True confessions: I have been yarn shopping

Last week Jill told me she needed to get back to the yarn store, having run out of yarn for her first scarf (which is looking amazing by the way.)  Naturally, I said I would go with her to help her choose more.

My Secret Shame

Remember when I said the big reason I bought a loom was because I wanted to use up as much stashed yarn as possible?  Well, it turns out the stashed yarns don't pair up well enough for that, and I needed - honest! - to buy some new yarn to go with.  ahem.

Bounty from the Yarn Store

Going in, I said "today is the day I am treating myself to some Koigu."  I love the way that stuff looks with its amazing handpainted colours, but I never buy any because I'm never sure what to make with it and, even by my irresponsible standards, I find it a bit expensive.  That's mainly because of the yardage: you'd need two skeins for a pair of socks.

And in spite of my determination those objections prevailed, such that all (cough) I brought home was this:

The black one - yes, I bought black yarn - is a sport weight from Malabrigo called Arroyo and it is just as luscious as one might expect.  It's got a good amount of twist so it's springy, but it's still squashy and soft.  I'm weaving with it right now, making a scarf whose warping yarn is a sublime sea blue merino laceweight.  Pictures to come when the cloudcover breaks in a few days.

Here's what I had in mind for the wine/black/white merino Botany Lace from Aurocania:

Can you stand it?  I suspected it in the store, but now that I've got them together I can see it's definitely going to work as the warping yarn for the rose-tinted bulky blue faced leicester I spun about a year ago.

My less successful Aurocania pairing:

That's the second run of handspun I made at the same time.  Not a match.  Luckily I have a backup plan (that may or may not involve buying more Helper Yarn.)

So... what about that Koigu?

After I got home I decided that if the yardage was right, I might be able to justify buying some Koigu to pair with more economical warping yarn, thereby putting all those amazing colours into a long scarf I can play with all the time.  So I went hunting on Ravelry for the yardage...

... and then I clicked on the Projects tab for my yarn of choice to see what people make with it...

... and it turns out it's pretty much this pattern...

... for Turkish Bed Socks.

I am pretty sure I have been knitting this pattern for two years now, which makes it pretty embarrassing to discover that Koigu is actually the yarn recommended for it.

GAH

Thank goodness Jill wants to go back again this week and that Carol wants another pair of these socks for Christmas.

la la la

(and have a great day!)