The Knitting Pirate

Friend Adina recently went on a two-week trip to Ireland with school, and brought back a present for Pirate-Husband and me – YARN. (Does she know me, or what?) I’ve been tasked to knit Pirate-Husband a sweater. He wants something traditional and cabled, of course, and is actually *happy* that the wool is so scratchy. It is, he says, how a sweater should be. I personally prefer softer wool, but I’m not the one wearing it, so it’s all good – he’ll probably wear a turtleneck underneath, anyway.

It’s natural, undyed brownish-gray, a beautiful color, but the stuff is completely unlabeled. I don’t know its weight or yardage. Adina said that two yarn store ladies told her that five skeins would be enough for “an extra-large American male’s sweater,” and she may be able to find out more, even if it involves a phone call to Ireland.

At first, Pirate-Husband thought that I would be able to get this sweater knitted for him in time for next winter. I pointed out that sweaters take time, and that I don’t have a pattern yet, and that I’ve never made an adult-size sweater before, and that I have other knitting projects going on, and that my knitting time is quite limited because it’s much more important to work on the house right now. So we’re planning this one for winter 2009-2010.

Speaking of the house, I spent all weekend working up there. Not a single room is 100% complete yet, but we accomplished a lot – there is spackle on walls, we purchased paint, the only thing left to clean in the kitchen is the oven. On Saturday the hot tub guy told us that the spa itself is fine but the chemicals are all out of whack. We now have a testing kit and a weekly maintenance ritual. Also on Saturday I discovered that there are three koi in the supposedly empty upper pond. On Sunday it dropped way below freezing and I got to see the fish huddling around the pond heater. The lower pond has no heater; the koi freeze and thaw with the weather. We’ve only lost one of about twenty so far. I’m hoping the rest of them make it through the winter.

At WEBS, I wandered slowly through the aisles, touching every single yarn with one finger. Then I bought enough yarn for Revolution, in a warm brown color with sage green for the accent color.

A few days later, I went to Yarn Forward in Ottawa, and picked up a ball of Lang Jawoll sock yarn. I’ve never knit with it before, and the colors looked fantastic – dark and bright greens, and brown. If I’m remembering correctly, it is self-striping. The included bit of reinforcing yarn for the heel and toe intrigued me, and ultimately I couldn’t resist.

I also made a note that Lang Jawoll Superwash would be perfect for Clessidra. It’s the same gauge as Regia Silk, but a lot less expensive.

And that is the end of my stash enhancement for quite some time. This stuff had all been budgeted into my vacation, so I don’t feel bad about buying it. I still have to purchase a lazy kate with my birthday money (I’ve been waiting until we have the house a little more set up), but after that, I’m on a strict yarn diet. Money has to go to the house and it’s not like I have a shortage of yarn! I hereby resolve that I will not buy any more yarn or fiber until the MD Sheep and Wool Festival in May.

Even the pretty stuff on Etsy that I was supposed to buy with the rest of my birthday money.