Sunday morning

After two spectacular days--sunny and highs in the low 60s!--today is overcast and at the moment I'm freezing and thinking about putting on another layer. I'm tired and a little blue--hangovers from being sick, I think. I did too much Friday and had a little relapse--I was in bed by 7:30 and slept right though til about 8 Saturday morning, and did virtually nothing yesterday.

I'm between knitting projects, so I knit a few swatches. My sister gave me a subscription to Elann samples, and I got the first set last week. The cream one at the top on the right is Filatura di Crosa Zara--100% superwash extrafine merino, knit on US size 5s. Soft, almost velvety, and springy/bouncy. The pink one on the right is Needful Yarns Filtes King Australian Merinos--if you look closely you can see the sparkle in it. I'm not wild about yarns with sparkle, but it works up nicely (also on US size 5s). It would be really soft, a nice baby yarn, if it wasn't for the sparkle thread, which is scratchy. The cream on the bottom is Mirasol Cotanani (60% pima cotton, 40% merino wool, again knit on US size 5s).

The big pink swatch is Needful Yarns Santa Ana (67% nylon, 33% wool), knit up on US size 11s. I can't imagine making an entire garment out of this--they do show a pullover, and the woman looks like she's wearing an old shag rug or something (I was going to include a link, but it's not available until February 10)--but it's so amazingly soft it's like knitting with bird down or something. There must be something that could be done with it so a person could enjoy the wonderful softness without looking like a bath mat.

The grey swatch is Berger du Nord No. 4 and in life is more of a silver, knit up on US size 5s. I've been thinking about making a sweater from the Fall/Winter Debbie Bliss magazine

So I'm thinking this Berger du Nord wool might work. The swatch is spot on horizontally (22 st = 4"), but not quite right vertically--my vertical gauge is always off; for some reason I make short stitches--and when I read through the pattern I got a little worried that that might throw things off considerably, since she gives instructions by rows rather than by inches. So I'm thinking about it. (Please note this is another sweater that would need to be steam-blocked--no ribbing or other edging to keep it flat.)

The Great Bra Search continues. The Freya bra is going back; it fits but it looks terrible. The Vanity Fair bra looks GREAT but it's not very comfortable. However, unless I can find one that looks this good and feels comfortable, I'll probably get a couple more, because the look under clothes is simply amazing.

I cancelled the order for the Exquisite Form--it was from the same outfit as the Freya, and imagine my annoyance to discover that you can't return bras to these guys, only exchange them. I think this is the only company I've ever run across online that doesn't allow returns *at all*. Guess this is a reminder to read before I order. I hope they carry Vanity Fairs.

Part of the problem with this search is getting my mind around the kind of bra I have to wear now. In the 70s and 80s I wore stretchy little triangle bras. I switched to underwires in the 90s, but still with stretchy cotton cups. The ones I'm trying on now are considerably more hefty, and it's like wearing armor or something. Now that I know what my correct size is, I'm thinking of ordering one of the Victoria's Secret bras I've always liked--their cotton full coverage unlined underwire, very demure for VS ;-) --to see how it fits; I always found it to be a comfortable bra. I may try the lined cotton version, too.

Well, if I can come up with the energy I need to go to Walmart to get a few things I can't find elsewhere in town. And I would like to start a new sweater--if I could just make up my mind!