In Which the Pirate is Gifted Yarn.

It’s rare that I go to a yarn shop and don’t sigh over a pile of Zauberball Crazy in all the colours, and now at last I have one of my very own! Friend Monica returned from a trip with this beauty as a souvenir for me: a ball of Zauberball in the “Tiefe Wasser” colourway, which coordinates perfectly with at least 75% of my existing wardrobe. I feel so loved. Next, I get the fun of deciding what pattern I want to knit with it! I’m leaning towards a small shawl – perhaps together with a navy blue, something like Dreambird?

Meanwhile, Michael and I are working on plans for a lazy kate. The one I have doesn’t fit my WooLee Winder bobbins, and anyway it only holds three. I’d like to be able to ply four singles together, so we’re designing a box-style kate much like my current shoebox, but not made out of cardboard or tensioned with a binder clip. I’ve been admiring plans and pictures on Pinterest, which has, of course, given me more ideas than I have time to accomplish.

I’m sure the final version of our lazy kate will look a little different from the plans. We’ll make at least one rough draft with plywood first as a test piece for both our skills and the design. Then we’ll try it with the good stuff, though I’m a little nervous as my primary expertise in woodworking is in making large useful pieces of wood into small useless pieces of wood. We shall see…