An Eclipse Coming At You

I'd told you I ordered the "Total Eclipse of the Sun" from BMFA, but I didn't yet have a chance to share how beautifully it turned out! 

Tina and the lovely personages  in the dye barn were flooded with orders, apparently I'm not the only one looking for a way to commemorate, in wool, such a spectacular event.  Considering that at most I will probably only see 2 or 3 of these in my lifetime, I felt a little extra stash enhancement was in order.

It looks a muted on the screen, imagine the colors dialed up even more than you can see here.  The yellows are almost neon and the orange flecks are very rich.  This is Socks that Rock Lightweight base, which seems to have become my default purchase. It used to be Mediumweight and someday I wouldn't mind getting some more of that in my stash (when I whittle 1-5 more square inches that are not entirely squashed with wool). 

I also really splurged. This is the gradient pack for that same colorway. Enclosed are 6 150-yard skeins of 100% Merino. It's not STR though-- it's Featherlight, which is a very soft singly ply yarn. I rarely knit with single ply -- the last project I did was the giant black shawl last year, which has since become my office shawl. I'm a little nervous about knitting this up. But the colors are so gorgeous and with 900 yards, I'll be able to find some shawl that speaks to me. Assuming, of course, that I can keep AudioGirl from absconding with it.  

Spoils of WI Sheep: Part 2

And this delightful pile is the rest of my WI Sheep spoils from the Walk and Knit competition. The generosity of the vendors cannot be overstated -- I'll be working on different skeins for quite a while. 

Starting across the top is a skein of A Hundred Ravens Iachos in the "Into Darkness" colorway.  This is a lovely 2 ply and while it came with a sock pattern, it's not one that appeals to me. I'd much rather have this as a close-to-face accessory.  The project bag in the Top right is also from them. 

The Bottom Left shows stamped buttons and a lovely little stitch-marker/tea bag/ring dish from Jenny Blasen Pottery.  I took a look at her Etsy shop and she has some very lovely tumblers and cups if you like good heavy coffee cups. 

And finally, the Bottom Right is yarn from Sophie's Toes, which as I've said before is sadly no more. This is Emily's take on the Farmer's Market and will of course be all the more precious in that I cannot purchase any more except perhaps through a destash. While I know dyers come and go, it's sad to have lost two different dyers in the past 18 months both of whose work I really enjoyed and who I regularly got to see in person. 

These lovelies are all added to the Stash and hopefully I can find plans for them soon.  We shall see... 

Spoils of WI Sheep: Part 1

I've let the prizes from Wisconsin Sheep and Wool sit -- which does nothing to mark the generosity of the various vendors who donated them. Also I need to get them into Ravelry so I've not forgot from whence they came.  (Always a challenge at Chez Hedgehog-- when TLE started magicking my purchases into my stash, it was a brilliant day!)

So here's part 1, with a second part coming in a couple of days.  Top Left and Bottom Right are the front and back of a felted bag from Spry Whimsy.  It's fairly thin but should hold a single skein project. It's delightfully bright.  I'm pretty sure I've been to their store once even! If it's the one I'm remembering, it was lovely and full of charming things to purchase. 

The Top Right is Hidden Valley Yarn, 200 hundred yards of Coopworth.  It's very squishy and a nice worsted weight. I have a couple of ideas for it that might even tie into Christmas knitting this year -- if only I can come out from beneath the immediate weight of Loopy Academy projects.

Finally--that Bottom Left is KnitCircus! This is their Greatest of Ease base in the Over the Rainbow colorway. I would be lying if I said I wasn't always drawn to their booth, but I've never had the right project in mind and didn't just want the yarn to linger.  This demands work soon and I am already scouring through my Ravelry queue for something appropriate.  The rainbow obsession continues!

These were all prizes for the Walk and Knit competition and I've only shown you half and only what I brought home! More to come!