Yarn Ordered, Book Here

 

So the book arrived! Right on time! AND – I have the yarn ordered from Knitpicks. I ended up going with the “Wool Of The Andes”, (thanks again to RedFear – don’t know why I didn’t think of Wool of the Andes – duh – and click on the link in her name and visit her blog – she does *great* work!).in the color “Dove Heather“. I figured that satisfied both of my requirements – it was fairly close to the traditional Aran white – but it has a small amount of color in it, so it isn’t just “boring ass white.” And, of course, Knitpicks Wool of the Andes is cheap. Another big motivation in going with that particular yarn. I ended up spending just under $100 for the yarn – since the order was over $50.00, I got free shipping – so that was a plus, too. And I guess that isn’t *so* bad for a big afghan. You can see the “Wool of the Andes” and check out their color selections – including the one I went with (Dove Heather) here. I hope everyone likes it. 

I’m really excited to get started on the afghan – hopefully the yarn will arrive in the lower end of the promised 5 – 14 days. That’s the only New Years resolution I made – I’m going to try and get a BUNCH of stuff done for fair judging. I hope to finish one thing each month – that way I’ll have 8 things ready for the fair. If I double up on that and finish one sewing thing and one knitting thing each month, I’d be *really* happy. I am finishing the nasty dishrag sweater I started a long time ago, and then put down *because* it felt like a nasty scratchy dishrag. And I am bound and determined to finish the ass kicking Devan sweater. I’ve been working on finishing that LAST sleeve and getting that done. And I started a scarf in Knitpicks (again) Shadow – a lovely lace yarn. I hope that the scarf and the dishrag sweater will go in the fair. Then, with the afghan, probably another 3 piece layette, and a couple of odd items in categories that I’ve never entered before, like the scarf, I’ll be very happy. But the big item will be the afghan. Even if it doesn’t win at the fair, it will be fun and challenging to make. 

But I will chart the progression of the afghan here on the blog. So everyone can follow along with the process. I’m thinking I’ll start with what the book describes as some of the “easier” squares, just to get back in the swing of knitting cables. I haven’t done that in a while. Then work up to some of the more challenging ones. That’s the good thing about this afghan – the squares aren’t horrendously large – so even if a pattern is really tiresome or challenging, you aren’t committed to working on it forever. 100 rows or so, and you’re done. I can do that. Right? Sure I can. 

And I’m still not convinced about the whole “raffle”  thing. I know that if 10 people enter and 9 of them end up with nothing, I’ll feel bad. Maybe I’ll just make a bunch of these lace scarves or something and *everyone* who enters gets a scarf. Then I’ll feel better. I just hate raffles, because I never win those things. 

So American Idol starts tomorrow! Is everyone ready? We watched the “American Idol Auditions” on TV Guide Network, which wasn’t really “Auditions”, it was more “Let’s talk to the people standing in line for the auditions”. But I did get to see the girl from Malone who went to the auditions. She had a big sign that said “I Survived Heart Surgery”, and that blonde Kimberly from one of the past seasons who is a host on the TVGN talked to her for a minute. I was wondering if the girl from Malone made it, since I hadn’t seen her at Price Chopper where she worked. But, Jeff’s wife works at Price Chopper and said “No, she didn’t make it – she’s back in Malone and pregnant”, so I don’t know if the glimpse of her talking in line with Kimberly is the only time I’ll see her or if they will actually show her auditioning. I’m still dying to know if she can really sing, or if she’s just one of those stupid people who believe their friends when their friend’s say they can sing because they have polite friends. 

And then we get ready for the new season of “Lost” with an “enhanced” version of the finale from last season on Wednesday. The TiVo is in full swing for a couple of weeks, since I’m Tivo’ing both Lost and American Idol. And then “Top Chef” and “Law and Order”. I love January when new seasons of everything start. 

So, in 5 -14 days the yarn will come. I’ll post a picture of the first square I’m making, then when I finish it I’ll post a picture of the finished square and let you know how easy or difficult it was was. Then, if anyone gets inspired to do the afghan for themselves, they can refer to it.

Let me know what you think of the color.