malinmerino

Obviously nothing is happening here, so I´ll just officially put this blog on ice. But I´m sure I´ll return to it someday, when I get knitting again!

As you might be able to tell, I´m not doing much knitting at the moment. I used the leftover Kona and Calamity for socks for a friend´s baby boy, but that´s pretty much it since I did my Yarn Pirate socks. I have been pre-occupied with my flat for a while, and now I´m having a big crush on ATCs (Artist Trading Cards). But I will return to my knitting needles, I always do. And I have some yummy sock yarn that´s just waiting to be used.

Meanwhile, you could always look for me at my main blog, dandelion daisy.

I just sold most of my wool stash - only the Japanese yarns are still left. Now, I just have to pack them all up, collect all of the money (it turned out to be quite a bit - yay!) and send them off to their new homes. Some of them I will say a slightly misty goodbye to, I have to say - I do love those yarns! Hopefully, they will all come to good homes, and become something beautiful.

I´ve put up all of my wool yarns on Tradera (Swedish online auction site), since I don´t get enough action over at Ravelry (though I have sold a few). And I got bids on three yarns, before I had even finished posting all yarns! I hope they all go, that would be a great addition to my purse! And I wouldn´t have wool yarns in my stash, and someone else would get some lovely yarns in theirs.

You know the lovely yarns I´ve bought/traded lately? The ones I´ve been raving about? Well, this weekend I came to the conclusion that I can´t be serious about me being vegan as long as I´m knitting with wool, so I´m selling them - all of my lovley, wonderful, pretty yarns, they are all up for destashing on Ravelry (where I´m malinmerino, if you´re interested in adding some new yarns to your stash). I´ll try to find vegan sock yarns instead, I got a good start with my vegan pal package, which included some Fixation. Fortunately, I know I can always turn to Ravelry - I don´t think there´s any yarn on Earth, that can´t be found on Ravelry! 

By the sound of my very secret Vegan Pal, my package will come soon - the last items have arrived, and it´ll be in the mail tomorrow. Exciting!

Very lovely, and very generous, is another Raveller (she will remain nameless - she doesn´t want her generosity to be taken advantage of, which I totally understand) who is actually giving me a hank of Yarn Pirate "Kona". Thank you so much, I really, really appreciate it!



ETA: I just found out - she has another YP hank to give away, "Calamity", can you believe how lucky I am?! Thank you!

I can´t wait to see what you´ve conjured up! Waiting for a something special sounds interesting!

I´m on my 9th day without sweets and treats, it´s almost two weeks, and I already know which yarn to get for my two-week-reward: Lovesticks "Frankensock", a very lovely purple/green sock yarn, which I´m buying on Ravelry.



The first days were really hard - I actually had headaches from sugar withdrawal, now it´s easy, and soon, it´s time to think about the next reward. Some Yarn Pirate would be nice, but I would also love some vegan sock yarn. But I have plenty of time to decide, I haven´t even gotten through my first two weeks yet. Soon though!

ETA: This will do wonders, not only to my yarn stash, but to my weight as well - so far I´ve lost 1½ kg! When the body has gotten used to the lack of sweets and cookies I might have to tweak my diet a bit, but so far so good!

Oh, yes, more it is! Sock yarn from Ravelry, that´s what I´m talking about, I´m buying more! Frpm another Swedish knitter, I´m buying Vesper "Neopolitan" (pink/brown), Fyberspates "Foxglove" (pink/green/white-ish) and Claudia Hand Painted "Eat Your Veggies" (green).

And I´m looking for some Yarn Pirate yarn, unfortunately, people don´t destash Yarn Pirate that often.

Now I´m really scraping the bottom of my stash! I finished my "Malin" scarf last night, and was actually quite happy with it, even though the colours are so not me, and I have an outfit it will work perfectly with. But I really don´t like to knit with mohair! And bad mohair like this one doesn´t make it any better.

I´m knitting more socks, I have some Regia leftovers, one cotton and one regular, and they are both very similar in colours (except for the cotton being paler). Since there aren´t enought for two pairs of socks, I´m striping the yarn, and it turns out rather well, you can´t almost see that it´s two different yarns!

 
See - very similar!

And a hunt it truly was! I found one open yarn store (I didn´t go to Gamla Stan (Old Town), because the shops are open for just a few hours on Sundays), everything else was closed. And what was supposed to be a big stash enhancement, only ended up being one hank for a swap. I don´t know if I´m overly picky - I´ve been drooling over the fabulous sock yarns over at Ravelry, and I can´t find anything as great in the shops here. I did encourage the owner of the only open shop, to get some more sock yarn, I mentioned Socks That Rocks and Yarn Pirate, hope I get lucky! I did buy some fabric, though (I was going to use what was left of my money to shop on the Internet, but somehow I used up all of it... Strange how things can happen...), one for a swap (if I can bare to part from it, it was so pretty!), and three other, and last night I used some of it to sew a couple of swap presents. They have a lot of nice fabrics at Åhlèns this spring!

