A hefty dose of fiber (about 3kg)

While I was away (from the internet...not on vacation), I went to my first fiber fest. Yay! I was constantly reminded that I am not a spinner...yet. The "yet" is what all of the people selling roving would say when I said I wasn't a spinner so please stop shoving your soft, soft alpaca fur in my face.

But...there was yarn too. And I didn't spend waaaaay too much, but considering my yarn:available knitting time ratio at present, I really didn't need yarn. At all. I blame Laura (in the hat in the last post). She made me go and then enabled. But I did score some good stuff.

First, some cashmere/merino/nylon sock yarn. It is very soft and very pretty and claims to be machine washable. I asked the lady if she was sure I could throw it in the washing machine, and she swore to me I could. We'll see. As previously discussed, I have a love/hate relationship with socks and sock yarn. I'm really not into sock yarn that makes stripes and checks. However, I understand that some subtle variation might make it pretty. It's a balance. I think this one is subtle enough. Besides, it's not really a fiber fest if you don't buy sock yarn, right?

Then, I came across some cheap (-ish) bamboo in a bright, bright blue. My goal of the day is to buy things outside of my color safety zone (green and teal and blue-green). Bright blue counts. Also, I've been craving bamboo for about 6 months now. Not sure why. It's very soft, and I'm thinking maybe Wallis cardigan will be made from it (go here if you don't have Ravelry access). It's variegated, but Wallis's simplicity should work well with that. But probably not this summer. Unless I blow off the boards and knit all through July. It could happen.

Finally, I really went out of my safety zone and bought a cone of orange-rust, DK, 100% wool. It's a teeny bit scratchy, but I'm thinking it will be a hoodie or cardigan and not next to my skin. I don't currently own anything remotely this color, but Laura and the sales lady claimed it worked well with my hair. Worst case scenario, I donate it. The yarn was cheap.

To further illustrate my excess of yarn acquisition, here we have the yarn that I bought in New Orleans:








And here is yarn my wonderful mother sent me from Switzerland. You can't tell with this photography, but one of those balls is not like the other (blue rather than teal...hey! my colors!). I'm kind of thinking Sahara. But we'll see.








And guess what I wore to the fiber fest? Josephine! I didn't even tell you I was knitting it, did I? Well, I was. And now I'm done. Lots of mods, but I think I like the result. Very within my safety zone. The yarn is Wildflower D.K., so it's washable.

New knitting? Sure, why not. I'm finally participating in a Sexy Knitter's Club KAL and knitting Notorious by Annie Modesitt. I'm not totally sure what to think at this point except that I might be needing more yarn than I ordered. Luckily, there's an easy way to fit in a skein of a different dye lot, so I'm not too worried. It's mostly on 8's, so it's moving along pretty quickly. Also, I'm on geriatrics for a few more days, so I continue to have free time. Today, I spent an hour spoon feeding a patient her lunch. It is thrill a minute, I tells ya.