Starting up

I think I mentioned last time that I have been working to remedy my (formerly) projectless state. I'm being a bit more circumspect about it than I would have expected of myself (I mean, talk about an excuse for a serious bout of startitis!) and have so far only cast on for two projects. I think a third may be in the works, though, as you will see. In the meantime, I've been puttering and reading quite a bit (as well as prepping for classes, which start on Wednesday), and as I read, I've been thinking about whether this might be the year to invest in either a Kindle or a Nook (my birthday's coming up, after all). Imagine: I wouldn't have to worry about making my books stay open while I knit if I had one! But I also wouldn't be able to give my books to Rick or Older Daughter to read when I'm done, as we usually do (no, buying a second e-reader is not an option), and I just can't figure out whether I'd miss the feel of paper in my hands to distraction or not. Opinions? Experiences?

So, in the meantime, I've been working on the first sleeve of Older Daughter's sweater. The plan is to knit a bottom-up raglan, so I'll get the sleeves done and then start the body. It's to be fairly plain, although I'll probably put cabling up the raglan lines, and add an applied i-cord to the edges of the sleeves and the bottom of the sweater. I haven't decided whether I want to put a cable along the v-neck edges or do another applied i-cord there, too. I'm nowhere near that point, so I can dither a while longer.
You'd think I'd knit this up faster, as I'm using heavier yarn on bigger needles than I usually do, but somehow bigger-gauge knitting and I don't get along as well as smaller gauge knitting. What keeps me going is how much I love both the yarn and Older Daughter. She's going to be so happy with this (she's been wanting a sweater), and it's going to look great on her, and the colors of this yarn still make me tremendously happy, even after knitting the Urban Aran out of it for myself. Yes, this is the rest of the Urban Aran yarn, Briar Rose Charity, in one of Chris' gorgeous colorways. I don't know how she does it, I'm just delighted that she does.

I'm also knitting a shawl/scarf for me. This is the Silk Alpaca Bubushka (Rav link), and I'm knitting it out of Jade Sapphire Silk Cashmere laceweight yarn. The single most common comment about this pattern on Ravelry is "oy, the seed stitch!", and I can see why, as almost the entire body is knitted in seed stitch, but that's OK. I can put myself on automatic for that, and knit this in meetings or while reading, so it's not a problem.
This is going to knit up into a very light and very warm little shawl that I think I'll wear a lot; it's a perfect layering piece, or one to throw into a bag in case the day or an office gets chilly.

I also made two purchases this week. I know that I thought I was sure I'd decided to spin myself the Tibetan Clouds Beaded Stole, but then I saw this:
Just sitting there, coyly, at Sundara Yarns when I went to look (it's the one on that page called Indian Blanket). It's the exact color I've been imagining for this stole, and it was clearly waiting there for me to find it. So I snapped it up (I'm not stupid), and when it came, it was even better than the pictures make it look; it's like molten chocolate. It's perfect. As you can see in that picture, I've put a few of the beads that I've bought for the stole on it, and am trying to decide which ones I like best.
I have more of the ones on the left (which is the bead that shows best in the picture above, and is the most central bead in the picture above that), but I should be able to get more of the ones on the right. Those are varied, and all three of the other beads on the skein come from that bag. I just can't decide, so I'll probably knit my gauge swatch with a few beads on it, just to see how they look in the knitting itself. Since my other two projects are fairly mindless knitting, this is about to become my concentration project.

I admit that there was a part of me that was wondering what the heck I am going to do now with the alpaca top I'd bought for the stole, but then, serendipitously, I wandered by Stella's blog, where I was reminded of EZ's Green Sweater, which I wanted to knit the minute I read about it on the Twist Collective. In fact, when I went to Schoolhouse Press to buy the pattern, there was a sample, all knit up in alpaca and looking lovely, so now I know exactly what I'm spinning that yarn for. I'll spin it up slowly as a four-ply cabled yarn, and then knit the sweater; with luck, it'll be done by next year at this time (please, don't remember that I said that next year at this time!).

I also bought myself a little present last week. I've been waiting and waiting for more of these to be available, so I snapped one up when they appeared.
That is a Kuchulu, from Jenkins Woodworking. It's 9 grams of spinning loveliness, made out of black and white ebony. Isn't it absolutely gorgeous? And of course, Wanda sent it out right away, wrapped in that gorgeous silk, which is the first thing that I will spin on it. I'm in love, and I keep picking it up to play with. My bigger Turkish spindle, also made by Ed, is a favorite of mine, and I can tell that this one will join its ranks. I think that this is going to spin stunning laceweight, and it will be fabulous for travelling, as it takes up no space to speak of.

However, this post has taken up lots of space, so I will stop here. I hope you are all enjoying a three-day weekend, full of much fun and fiber.