and right up to the booth! (That was really fun 🙂 Rosehaven did very well, particularly because of our new Berroco products. They offer really great value on truly luxurious fibers. I’ve long been a fan of the entire Ultra Alpaca family and now, especially the Ultra Alpaca Chunky. (If you haven’t seen the new Berroco Cosma, you ought to!)

Now that I’m home and the weather is fine, I’ve been spending some precious time in my “summer office” working on The Birthday Sweater. I LOVE the Malabrigo Rios I’ve chosen this year. It is buttery soft, tightly twisted and an absolute joy to knit. The color is unique and produces a fabric that looks sort of distressed, I think because it is dyed after it is spun. When I’ve snipped it, I’ve found that it is pale in the center. 

Several months ago, I saw some rather inspiring photos over at Loaves and Stitches. While doing some test knitting for Baby Cocktails, Carie dropped some high contrast color work into a Malabrigo cardigan. It impressed me and the image has stuck in my mind. I decided to try it. There were moments when I was tempted to go with a coordinating color instead but I fought it, choosing instead a bright tomato red. I’m happy!

Today’s outdoor knitting will be focussed on a little custom project. I’m making a copy of the sweater worn by the little boy in “The Shining”. It’s obviously an intarsia project which oughta be fun! Pics to follow.

Happy Knitting!