a nice fresh year

happy around these parts. calm [unusually so.] TNNA is coming up [the big knitting (etc) trade show] and this time, I'm not going. I just need to sit still for a while and work on Knitty from my desk, not from a trade show floor. I feel simultaneously sad [not to see all the knitting peeps I love and missing out on seeing what's new in the biz firsthand] and relieved [knowing I'm taking care of business and my sanity at the same time]. I think I'm a little travelled out. :-)

I've already booked my flight to TNNA Columbus in June, though. I wouldn't miss the June show for anything.

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Meanwhile, around these parts, things are starting, continuing, finishing, in all the best ways.

- Jan 1, I cast on for Imogen. I'm knitting it in a discontinued yarn that I'm lucky enough to have gotten before it went byebye. It's Artfibers Gypsy [of course - you know how much I love the stuff]. Kira tells me that Artfibers Bambusa or Sumo would make good subs. It's colorway 11 -- they'll likely dye almost any of their yarns in this luscious colorway if you ask nicely.



Imogen looks like it will be my ideal sweater -- cozy but still flattering and adjustable to fit whatever my body throws at it that day. Gypsy is my favorite yarn. Damn, I wish they hadn't discontinued it! [Should we start begging in unison?]

- Incoming Blue Moon goodies! First, I finally got my hands on a skein of the Raven series -- Silk Thread in Valkyrie. It's insanely beautiful and these lame pictures don't even come close to showing the subtlety of color change.



The Charlie Brown gang are looking on in silent awe. No, I'm not sure what this will be just yet.

- More from Blue Moon! They're now offering EZ's surprise jacket-friendly kits in my favorite non-wool sock yarn, Sock Candy!



This stuff is heavenly and I love how Tina puts the colors together. And you can get two jackets from one kit, if you alternate the colors. Brilliant. I'd better get knitting!

- the last thing that's got the fire under my arse are the duvet-covers-in-progress.



This is, I'm guessing, about half of what I'll need to make two twin duvet covers [just the TOPS, mind you -- the bottoms will be nice white sheets]. I'm cutting a bunch of 11.5" wide strips every night, and then will start assembling these strips into random assortments, lengthwise. I need 6 strips per top. I wanted to do 5, but didn't want ridiculously wide strips, and 7 was more piecing and cutting than I'm in the mood for.

I almost sound like I know what I'm doing here, eh? Well, I used to quilt. Rather a lot. In fact, I didn't knit when I was quilting. Here's what I saved up for over two years in the late 1990s:



It's my Bernina. If I'm lucky, it should last me the rest of my life!

One thing, though: just before I veered away from quilting all the time, I bought this fabric at the big October quilting and needlework festival in Toronto.



I love it, and want to get more. I think it would make great pillowcases! Does anyone know where I might find some? Web searches are proving fruitless and there is no identifying text on the selvedge to help me figure out who made it, even. Help?