We are home now. Unpacking, doing laundry and admiring all the beautiful yarn I acquired. My yarn stash and button collection both grew considerably.
The first thing I learned was from this simple Geisha scarf (remember, cast on 12, knit until your yarn is gone.) Things don't have to be complex to be intriguing. I love this scarf. It is beautiful, funky and as easy as it comes. The beauty is in this unique yarn. Thank you again to Silver Threads and Golden Needles.
The second thing I learned is this Bias Stripe Afghan is the perfect car knitting project. I got two panels done and am going to save it for a couple of short trips we're doing this summer.
I got this much done on Camino Bubbles. I learned a lot from this project. I had a really hard time knitting with this beautiful yarn. Not hard as in "the yarn is difficult to knit with" but hard as in "every stitch I take I am closer to using this yarn up and it can never be replaced." I really don't know if I can finish this project in this yarn! I have a discontinued Kureyon that I feel the same way about. It is beautiful and I love it but what if I find the perfect pattern for it after it is gone. I relearned that it is crucial to put markers between pattern repeats. I learned a lot from the chart for this pattern and was surprised there was only a chart and no written out pattern. I am better with written directions particularly when I read them out loud. I do think this yarn is beautiful.
I learned when a door closes another opens. Yarn Paradise closed but I found Friends and Fiberworks. This is a picture of the bag of goodies I won in the raffle. There were five single skein projects, the Friends and Fiberworks shirt (I can't wait to go up to my yarn room and knit with it on), Friends and Fiberworks coffee mug (I had my coffee in it this morning), a Debbie Bliss magazine and patterns, patterns and more patterns. Is there anything better than surprise yarn?
I have decided to inventory my partly finished projects and prioritize how to tackle them.