Fino Circle Scarf (with seaming success!)

This project was a triumph for me - I can seam!!

Made using the Fino Circle Scarf pattern, it is knit in one long panel and then seamed at the end.  I hate seaming.  I have never been able to get a nice, clean seam.  But then I found a link to a tutorial for seaming the two bound-off edges together at NewStitchADay.com.  It turned out great and once it was blocked, you can hardly even tell where it was joined.

This is a lovely pattern to knit and this yarn further deepened my yarn snobbery.  It is extrafine merino with silk and is wonderful to work with.  The pattern itself is a basic stockinette, one that uses the natural curl to its advantage. Being such a basic pattern, I was afraid it would get boring, but watching the colors subtly shift made it more interesting.  Plus, it ended up being the perfect project for working on while watching TV since there wasn't any complicated pattern repeats to concentrate on.  The photo above actually shows the infinity scarf doubled, as left  as is, it is 36" on each side, a little too long to be just worn straight.

The Importance of Lighting

I have been astounded by the difference that lighting can make in yarn colors.  At The Needle Emporium, they have been smart to use natural lighting so the hues are as accurate as possible.  On my first trip I purchased Manos del Uruguay Fino in Peacock Plume to make the Fino Circle Scarf.  In store it looked like this:

I wanted to take some pictures to show the progress and was shocked at how much the color changed.  The top photo in the collage below was taken under florescent lighting, no flash. The middle picture was under florescent lighting with flash and the bottom photo is the one above which was taken in natural light.  What a huge difference and one that could make a project look completely NOT like what was intended!

Yarn Snobbery

I admit it.  I have become a yarn snob.

It's is entirely the fault of The Needle Emporium located in Ancaster, ON.  It was a yarn store that I had intended on visiting for quite a while and so finally a friend and I decided to head up there to buy the yarn that she needed for the two scarves that she ordered from me.  Their website is pretty extensive so I emailed them ahead of time so I would know what to expect.  Most online retailers carry a lot more online than they do in their brick and mortar stores, so I figured that it would be the same in this case.  I was surprised when the owner emailed me back and said that they actually have a LOT more in-store than online.  She told me that the store was in an old house and that every room was filled with yarn.

I knew I was in trouble.  Little did I know just how much.

My friend and I found the old stone building easily in the small town of Ancaster and pulled into the tiny parking lot, full of anticipation.  We went in and I immediately hyperventilated.

So.  Much. YARN!!!

This place is by far THE best yarn store I have ever been to.  Wall to wall, floor to ceiling yarn in every shade and color combination you could possibly imagine.  Buckets, baskets, shelves, hooks, cubbies, all filled to the brim with a rainbow of fibers.  Merino, cashmere, angora, silk, alpaca, yak, all organized beautifully for easy shopping.

When you first walk in the door, the walls on either side of the entryway are lace yarns.  Go in to the right and there is a section of accessories and my personal favorite area of the store - sock yarn. I was completely overwhelmed by the incredible, dazzling array of colors, lightweight yarns all begging to be touched.  Julie, the owner, even has custom Lorna's Laces yarns that she has specially made in smaller gram-weight hanks for their linen-stitch scarf kits they specialize in.  If you go back past the door, the room to your left is the DK/Light worsted room and across from it is the regular worsted.  Across the end is the chunky room where I found my long-sought-after hand-painted baby alpaca yarn that I made into this:

And with that I was a full-on yarn snob.  Once I felt the quality and saw the beauty of these yarns, I knew I couldn't go back.  I'm doomed.

I ended up purchasing yarn for several projects - the blue is for my friend's infinity scarf (which accidentally turned out to be the exact yarn for the pattern), the grey for my cousin's baby blanket, black for a scarf for my dad and the hand-painted alpaca for me.

Ingrid's Cowl

I finally finished this long-promised cowl for my friend Ingrid.  I apparently told her I would make her a scarf a year and a half ago when a group of us went to Canada's Wonderland. This past summer, we ended up at a bbq together and she saw the caramel colored brioche cowl I was wearing and asked, "So, when am I getting my scarf?"  Ummmmm.....scarf?

The nice thing was she was the quickest decision-maker ever.  What would you like? I asked.  I like what you are wearing.  Fair enough; color?  Purple.  Easy.

This one is made of a full skein of Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn in Purple (real original color name there).  I think I cast on 38 stitches and did the whole thing in straight brioche stitch.  By the end of it I was just about ready to scream and was very happy I was done.  I wasn't very happy with the seam, but seaming is my nemesis.