Brollie

I think this is true yarn porn: handspun 85% alpaca (from Brollie, who lives somewhere in Kent/Sussex) /15% silk (I don't know the names of the pupae, but they will not have died in vain) from the High Weald Fibre Factory. There is another ball sitting inside swatching. It's interesting yarn, not very elastic, but very soft and with a lovely halo of alpaca fibres. It's the first handspun I've ever handled, so I've no idea if it's really, really good or not, but I like it a lot. I think it will work for the 'Interlocking Balloons' scarf, but I wonder whether the, um, softness/lack of structure and unevenness of the handspun will detract from the precision of the ribs in that pattern. I suspected that this yarn would be better suited to true, thick cables, and the pictures of Jillian's Connemara Scarf (free download from sknitty) suggests I'm right. I want mine, well, J's to be wider than that so I'll invent something. I've done enough cables in my time...
(scrabbling sounds from drawer under bed)
see?
Three of several.
(scrabbling sounds and thoughtful 'Hmmmm' sounds from bookshelf behind chair)
Pale grey/cream is 'Inishmore' (Alice Starmore 'Fishermen's Sweaters' 1995); under it in dark indigo is 'Man's Heavy Aran' and it is heavy even in my size (Annabel Fox, Rowan No. 4 1988); under that, scarcely visible in a heavy khaki/olive chenille is 'Oversized Cable Sweater' (Erika Knight, Rowan No. 8). I'd half-forgotten about those books. They smell a bit musty, but they're full of dreams. There isn't enough room in the house to store all the sweaters I was going to make. And I found the Phildar magazines with the knitted lace doilies and the crocheted tableclothes I made and gave away because I don't use that sort of thing, and my Encyclopedia of Needlework (from which I learned to crochet and tat)... I lack words to describe the frustration I feel. Were the days longer then? Where on earth (or anywhere else) did I find that much spare time? *sigh* Never mind. Feel the alpaca.