What is the only appropriate course of action when you are awash in newly casted-on projects and struggling to keep your head above water for fear of drowning in a sea of WIPs? Why, going to a yarn store with your best pal and buying more yarn of course! Yes, Friday Babs and I made a seasonal sojourn to Kathy's Kreations in Ligonier, PA. See the sensational designer extraordinaire Kathy Zimmerman and soon-not-to-be-blogless (nudge, nudge) Babs pictured above. Yeah--we came, we saw, and one of us spent waaay too much money. It wasn't my fault, you see...
I have three LYSs in my geographical region and I am trying to share the love between them. There is one located less than a mile from my house, one right on my route to work, and this one, Kathy's Kreations, which is at the very western border of the arbitrary boundary I am calling my geographical location. Like any good polyamorous knitter, I love each one for its own special reasons. But oh how I love K2, not only does it have copious amounts of Rowan and other non-available yarns at the other two, but Kathy Zimmerman knows how to sell some yarn. She has a knack for making great recommendations and is patient and helpful when substitutions are necessary. She is ultra talented, and I highly recommend her store if you are in the Pittsburgh/Central Pa./Northern West Virginia area.
Kathy clued me in to the fact that my favorite color combo--brown and blue--is actually now known as 'chocqua'. Ok, well I guess if it has a specific name now, that means I need to buy it, right? Pictured above you see three skeins of Zitron Lifestyle, a yarn I first saw at MD S & W and had to have both then (in green and yellow) and now. This weekend took a break from my Cobblestone/Clapotis/Silver Belle knitting chain gang and made a simple pair or fingerless gloves:
The Specs:
Pattern: Knitting at Knoon Fingerless gloves
Yarn: Zitron Lifestyle, color 1861 (MC) and Rowan 4 ply soft, color 389 (CC), 1 skein MC
Needles: Size 2 dpns
Mods: Because the pattern is written for a worsted weight yarn, I cast on 48sts rather than 36
If the heavy burden of all your Big Projects is weighing down upon you, I highly recommend doing a jaunty pair of these fingerless gloves as it will restore your knitting soul to begin and complete something so useful so quickly!
As I am currently buried under (Kathy Zimmerman's) "Death by Cables" sweater (known to most as the "Dickinson Pullover"--and which I love), and the I-swear-on-my-children-this-one-is-going-to-kill-me Icarus, there will be no other knitting in my foreseeable future. But those mitts are gorgeous and I dearly love that color combination!
ReplyDeleteToo many wip's? Go to a yarn store. So it is that I consider you as one of my trusted on-line "on beyond intermediate" mentors. Someone I can look to for assistance and wisdom in a time of trouble.
ReplyDeleteThe Knit Shoppe in Canonsburg (probably just outside your geographical area, yes?) is my new favorite of all time. Much the way you describe K2 including the rowan.
I love the brown/blue colour combination. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteChocqua = best color name ever!
ReplyDeleteI really need to get out to Kathy's Kreations. I hear so many great things about it, and it's really not THAT far away. May necessitate a road/day trip, but it's definitely do-able.
ooooh, I am in love with these gloves - nice yarn choice and pattern - it's going in my queue! It is like renewal to go to something more immediate on occasion!:)
ReplyDeleteI love that yarn! I'm currently working on a BSJ in the same colorway. Your mitts look so great, perhaps I will make a pair if I have enough leftovers.
ReplyDeleteI love that color combo too! My daughter would love these! Very cool.
ReplyDeleteThe gloves! I must have them. And I usually hate self-patterning yarns. Must be the chocqua winning me over.
ReplyDeletethey are great!! fingerless gloves don't really work in my climate. my hands would freeze to the steering wheel.
ReplyDeleteWow, I almost felt as though you were speaking directly to me. Maybe a fingerless glove is exactly what I need so that I don't have to start the Silver Belle for a fifth time! I love the Choqua - very cool.
ReplyDeleteChocqua!! Excellent!!
ReplyDeletevery nice gloves, very nice!
ReplyDeleteOh wow! That yarn is awesome! That looks like the most snuggly stuff ever - perfect fireside knits.
ReplyDeleteI'm also a big fan of chocolate brown and blue, chocolate brown and mint green, chocolate brown and pink, chocolate.
Love the gloves, love the colorway. Who knew it had a name? I always like Kathy's designs.
ReplyDeletethanks for the heads up on Cozy. i can't wait to check it out - of course i don't NEED yarn, but i always want more yarn. i love the gloves. they are so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the chocqua mitts!! Hurray for "crank 'em out quick" projects - they definitely help keep a knitter sane. (Although sane knitter might be an oxymoron.)
ReplyDeleteI have to be honest, I wasn't so sure about the chocqua in ball form. And then I scrolled down and went "OH WOW!!"
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I love the way the blues, whites and browns "scatter" together (for lack of a better term) and those tones of blues and browns go so well together. The mitts look fabulous.
chocqua, is it? I knew there had to be a name for this feeling. ;)
ReplyDeleteSuch cute mitts!
Lovely wrist warmers! That yarn is intriguing....
ReplyDeletefrom one yarn-a-holic to another; congrats on the purchases... I bought *another* sweaters worth of yarn this weekend (even after realizing I had over 1000 balls of yarn in my stash) -
ReplyDeleteeek. we can't be stopped!
Ooh, those are beautiful! I really like the first modeled picture, too. I love blue and brown color combinations, too.
ReplyDeleteChocqua! How perfect. I love that color combo, too. Your gloves are awesome, you've just reminded me that I've been meaning to make a pair for myself :)
ReplyDeleteVery jaunty. I like.
ReplyDeleteLove the gloves (great colors)!
ReplyDeleteMy gosh, I'm sooo in love with these gloves! The color combo rocks big time - awesome work!!!
ReplyDeletechocqua is my favorite color combo too. love these! cute little model also. :)
ReplyDeletei went to kathys this summer.....great yarn store!
Cute gloves!!! I just finished two largish projects (as of yet unblogged), so perhaps some gloves are in order. Of course, it's about 90 degrees here in Southern California, so I don't know how useful they'd be... sigh... where is winter already?!
ReplyDeleteThose are great! Is the yarn as soft & squishy as it looks in the photo? The self-striping is just beautiful in that colorway. You're making me feel the urge to check my LYS for this yarn but I'm supposed to be on a yarn diet this month. Dangit.
ReplyDeleteThere's a name for that wonderful combination of colors? Wow! Suddenly it all makes sense - I'm a chocquaholic!
ReplyDelete(Really bad pun, sorry 'bout that...)
mmmmmmmmmmm. Chocqua is delicious. and I take back all the silly things I said about Lifestyle. It's genius... as are you, m'Dear!
ReplyDeleteThose are really cute - you know there is a fingerless mitts knitalong if you're interested =) =)-
ReplyDeletehttp://fallfingerlessmitts.com
I was gifted some Zitron Lifestyle and you've just given me an idea what to do with it! Those fingerless gloves look GREAT! :)
ReplyDeleteHey, my mom grew up in the town of Ligonier! I love the gloves, I need a new pair since I can only find one of mine. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHow cute are those!
ReplyDeleteI think Ima take your advice -- my knitting mojo is no mo'-jo...
Chocqua, (read in sing song voice) love it!! The fingerless gloves are very hip.
ReplyDeleteOMG I was at my LYS on Fri and couldn't leave without this exact same yarn! I bought it intending to make fingerless gloves (how funny) and then decided it was too pretty. Now I see yours and fingerless gloves it wil be. So cute!!
ReplyDelete