Camera set-backs, power knitting and yarn store excitement

I am so ready for Fall. We've had a couple of cooler days and I've been bit by the knitting bug again, big time. I've been working feverishly on new items for my Etsy shop... and then staring at them in frustration because I don't have a camera to photograph them. My camera bit the dust during the summer when I was at a music festival for the weekend. It didn't get damaged, it just stopped working. It won't turn on now even with brand new fresh batteries. Apparently it's a common problem with this model of camera (note to self: research technical issues before buying next time). The good news is, my birthday's coming up in less than a month and a new camera is at the top of my wish list. The bad news is that my birthday's still almost a month away, and I'd really like to get my Fall pieces listed now (insert foot stomp here)! Luckily my mother-in-law has come to the rescue. She's lending me her sweet digital SLR camera to use this week! So now I'm getting excited - I'm weaving in ends, blocking and getting props ready!


In the meantime, I started making some more of the fingerless gloves like the ones I sold last year. I had some of the merino yarn left in my stash, and the pictures ready to go, so I thought I could get some of those listed in my shop while I figured out my camera situation. I've been averaging a pair a day for the last part of the week! Although I still really like the styles I had available last year, I'm also planning to design a couple new styles for 2009. Here's one of the first pairs I made this year.

Yesterday I went to a new yarn store called 88 Stitches in Walnut Grove, Langley. I'd heard good things about it but hadn't visited yet myself. It's not too far from my house but far enough that it warrants its own trip and isn't on the way to anywhere I would normally be going. I'd seen on their website that they carried a yarn that I've been using, which my normal yarn store has sold out of, so I thought I'd make the trek and check it out. I am so incredibly glad I went! It is absolutely amazing. "Favorite" is such a dirty, exclusive word, and I still love my usual stores with all my heart, but this was so far beyond my expectations I was actually a little shocked! They carry all the yarns I've used in the past, in colorways I didn't even know existed. And they've got yarns I haven't seen locally before. You know those movies where someone represses a traumatic experience until something triggers the memory, and then everywhere they look they have these vivid flashes in rapid succession? Well, that's what it was like. With every new yarn I saw, new projects and ideas flashed in my mind. I was inspired (and a little overwhelmed)! There were some really great merino yarns that I'm going to work into my plans for cowls, gloves and mittens. And one thing that really caught my attention was this unbelievably soft lace weight cashmere, hand-dyed by the owner's daughter in some of the most gorgeous colors I've ever seen. I'm going to make some lace scarves out of that for the Spring I think. I need to pace myself, and take some time to absorb what I've seen there. For now I picked up this wonderful Malabrigo merino yarn, which is already well on its way to becoming a new neck warmer!

It's so nice to feel excited about my knitting again. The urge to drop everything and run to grab my knitting is back in full force, and at night I fall asleep thinking of new stitch patterns and brainstorming project ideas. Some people in my life don't get it, but I refuse to apologize for my obsession because it is so rewarding! I really can't wait to photograph the stuff I've got done and put it out there for the Etsy world to see. Hopefully this weekend or Monday I'll get a chance to meet up with my best friend / model and take some pictures.