Long time readers will not be surprised to hear that I’ve been sick. Sorry for the silence! It’s so frustrating to be taken down by your body when things seem to be going along swimmingly, or at least non-sickly. I’m most of the way better now, which is good, as it means I won’t have to shank Fate. Two of my friends and I have been planning a getaway for about a year now, and that’s to take place this weekend. Had I been horribly unwell, I would have had to, at the very least, punch Fate in the kidneys. You do not mess with Piecation. Dammit.
New Sunniva continues, slower than Old Sunniva, because the smaller gauge means more stitches. I have to admit to feeling a little intimidated at making two of these at this rate, but I think it’s good that I’m making the longer sleeved version first this time. The second one will be quicker. And it’s still fun looking at the color of the red violet yarn in different lights and imagining how it will look when worn. The semi-solid yarn is pooling and striping in a really pretty way that reminds me of velvet.
I think I solved my false button band problem. One set of knit stitches is still slightly looser than the other, but I don’t think it’s the horrible problem this time that it was previously.
I’m using a modified heel stitch to create the band. I like how this looks, and I like the sturdy fabric it creates. It’s a simple conceit, but I find that simple is what I return to again and again. I’m attracted to the complex initially, but I come home to simple, and I have been trying to aim my design that way, for a middle ground between frustrating and boring, someplace challenging, but not teeth grittingly so, and simple, but not mindlessly so. If it stops being fun for me to knit, there’s a good chance it won’t be fun for other people to knit, either.
I’m also in the midst of a test knit, which I do during my down time, and once again, it’s color that’s got me hooked.
When I’m test knitting, I generally try to work from the stash, but this is harder than you might think, as my stash is not generally overflowing. I do have a stash, it’s far larger than it used to be, but most of the yarn is either committed to a particular project or leftover from something else and in very small amounts. So while the top yarn, ShibuiKnits Sock, is leftover from Surtsey, the bottom yarn, Sanguine Gryphon Bugga!, is purchased new for the job. I decided to use the opportunity to whip up a gift for a friend and try a yarn I’ve been curious about at the same time. And yeah, it’s great. What I actually like most, though, is the fact that the Sanguine Gryphon has gone out of their way to make the yarn so easily available. A lot of popular yarns are next to impossible to procure, but Bugga! is available regularly in large dyelots on the Sanguine Gryphon website. Deciding to use it was simply a matter of heading over to their site and picking a color. The shipping cost was excellent, and it shipped fast.
The color is Beyer’s Jewel Scarab, and it really as bright as pictured. The cashmere content of course makes the yarn very soft, but what I actually like is the shape of the plied yarn. It feels firm and slightly square (that sounds weird, but I can’t think of how else to describe it) and it doesn’t split easily, because the plies are very firmly wound together.
I doubt most of you need me to tell you that Bugga! is awesome (I cannot leave out that exclamation point) because it’s been insanely popular for a while now. But it is indeed awesome, and the availability makes it accessible to a lot more knitters than some of the other spifftacular yarns I’ve reviewed here in the past. Here’s a better portrait of the yarn on its own.
How green was my scarab.
