Out West

On Friday, I went to Stitches West with a group of Ravelers. We had a great time, and came home with lots of goodies.

The market was overwhelming, as usual, but I managed to restrain myself from spending too much. In fact, except for the tee-shirt I bought, everything I purchased had been on my list.

I bought three skeins of Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted, in Violetas, Geranio, and Continental.



Some of the sponsor booths were handing out free samples, so I got a mini skein of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn and one of Malabrigo lace weight.



Since I'm part of the group Malabrigo Junkies on Ravelry, I also received a test skein of Malabrigo's hopefully-soon-to-be-released sock yarn. Any pattern suggestions? I have a hard time picking patterns for variegated yarns, although these colors look great in the skein.



My non-yarn purchases included Evelyn A. Clark's Knitting Lace Triangles and a set of zero stitch markers.



Of course, the day wouldn't have been complete without stopping by the Ravelry booth. It was great to meet Jess and Casey, and to see all of the Ravelry pins people were wearing around the market. I played along in the passport game, and ended up buying a tee-shirt and a set of buttons.



Stitches may be over, but now I can knit up my new yarn. I've already started an Amanda Hat (pdf) with the Malabrigo in Violetas.



I'm enjoying it so far!

Hugs and Kisses

Happy Valentine's Day!



Pattern: Besotted Scarf by Adrian Bizilia (Hello Yarn)
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in Amoroso (157), 2 skeins
Needles: Addi Natura US 6 (4.0 mm)

This scarf was a fun and fairly quick knit. Not surprisingly, I loved working with the Malabrigo, and I really enjoy the squishiness of the cables. To help blend the variations in color between the two skeins of yarn, I alternated between them every two rows. The pattern suggests slipping the the edge stitches, but I just knitted or purled them instead.



The finished dimensions are 5 1/2 inches wide by 55 inches long (unblocked), and there's only a few yards of yarn left. The scarf is a little on the short side, but then again, so am I! ;)



I might not have considered this colorway if it wasn't for Project Specturm, but I'm glad I did. It turns out I like warm colors more than I thought! I'll try to incorporate more warm colors into my future knits. Next up are some fiery dishcloths; I'm envisioning a striped chevron pattern.