Beautiful Things, Part 1

I feel like recently I've been surrounded by beautiful things. So many, in fact, that when I tried to write this post I realized it was going to become too long trying to show them all to you at once, so I am spreading them out in two posts. Next one to come in a few days. But for now,

Yarn is Beautiful

First, I discovered the world's most beautiful yarn.



Did you see that? No, I don't think you saw it. Let me try again.



Yeah, that's it. Gorgeous, right? This is from Tempted Yarns. She sells at The Loopy Ewe and also on Etsy. This is the Thigh Highs colorway. I hardly ever see this type of dying, and it surely is the only thing I have in my stash that looks like this.

Socks are Beautiful

Then I finally, after elevnty billion years, finished my pair of Jaywalkers. I wouldn't say I had Second Sock Syndrome per se, I just took a really long break. I always intended to finish and didn't cast on another pair of socks (except for the ones for my stepfather for xmas) in the meantime because I knew I was coming back. The yarn was gorgeous and the pattern was perfect for it.



Did you see it? Missed that one, too? Okay, let me show y'all how taking a picture of socks while they're on your feet is really done.



Mmmhmm. This I got from The Loopy Ewe many months ago in their signature colorway Loopy Blues, made for them by the indie dyer Yarn Pirate. It's a wool/tencel blend and has great luster. Especially before you wash it. Man, I washed that first sock and it bled soooooo much. I think I used regular laundry detergent like tide. So the second sock I just washed with diluted conditioner and it came out soft and didn't bleed so much. I'm sure you can see the difference in the photos.

Hand Crafting is Beautiful

Last for this post, I received as a Christmas gift a knit tote I had been wanting for a long time. Since early last year. Check this out:





What? You blinked, you say? Okay, just one more time:



Yes, the ribbon is pink in the first shot and blue in the second. I got it from her Etsy shop and it was posted with the blue ribbon. But I really wanted a pink and told the designer so. She knew who I was because I had already contacted her months ago about how beautiful her purses were and from a failed attempt by a friend to get one. So I guess after all that effort she decided to throw in a pink and brown ribbon, which I really appreciated.

Now let me speak to the price of her bags. I posted on Knitting Help when I first found these purses about how gorgeous they were. Everyone agreed, but some thought her prices were a bit too high. That you could buy some wool on sale and knit it yourself. Yeah, okay. Have I ever seen anyone's hand knit bags look this good? NO! Do a search yourself on Etsy and see what else you get for "knit bag/tote/purse" and compare. I don't want to diminish the value of anyone's work, but can we stop BSing and be real for like 5 seconds? Every piece of work is not made with equal skill. I have seen scores of knitters' hand-knit bags and none of them look this good. I gave it a try a couple of times myself. If you can't sew well, you have no hope of doing anything like this anyway. Did you see the inside of that bag? Now, I have to listen to knitters and crocheters complain about how people don't appreciate their hand knit gifts (why people think someone should care as much about our hobby and fall over fainting for some knit thing they never wanted in the first place is a rant of mine for another time). But when someone invests the time to knit and sew something like her knit totes and sells it for under $100 and the same people complain, I start rolling my eyes. If you can't afford it, you can't afford it and I couldn't either for a long while and that's why it ended up being a Christmas present. But don't say they are overpriced. Her bags are a steal at that price. *end rant*

On Beautiful overload? Take a rest, have a cool drink. When you're up for more, I'll be back with the rest.