Monday, June 18, 2007

Vacuum Abhorred

While my telcom service was in the dark zone last week, the international space station came uncomfortably close to being lost in space, which put my computer troubles in perspective. Untroubled as I was by the vacuum of cyber-space, I finished my first Jaywalkers, modified for cycling. It was cool enough (45° F or 7° C) to want to wear them, which was nice.

Jelly bean Jaywalker socks

I love the bright colors and similar-but-not-quite-the- same pattern repeats. The yarn is Lion Brand Magic Stripes in Jelly Bean Stripe, a hard-wearing yarn in an inspired colorway. Having cycled and also gardened in this pair, I'd like to have more Jaywalkers in Jelly Bean and in the Regatta colorway, too. Wouldncha know it, now that I've finally figured out what to do with the yarn and the pattern, Kim tells me LB is discontinuing the line. [ETA: Oops, it was blogless Nancy, not Kim!] Nuts.

Also, I finished the body of my half-hexagon shawl, but as per usual got stuck finding the right beads for the edging. I joined the Mystery Stole 3 KAL, which has 2,000+ participants and another beady pattern. Destash re-organized. The new Knitty came out and I felt deprived, but after viewing, perhaps I didn't miss too much. Deer browsed on the tomato plants (they'll recover) and a woodchuck munched the cauliflower plants down to the ground (they won't). There are more tiny pests (see the sidebar) in the vegetable patch than I've ever seen before, too.

To fulfill a promise made in a moment of weakness, I started an Alpine Knit Scarf (which is stole-sized) from Victorian Lace Today (p. 36) in Habu XS-45, 20/3 bamboo in colorway 9 lavender. I only have yarn pix (I'm still catching up), but a progress photo may be seen on the Modern Yarn blog.

Habu bamboo laceweight yarn

The yarn is beautiful, with a lovely sheen. It's almost as slinky as rayon – in this extreme fineness, at times a bit frustrating to knit, even for an experienced knitter. The knit fabric is ethereally soft and light, with a fabulous drape and excellent next-to-skin feel. The digicam seems to like this yarn – its color looks true (it's very like the color of chive blossoms), without the radioactive flash that silk or rayon can sometimes have in pix. Now that it's turned hot (90°+ F or 32°+ C) again, it's my first choice among projects while I cower in the basement.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

It must have been someone else who told you LB is discontinuing that yarn, cause it wasn't me. But thanks for the link anyway. I'm not hip to what's happening at Lion Brand. Tomato hormworms are gross! Sorry to hear of the destruction in your garden. Damn those critters!

Bee said...

so glad to see that all computer related stuff is operational... I'm doing the MS3 too (if I can keep up).... The habu is too gorgeous

Anonymous said...

It was I, the long-lost SnB member who mentioned that LB's Magic Stripes is history...I saw some on Ebay the other day while I was web surfing.

Love your Jaywalkers :o)

Eeew - those green worms are nasty! Woodchucks are cute but equally as destructive - I saw one in my yard last week and my beagle girls were checking him out as a potential snack - NOT!

Anonymous said...

The jaywalkers are really cute - it is too bad the yarn is being discontinued! Love the lace yarn - the shawl is going to be beautiful!

CrazyFiberLady said...

glad the computer issues all appear to be resolved. I do hope it stays that way!

socks are totally cute. Figures that LB will be discontinuing that yarn. They have a history of killing the good stuff, while Homespun lives on. I do have a couple of skeins and I think in that colorway too, if you're interested. I doubt I'm going to use them.

That lace is just downright gorgeous. Definitely seasonally appropriate. Thanks for the link to the Mystery Shawl #3. I just signed up for it and need to settle down on what yarn I'm going to use for it. I probably have stash appropriate for it, but that's no fun!

Devorah said...

Great socks and fabulous lace yarn.. I can't wait to see it knit up.

Knit and cycle happy!

Anonymous said...

I really like the Jaywalkers and the yarn is just beautiful. I can't stand that LB discontinues yarns in the blink of an eye - why?

Zarzuela said...

Great socks! :) The habu yarn is beautiful. Glad you are back online too. :)

Jessica

Rae said...

Cycling socks! Now that's an idea. I'll have to learn more -- what yarn? what patterns? the Jays look great, and cycling is when I whip out the crazy colors. Do you use cotton?? My shoes are pretty snug.

sheep#100 said...

I made a pair of Jays in LB's Denim colorway. Definitely hardwearing.