The kestrels are back in our neighborhood again. Last year they nested on our roof - a location which, given that we live in the inner city, is not as likely as you might think. Every morning at about 6 AM, we awoke to the sight and sounds of two beautiful hawks. ( Usually the sight and sound of them dismembering a squirrel. If you haven’t seen a raptor tear at its prey before you’ve had your morning coffee, you’ve missed a treat.) Despite the scary morning show, we loved the urban Wild Kingdom aspects of sharing the yard with these gorgeous creatures. The swooping, the cawing (the unmistakeable hawk-like cawing), the refreshing absence of squirrels in the garden - we loved every minute of it.

They only stayed for a little while, but now they’re back, two trees over, just a little ways down the street. Their cries still wake me up - just no carnage-o-vision. I’m so pleased that something very wild can live in this place, shaking up the usual mix of rats and pigeons and squirrels. I’ll try to post pictures if I can capture the speedy little buggers.

In other fauna sightings, the other day Mr. Man and I saw a giant crow eating a rat in the middle of the road. Is that a bad omen or what?

I finally finished it! It took me two weeks to block it, only because I didn’t want to stop wearing long enough to block it:


Pattern: Ella (from Knitty)
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Lion & Lamb in Gold Hill
Needles: size 10.5 circular, 29″
Yardage: Approximately 630 yards (3 1/4 skeins)
Gauge: 4.5 sts/inch
Modifications: used a worsted weight instead of DK weight yarn

It’s a bit of a blanket, but I’m proud of it all the same. The pattern is just beautiful… I love it so and it is soft soft soft!

It’s time for Flash Your Stash 2006! Before we go straight to the good stuff, a special announcement:

CLICK ON EACH PHOTO FOR A JUMBO SCREEN-SAVER SIZED PIC! The detail is MUCH better in the biggies than in the thumbnails.

So enjoy. Now, without further ado, uncensored, for your viewing pleasure, LIVE! NUDE! YARN!!!

First, the newest addition to my stash, and way up there on the Sexy-O-Meter - a mess of Manos. I just got nine skeins in the Bramble colorway.

Ready and waiting for be turned into hot hot yarncake!

And now for some exotic goodies from far-off Los Angeles - delicious, nutritious Suss Cotton Twisted. This stuff is so obscure that it’s not even on Suss’s website - but is it hot hot hot!

Dig the mossy green and pool blue strands twisted together - and check out that thick-on-thin action people!

More Suss - technically not in my stash, but visiting while I swatch it for the store - gorgeous Coolaid and crazy-wacky-hairy Twist. So colorful, it’s YARN GONE WILD!:
Here’s a gorgeous strawberry treat, in the form of Farmhouse Yarns’ Summer Silk Spun Cotton. It doesn’t get any yarnier than this!

It’s a cotton/silk blend (as I suppose the name implies) that’s soft as butter and a pleasure to work with.

If you look very very closely, you’ll see little tweedy flecks of all sorts of colors in there:

And another recent addition to the stash is this mouth-watering Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in Aslan. I’m keeping it apart from the rest of the sock yarn because it’s going to make me the loveliest shawl of all time.
Aren’t those color changes something luscious? They’re ready and waiting to make HOT SOCKS!

Now here is some primo Fleece Artist shit, people, you have to go to Canada to get your hands on these babies. Fleece Artist, as far as I can tell, is King of Boucle - The real delicious treat is Kiss Curls, a lovely gift from my spectacular SP, Jamie Kate (I love you dahlink!) 86% kid and 14% nylon, with 250 g = 1000 meters. Talk about macro photography - it’s thinner than a line in my fingerprint!:

This stuff is incredibly thin, but with the most wonderful mohair loop texture - perfect for a rustic shawl. I have 2200 meters in each of two colors: the elegant semi-solid “Ebony” - check out that thin thin strand.

So lovely and touchable! Splendid, splendid stuff made by nice people. Run out and buy some (but leave a few hanks for me, okay?)

And here’s a fine example in their Dreadlocks yarn, the bulky grandaddy of big loops:

Here’s some Curlylocks, a DK weight mohair/wool/nylon blend that knits like a dream:

And then there’s more Kiss Curls in the sexy “Mermaid” colorway-dig that funky variegation! -

Since we’re already into some laceweight, let’s go for the goods. First, some photos that have been featured here before (but I couldn’t leave them out of the stash!) Here’s some lovely lace weight wool (again from my fabulous SP!) from handpaintedyarn.com - 1400 yards total:

Here’s a mess of laceweight cashmere, salvaged from an old Dalton sweater with mothholes and Kool-Aid dyed:

And here’s a gorgeous bounty of turquoise Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud, picked out by my SP expressly for the Peacock Shawl:

My SP also sent me this beautiful Misti Alpaca laceweight, in a great heathered green and a camel. Good yardage, too!

Just dig that hot hot yarn up close and personal. Can you tell I got spoiled or what?

Now that we’ve gotten through the lacy stuff, here’s some delicious sock yarn. Here I present to you some hot cat-on-yarn action! Yes, that’s right - Live Nude Cats (namely, Floyd) attacking my Regia:

And here is Floyd attacking a beautiful self-striping sock yarn, I believe a Schachenmayer print:

Then there’s this lovely Patons sock yarn (again from the super-SP!), destined to become some kind of fair isle fun:

Onward and upward - going further through the stash, my delicious bamboo yarn is soft as silk:

Lovely Rowan All Seasons Cotton, ready and waiting to turn into Lucky someday:

The delicious yarn CashSoft, in more candy pink - worthy of skivvies (although destined to be a hat):

Here’s a pile of silky-soft angora from my friend Laura, waiting to be a soft and willing knitted thing:

And here’s a lovely selection of bits of mohair I have eventual plans for - a stripey scarf? A crazy hat? It’s an orgy of colors in the fiber that dare not speak its name!

This is some lovely pink brushed alpaca from Plymouth, that’s suffered some heavy petting:

Alpaca and silk make an Oriental delight!

Indiecita Alpaca Boucle - with nubs for your pleasure!

It’s a lotta alpaca - all soft and fabulous:

Then just look at this sweet and innocent Barely Legal Pima Cotton:
Wild and crazy candy colors just waiting for your needles of love!

Henry’s Attic is wonderful stuff. Isn’t he a stud?

And what’s kinkier than a twist?

And what would a stash be without trusty Cascade? Pure, uncut 220 -

And sexy-licious STRETCH Fixation - perfect for naughty stockings!
High class stuff - my leftover Lorna’s Lace:

And last but not least - a whole mess of Peer Gynt for funkilicious felting:

That’s all for our peep show! Sex and yarn and rock and roll, people. Peace out.