What I could have put to good use yesterday, is this, something I will definitely print for the next time I go looking for yarn!

I´ve managed to do some knitting too, even though I have a very meager stash. I got three skeins of mohair yarn (called "Malin", just like me!) from my sister last Christmas (2006 that is), and I haven´t used it since. Until now, when I´m knitting a scarf from it, the yarn is three colours, grey, red and green, so I´m doing thin stripes and a sort of elongated seed stitch, it looks better than I thought it would! But you can feel it´s a cheap yarn when knitting, the mohair fuzz that should be even along the yarn, is in "lumps", making the yarn not very great to knit with. What is great, though, is my wooden needles - it´s the first time with them for me, and knitting with them feels amazing! I am so getting more wood needles!

And since  couldn´t find any yarn for me, I´m buying some online instead - a black/purple from an etsy store (from Germany, so the price and shipping is a lot lower), and some sock yarn I found on Ravelry (from a Swedish member, so the shipping is cheap). Yay, sock yarn! Not to mention the yarn in the mail on its way here, and a couple of swaps including yarn due this month. I feel I´m being almost showered with yarn, which is a very good feeling, I can tell you!

I just read in a knitting blog, where she wanted to stop eating sweets and treats, and for every two weeks she hasn´t eaten any, she gets to buy a ball/skein/hank of yarn! What an idea! I think I will steal that right away! Ok, starting Monday, I´m going to Stockholm tomorrow (buying yarn!), I might be tempted to a fika instead of a proper meal, but next week! No to sweets, yes to yarn!

There´s still two of you, who can (for free!) get something home made (probably involving yarn or fabric) from me, the only thing you have to do is to do the same for three persons, see my original post. What are you waiting for, post a comment, and then - pay it forward!

(meaning: it was fast, but not as fast as the first three)

Another few hours later in the afternoon, and another three boks is sold at Tradera (I love that place!), which means that there´s only one book left to sell. And I´ve got about 400 SEK (about 60 USD) to buy yarn for. Hmmm... I´m seriously thinking sock club, I´ve found one, Nefarious sock club where the colorways will be inspired by nefarious (Merriam-Webster defines this as: flagrantly wicked or impious; evil; vicious) characters in history and fiction. Think Sweeney Tood, Dr. Moriarty from the Sherlock Holmes stories, Lizzie Borden from Fall River, MA, Jack the Ripper from London, perhaps even the Green Goblin from DC Comics. But they'll all be bad guys, and these yarns and stories are guaranteed to creep you out a little. Doesn´t it that sound just lovely? Or if I will save it for the next opening in the Booty club. Or just go shop for some Yarn Pirate yarn... BIG decisions to make!

UPDATE: I decided to go with the Nefarious sock club, but I will probably do the Booty Club later as well. The Nefarious sock club is three months at the time, so I´ll try it, and see how I like the yarns.

I put up the books on Tradera about two hours ago, tops, and already three are sold! Yay! Which means I´m shopping for yarn when I get payed...

I picked up my yarn order last night, and the Lorna´s Laces in "Black Purl" is yummy! So beautiful, perfect colours - black, grey and purple. The Opal yarn looked nice as well, but I might not ahve bought it, if I hadn´t seen it knitted already - in the skeins it doesn´t look as fab as it does when it´s socks. And the half price off also played a part in me picking one of the colours, since blue usually isn´t my first choice when it comes to colours. Since I haven´t got my new camera yet, you won´t see any pics until next week, hopefully there will be some traded yarn to show as well by then!

I sent some books yesterday, those I´ve traded for yarn, and I was totally flabberghasted when they told me the price. One book to the US cost me 160 SEK, about $25, and I sent two books, plus one small one to the UK (70 SEK, about $11). The 33 SEK, $5, I payed to ship within Sweden feels almost miniscule in comparisant! Almost 500 SEK, $78 for sending four books! Suddenly, this trading books for yarn-thing doesn´t seem as appealing... I think I´ll keep to good old Sweden, and try to sell the rest of the books on Tradera.

Madness you caould also call why I keep knitting on my Bird´s Eye shawl - I don´t like the yarn, the colour or the pattern, still I keep knitting it. I don´t even think I´ll like the finished product, and still I keep knitting it. I have an idea for a present for my sister (she is always so kind and lends me money when I´m broke, which is too often), when I get the yarn for that one, I think I´ll throw my shawl and the yarn as far away as I possibly can. Until then, I just keep knitting, to keep my hands occupied. That crappy shawl...

I kinda got caught up in this blog, Punky Purls, because she´s got some fabulous yarn, and I just can´t stop looking. She could shop for my stash any day!

I´m picking up my yarn package today, yay! And there won´t be a camera until Tuesday, I should be able to survive until then.