$5 in Paris = Finished!

[jewells68]

And I wore it to work today. Next time I will cast on for the M rather than the L, at least for the neck ribbing, as it = HUGE so I had to wear a tank top underneath it because it simply refuses to stay up on my shoulders.... thinking of running some clear "stretch magic" cord through the neck ribbing...

Pattern here: http://knitting-up-a-storm.

Comments

[hardhatcat]

I love the top, but i see what you mean about the neckline. I'm always cautious of large neck lines like that.

I'm rather excited as i actually started knitting again on the weekend! Nothing too much to begin with, but i managed to do the ribbing for a beanie/knitted hat on Sunday. It's a cable beanie which i need soon as my head is cold this winter!

[jewells68]

Is it all animal fibers you are allergic to, or just wool? For instance, are you allergic to alpaca? I made some alpaca wrist warmers and a hat last winter and they are sooooooo supersoft and warm! We have a lot of alpaca farms around central NM, so if you aren't allergic I could send you some... it is lterally the softest yarn I have ever felt...

[jewells68]

I just realized I didn't actually reply to your comment about the sweater, lol. I just made the wrong size entirely, as I wore it all day it just got bigger and looser... definitely should have made the M all around. Might try a silk ribbon woven through the ribbing?

[hardhatcat]

Allergic to alpaca, mohair & angora. Basically if it spins well i can't wear it :(

I think i can have spun dog hair and rabbit hair seems ok and i'm currently looking for possum fibre that hasn't been blended with merino! (those fibres have a different structure and are ok, but they don't spin well) But these fibres are really hard to get you hands on so i stick to cotton or acrylic. Very keen on the new fibres coming out though like bamboo etc

[jewells68]

Ah, too bad...don't think I've come across any dog or, er, um, possum, but quite alot of bamboo around. Silk ok too?

[hardhatcat]

My friend has found a lot of possum blended with merino in New Zealand where Australian possums are considered a pest species (not to be confused with the US Opossum - different critter). Rabit felt hats are very popular here too (rabbits are an introduced pest species here). As for dog hair, you normally only find that with people that have particular types of dogs such as akitas, huskies etc that spin there own dog hair. Next time i've grooming Sally (my kelpie dog) i always consider getting a spindle -then think better of it! :P

Silk is OK, but my best friend is incredibly allergic and she does a lot of my yarn buying for me and here it is often blended with merino/wool anyway! I end up mainly with synthetic fibres these days. At least with acrylic i can wash things on the gentle cycle in my washing machine

[jewells68]

too true! can't go wrong with synthetics or cotton. Let me know if there is ever a US brand you are looking for and I may have a pile of it in a drawer in my craft room...

[hardhatcat]

i never say know to sugar'n cream as you can't buy that here. if you ever have any left over - let me know and i can trade for something.

[jewells68]

hah! sugar and cream! I have a bucket of nothing BUT sugar and cream... sometimes Michaels crafts has the giant skeins for $5...I've even bought a self-striping version before... I'll have to open up my bucket and see what colors are in there. I know I have a TON of solid white from when the giant skeins were on sale...but I should have some variegated as well...

And I do lurves me some genuine Australian licorice (not to mention still haven't tasted those Tim Tams yet)... Do I sense a personal swap coming on?

[hardhatcat]

Sounds like a personal swap coming up....

I'll go stock up on Liquorice allsorts and chocolate bullets. Anything else?

[jewells68]

hmmmmm, dunno, I'll have to mull that one over. Anything else you might like from NM? I would send some biscochitos (traditional New Mexican cookie) but they don't really travel well... we also roast pretty good coffee beans and grow some decent wine grapes... think I need to peruse the post office overseas shipping rules, I haven't mailed anything overseas since my old high school penpals (one in England and one in France). And that was eons ago. ;)

[hardhatcat]

We have rather nice wines here, so i'm ok for that. What about a recipe book of local recipes? The rather badly done ones for church/school/community fundraisers are actually my favourites! They seem a lok more personal than the flashy commercial ones. Just don't send me any cheese sauce. An old colleague of mine was living in NM and he sent me some cheese sauce, "mild" salsa (mild my #$%*) and some corn chips. The whole thing got stuck in quarantine for 3 months and they confiscated the cheese sauce. The sauce and chips made it through though :)

ALso do you have any chocolate frog moulds? Chocolate frogs are very common here and i was surprised to find they weren't in the US

[jewells68]

I actually don't have ANY chocolate molds. I know, bad HP fan. To be honest, I don't cook much, meals or even "baking". I make stuff for holiday pkgs, and I've made a few bday cakes in my day, and cookies of course, but to be truthful my favorite cookie recipe to make is actually to convert pretty much any store-bought cake mix into a cookie recipe. They make the moistest, yummiest cookies! But yea, I'm a cake mix and recipe in a box kind of cook. No wonder Ken makes dinner most nights.

[hardhatcat]

Well melting chocolate in the microwave on low and then pouring into moulds should be easy right? So if you like i'll include some of those. Hmmm Anything else? i won't submit you to vegemite. I've yet to find an American that truly likes it. I think that is something you have to grow up with

[jewells68]

Oh, yeah, that's how I make my holiday candy.Melt in my pyrex bowl in microwave, then stir in nuts and cranberries and such and drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper and stick in freezer to cool. It's not that I can't follow a recipe or CAN't cook or anything, I'm just really lazy. But melting in a bowl is something I definitely can and will do. ;)

[hardhatcat]

OK choc frog moulds are to be included in the package :)

Um i also just realised i don't have your contact details. i'll pm you with mine if you like