I hit the yarn motherload

A few years ago, when I first started looking for inexpensive yarn on eBay, you could get some really sweet deals. I've noticed that it has become harder and harder to buy cheap yarn in general, but I still check eBay on a regular basis.

I'm still surprised when I see the prices on some of the yarn out there, and I get really giddy when I stumble across a good sale. So over the weekend, I noticed that there are quite a few good auctions listed on eBay these days (post holiday, back to work, gotta pay bills, I assume?).

One of my favorite eBay sellers, who still manages to start her auctions at VERY low prices, had a bunch of auctions up for grabs. What a pleasant surprise to learn that I won three of the auctions I bid on! I think on at least one of them, I bid within the last ten minutes (when the little pop-up window warns you). My apologies to the previous high bidder if you felt that I "sniped" your auction. It was a last minute impulse buy, I swear!

So here's what I managed to add to my already GIANT stash:


6 balls of Lang twin color in blue/cream twist with a bit of shimmery sheen. I'm thinking tank top for the summer... 



9 balls of Lang Eve in dark blue/light blue twist. No clue what to do with this. 



9 balls of Lang Fay in butterscotch yellow. It has a really interesting construction, and it's super duper soft. I'm going to try and do a spring cardigan with this. 

Don't listen to the package instructions: Take the burrito out of the wrapper! 

Testing the new Picasa/Hello/Blogger deal

So, I'm trying to figure out if this is easier than my previous method of exporting my photos to Photobucket. Not sure if I'm getting the hang of it yet, but in the mean time, here is my test photo of the Gibs.



The D-O double G

New beginnings

So, as is customary when I reach the finishing stage of any project, I have started a couple of new projects. It takes me a very long time to finish a project because I can't stand hand-sewing. I do it well, but I just have a hard time gathering enough motivation to do it.

That said, here's a quick update on the Amy vest I was working on: I finished the knitting part ages ago, and I even joined the shoulders and picked up around the neckline and one armhole (I left the other arm open to help facilitate the sewing of the argyle diamonds). I managed to sew 1 1/2 diamonds, but since I'd rather spend my time knitting and not sewing, I just haven't been in the mood to do the rest. One good motivating factor is that I really do want to wear this thing when it's done, so hopefully I will find enough encouragement in that.

With the vest set aside, I needed another major knitting project to keep my fingers happy. I was going to knit a tank top with some Rowan Kid Soft I got on eBay, but I don't think I have enough yarn for the patterns I have on hand. I decided not to risk it, but I'm keeping my eyes open for anyone selling a leftover ball of the same in a nice contrasting or complementary color (I have #759 Chuckle, an almost-Smurf blue).

After flipping through my library of Rebecca magazines, I remembered that I bought a bag of GGH Goa last summer when I was in Oregon. I found the pattern I intended to use, and since I hadn't done anything involving cables in a while, it seemed like a good idea. It is the first pattern in issue number 23:



The color I have is a nice dark, crimson red. I've been into red lately. It's weird, because I used to not care for it at all, but now I buy practically everything in red. Anyway, here's how it's going so far:



AND, my sister asked me to knit her a scarf. Actually, scarves. Three of them. Someone at her work was wearing one of those furry scarves, and my sister decided she wanted one too. She went to buy some yarn and fell under the curse - she couldn't pick just one, so she bought enough yarn for three different scarves. Who knew those innocent looking little blobs of string had so much power? She likes purple:



I also whipped up a batch of my favorite snack cookies, lemon-anise biscotti. Yum-a-roonies!