Agonizing over prizes...

This post is for all the Summer Stash Swap participants and those thinking of joining in. I'm agonizing over the prizes for y'all. I have so many good ideas and I just can't decide on three of them. I've looked at yarn (all soft, beautiful, non-acrylic, non-novelty type yarns, of course), notions and needles, and storage options. I can't decide on sock yarn or not. I can't decide between undyed, or bare, yarn for those who like to dye their own or not. I don't want to be all lame and offer gift certificates because that just doesn't seem very creative to me and that's what the Stash Swap is all about...creativity. I'll quit being ambivalent soon, I promise. I just needed to get that out on the table, so to speak.

The sky just opened up over us and the rain, she is pouring. I love a good thunderstorm. I spent the earlier years of my life in a very rainy area and it reminds me of being a kid when the sky turns grey and the rain starts coming down. Ah....lovely.

Knitting:

• I finished the Chevron Stitch scarf from LMKG I randomly decided to do. I made it out a skein of Alchemy silk and Alchemy bamboo. It is darn near the softest thing ever. After I weave in the ends, I will photograph it and post the photos. I don't know why I randomly decided to knit the scarf. I saw the yarn in my stash and it called out to me and a week later it became a scarf. It's nowhere near as long as the one in LMKG but whatever. It wraps around my neck once and has enough to hang down in the front. I think I'll wrap it around my face because it is so soft. The whole time I was knitting it, I made people feel the bamboo yarn. It's delicious. Enough of that for the moment though.
• I grabbed like 16 ounces (or one pound, whichever you prefer) of some ooooold Bernat acrylic I had stashed at my mama's house. I have three balls in this kind of blue-green, jade kind of color and one in a rose color. My first thought was a mitered blanket heavy on the blue-green and light on the rose, to donate to the local women's shelter. I have since, of course, changed my mind. I grabbed some size ten (6.5 mm) needles and my new copy of Runway Knits and I'm going to make the Vintage Shawl and donate that instead, probably to an elderly care facility. It'll be soft, beautiful and washable so that's a good thing. Which brings me to my next point...
• Runway Knits by Berta Karapetyan totally rocks. It's amazing and beautiful and beautifully photographed. Berta gives you a bit about her heritage (Russian) and life before knitting (finance degree) before showing off her skills as a knitwear designer. Karabella yarns are used throughout the book (her son owns and operates Karabella) but she is gracious enough to include a substitution guide in the back for those of us who have thinner wallets. The designs are the amazing part. I mean, seriously. There are probably four things out of the 30 projects in the book that I don't currently want to knit but that is primarily because I don't have a great love for knit dresses (they always seem so bulky). There is one shrug/cardigan pattern in the book that's a little weird but there are at least four more cardigan and shrug patterns that make up for it like the Ruffled Cardigan, for instance. There are three scarf patterns (two with matching hats) and I have to hold myself back from immediately casting on the Cascading Petal Scarf. The construction of the pieces is elegant, beautiful, and innovative. The directions are straight-forward and schematics and charts are included where necessary. I had previously checked out Fitted Knits, which I had heard really good things about, before picking up Runway Knits and I'm so glad I chose the latter. Check it out for yourself and you'll most likely be pleasantly surprised.

Alright, dear bloglings and blogettes, I'm off to knit for potentially the rest of the day. I've got itchy fingers after not knitting for a couple of days. If you haven't signed up for the Summer Stash Swap yet, you still have until the end of June to do so. Have a wonderful day!!

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