Once upon a time, I vowed not to start a yarn stash. It would be disingenuous of me to say I've been true to that pledge, but I think it is fair to say that my stash is pretty modest. It consists mostly of sock yarn, and that hardly counts, right? I've never bought enough yarn for a big sweater. Until now.
Because when a friend in London told me that Liberty's was selling bags of Rowan yarn for 10 pounds, how could I resist? Hmm, Soft Lux--not something I would ever pick on my own, as I'm not a girl for glitter, but c'mon! It was practically free!* I told her what colors I found acceptable, and behold: insta-stash.
Funny thing about this color, which Rowan calls "Azure"--I'd say it accounts for at least 1/4 of all the clothing I've ever had. My mother started dressing me in it as soon as I was semi-recognizable as a girl (which took a while, actually. I had no hair to speak of until I was over a year old, and without hair, really a baby is just a baby, no?) and she calls it Katybird-blue. It was the color of one of the first sweaters she ever knit--a little crewneck with a jaunty yellow duck marching across the tummy.
I have four winter hats in this shade, made by me, my mother-in-law, and my mother (shown above--with the shade obscuring the reason she picked the color). In recent years my color preferences have been brighter, stronger--orange, red, and since I started dying my hair darker, a lot of teal. But this is still "my" color, and probably always will be. This latest addition proves that I can't get away from it.
So what should I do with all this lovely yarn? Checking out the London knit blogs should give me some ideas; apparently everyone was in on the feeding frenzy. Today I followed january one's enthusiasm to Ariann, and guess what one of the suggested yarns is? (Love that Bonne Marie gives that big list, by the way--very helpful for someone like me, who doesn't have a very good mental catalog of what's available.) All suggestions welcome!
*In fact, it was free, because she wouldn't let me pay her back. So I need to come up with some juicy American treat for recompense--ideas?
ooooh, very pretty! i love the color and i'm sure that's gonna make a fabulous sweater. ariann is a good choice, i think.
Posted by: gleek | March 06, 2007 at 12:08 PM
Looks like you found the pattern for that yarn! Sometimes they are hard to match up... Oh, and Soft Lux is so light and, uh, soft.
Posted by: Veronique | March 06, 2007 at 12:46 PM
Lovely color! That's some good looking yarn you have there ~ I can't believe the great sale! Good for you.
Posted by: Katie | March 06, 2007 at 02:36 PM
"katybird blue" -- i adore it! that's a great color for a sweater.
Posted by: carrie m | March 06, 2007 at 10:10 PM
What a great way to break your non-stash rule :) with gorgeous free yarn no less.
I think to get her back, maybe something knitpicks since they don't ship to the UK.
Posted by: Schrodinger | March 06, 2007 at 10:12 PM
My mom used to dress me in that color too, and it still features fairly prominently in my wardrobe. As for a gifty from the US - maybe something unique and hand dyed?
Posted by: MeBeth | March 07, 2007 at 08:13 AM
nice color name :)
Cardigan, huh? You seemed to like Dollar and a Half from IK when the preview came out....no?
Posted by: Craptina | March 07, 2007 at 04:33 PM