Weakness

Approximately 2 months ago I made the announcement that after looking over the good ol' yarn stash and the bad new credit card statement I would begin a Fiber Enhancement Alleviation Program (FEAP). This FEAP would entail no new yarn purchases (aside from Birthday yarn) until this August. I was doing very well. I was keeping strong even in the face of many fabulous new colorways from Fleece Artist Merino Sock. But then I got an email from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, the makers of Socks That Rock yarn. As many of you may know, they started a sock club earlier this year. At that time I decided not to join and instead simply ordered a couple colors I liked. After seeing for myself the lovely yarn and watching everyone else receive their neat first package, I signed up for the waiting list. This past Friday I got an email saying 200 openings were recently made available. I was weak. I signed up within minutes. Membership is now full again. No regrets:)

As for actual knitting content...Not much has been happening. I swatched for the Lacy Little Top using the suggested Hemp 3 made by Hemp for Knitting. I knit two swatches, washed them and then measured. The swatch that I like the best is, of course, the one for which I don't have the right length circular (24 or 32 inch...I have a 16 inch). I put in a quick order last night for the correct needle. Hopefully it arrives by the end of the week. The lace pattern is almost identical to that used for Orangina (which I knit a couple months ago) so I think this top should knit up quickly. Famous last words, right? :)

I also started and finished MaryElla this past weekend. Even though we were away for the weekend (visiting family and friends in our hometown), I found time to squeeze in a repeat or two here and there and suddenly Sunday morning I was binding off! This was a really neat, quick project. It took approximately 2.5 hours to string the beads and then 3 or 4 hours of knitting (These time are all approximate. Next time I'll try to keep more exact time). I was pretty slow to begin with as I had not ever knit with beads or 0000 sized needles, but I got into a rhythm after just a few rows. I haven't yet bought a ribbon, but I plan on adding one soon. I highly recommend the MaryElla Kits that EarthFaire sells (if you use the link on the Knitty pattern page you can get a discount). Out of hundreds of beads I only had 2 duds. Wow! I am most definitely making more of these (I have quite a few kits in my stash). Great pattern!