For the first time ever, I attended the Madrona winter retreat in Tacoma, WA. My good friend Stephanie lives there, so I was able to stay with her. She is also a knitter, so we took the Swedish twined knitting class together on Friday afternoon. Saturday, I took the knitting with mawata class on my own. Both classes were a lot of fun, and I definitely expanded my skill set. Here's a picture of the mawata we used.
"Mawata" is the Japanese word for "stretched out" and it's just stretched out, unspun silk fiber, straight from the cocoon. It isn't easy to knit with, but the results are beautiful.
Of course, Steph and I had to hit the yarn market after our class. I'm proud to say that I stayed under budget and only bought a couple of things. First, I bought 2 skeins of this yarn that is half wool and half yak down. It's supposed to be very warm. I need new mittens, so perhaps that's what I'll use it for.
I also bought this wool/silk/cashmere blend. This is definitely for scarves. Cashmere doesn't hold up to rough wear, which is what you need for socks or mittens. It's a show-pony fiber, not a work horse.
Stephanie also gave me some yarn from her stash--she's knows I'm a sucker who can't resist free yarn. This is Knit Picks Palette yarn in Apricot. She gave me 3 skeins of it. I don't know what I'll use it for , but I love orange, so I'm sure I'll find a way to work it into something.
Last but not least, I packed up my items to send to Afghans for Afghans. I wasn't able to finish that 4th pair of socks in time, but I found some mittens that I put in the package as well.
I think I'm done with socks for a while. Time to make something for myself with the yarn I bought.
"Mawata" is the Japanese word for "stretched out" and it's just stretched out, unspun silk fiber, straight from the cocoon. It isn't easy to knit with, but the results are beautiful.
Of course, Steph and I had to hit the yarn market after our class. I'm proud to say that I stayed under budget and only bought a couple of things. First, I bought 2 skeins of this yarn that is half wool and half yak down. It's supposed to be very warm. I need new mittens, so perhaps that's what I'll use it for.
I also bought this wool/silk/cashmere blend. This is definitely for scarves. Cashmere doesn't hold up to rough wear, which is what you need for socks or mittens. It's a show-pony fiber, not a work horse.
Stephanie also gave me some yarn from her stash--she's knows I'm a sucker who can't resist free yarn. This is Knit Picks Palette yarn in Apricot. She gave me 3 skeins of it. I don't know what I'll use it for , but I love orange, so I'm sure I'll find a way to work it into something.
Last but not least, I packed up my items to send to Afghans for Afghans. I wasn't able to finish that 4th pair of socks in time, but I found some mittens that I put in the package as well.
I think I'm done with socks for a while. Time to make something for myself with the yarn I bought.
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