First World Problems aka Need MOAR Fibre Co.

Is it really that difficult to find a good mitten/fingerless mitten pattern for a skein of Koigu or two? I have spent hours scouring the deepest trenches of Ravelry and have come up with *nothing* that can please me. When did I become so picky??

Even though I am in dire need of mittens, I decided that two+ hours on Ravelry searching for the perfect pair was just a wee bit too much. So I cast on for another hat. Because I really need one more. Really. No, I'm just kidding. Just check out my Ravelry page (though I have donated a lot of them to my local Caps for Cancer chapter) and become both shocked and appalled at just how many hats I have knit these past few years.

The hat in question: Hineri by Olga Buraya-Kefelian

Since I never dedicated a full blog post to my knitting resolutions for 2012, you dear blog readers have no idea what my plans are for the new year. The full-blown hat obsession is what inspired my 2011 resolution and since that was a big fat failure (knit something new every month), I decided to loosen the chains a little. This year I am going to focus on trying out as many new yarns as I can and writing reviews as I use them. I'd also like to focus more on designing, but that's a whole 'nother story. I figure this way I can knit whatever I'd like and also widen my scope a bit...and stop stockpiling Madelinetosh.

While I had heard of the Fibre Company yarns before I started working at Rosie's (we stocked Terra at Wool & Co.), I had never really seen them around the Chicagoland area. Fibre Co. specializes in yummy, yummy blends and because of this I had written them off as, "oh boy. I cannot afford this stuff! Moving on..." and had left it at that. While most of their yarns are pricey (and understandably so), I realized that the world won't end if I treat myself to a skein of something or other. While I might never be able to afford to make a sweater out of Road to China, that doesn't mean I can't make myself an ultra luxe cowl out of it.

We got Fibre Company's newest yarn, Acadia, in the shop a week or so before I headed home for the holidays. As per usual, the fiber content was so luscious that I fondled the skeins a bit too aggressively as I put them on the shelf. So many beautiful colors and I couldn't help but separate them into the "perfect" color pairings.

Blackberry and Amber...driving me wild!

Rosie's currently stocks 10 of the 17 available colorways and each one is as yummy as the next. Acadia is a 2-ply blend of 60% Merino Wool, 20% Baby Alpaca and 20% silk. Those little nubby tweeds are similar to the ones found in Terra and are created by the silk noil. While this is the first Fibre Co. yarn I have used, I think it might just be my favorite to look at (and feel).

Moar yarns

This past Wednesday, I knew that I could resist the call no longer. While the Amber and Blackberry combination makes me swoon, I decided that I would rework the Dalloway Cloche in one of these luscious colors. Douglas Fir (far left) was jumping out to me, but then I remembered just how much I loved Pete's Habitat hat after I finished it, so I knew it would have to be Asparagus, the "springy" green in the center. I wound up my first skein, hunkered down and finished the puckered edge that same afternoon. 

Dalloway in Asparagus

Distractions never felt so good. This yarn is sinfully soft on the hands as you work with it. As I think back to the days before I fell victim to yarn snobbery, which is both a blessing and a curse (for my wallet), I wonder how I ever knit with anything else. I find myself having more and more #firstworldproblems day after day and the case of "when can I get more Acadia?" is just the most recent. 

No joke. 

In all seriousness, this yarn is wonderful. And I can't wait to use it again, perhaps next time for something more substantial. You shouldn't be afraid to indulge every once in awhile...except don't do it too much or you will end up #firstworldproblem-ing far too much. Oh god, it's a verb now.

Happy Heap

And with the third clue for my TTL mystery sock KAL being published tomorrow, I have to get on it. As it grows more and more beautiful, my production slows to an ever increasing halt. Bah! 

Happy Knitting!

-Ashley