Monday, August 21, 2006

Serendipiditous shopping

We were looking for the Kings Cross Library on a Sunday afternoon and I ended up with 10 Balls of Rowan Magpie Tweed instead.
The building where the library used to be was next to the El Alamein fountain and in the large square surrounding it there happened to be a market. Neither the Young Dragon nor I can resist such a thing so we went shopping. He came away with 7 collectors teaspoons, a bag of Columbian Organic Sugar (no, that is not a euphemism) a Mexican hot chocolate and 'The Magic Schoolbus' book; I gained this lovely yarn.

It's in the freezer at present going through quarantine but it seems to be in good condition with no visible damage or moth signs. The remainder of the yarn on the stall was all single balls of bright acrylic, so it was no wonder this caught my eye - even with its understated, handwritten 'English Wool' label.

At $50 I think it was a bargain - but of course the issue now is what shall I knit with it? I have seen it recommended for 'Rogue' and as there are several people that have already finished this, in my neck of the woods, it is up for consideration. I may also look for a simple basic Aran pattern for a 9yr old as the colour is so suitable (it matches his eyes).

On a ps. note while I was searching for inspiration for Magpie I came across several posts on Something from Nothing's Blog detailing the troubles she was having with the different gauges and textures of Jo Sharp Aran Tweed. Not to harp on about the poor old Rib Wrap but I may have got off lightly with only one wonky ball - so I will count my blessings and appreciate its warmth.

pps. We finally found the Library in the old Woolworths building in the heart of the nightclub and sex shops strip. Must be fun to work there.

1 comment:

Pamela Lee said...

Wow! What a find! And such a great colour too! :) I'm also really envious of all the fabulous people you have come along to the Blue Mountains Knitters' Guild meetings.

Something For Nothing's postings about her problems with the Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed still have me freaked out as that is the yarn that I have stashed away for my Rogue -- which will be knit in the fullness of time. ;) Oddly enough, it seems this may not be the first time that Jo Sharp has had problems like this with the tweed yarns -- one of the LYS owners told me a few years back that there had been problems with several of the DK Tweed colours knitting to the correct tension. I'm not sure how true this is, but I have noticed that the only colour in the DK Tweed yarn I ever seem to find anywhere is the 'Blueberry' shade.

You may already have found this, but, in case you haven't, Claudia's Blog is well worth checking out. She's knit Rogue in Rowan Magpie Tweed twice -- in her cardiganized version -- and she has quite a few close ups which show just how great Rogue looks when knit with this yarn. Look for the February and March 2004 entries for her original Rogue, and the December 2004 and January 2005 entries for the second one.

There's also a rogue_along Yahoo group which has loads of information about the various Rogues people have knit.