Avril Acquisitions

We have finally returned from our Asian excursion, although Roy and I (plus 400 other passengers and crew) haven't quite gotten over our ride home. Harry, bored to tears with the movie offerings and tired of juggling sushi appetizers, somehow squished himself under the cockpit door. Who knew that a wide-bodied jet could execute an Immelman, a barrel roll, and a high yo-yo, all within the space of a minute?

The pilot apologized for the momentary "turbulence," while Harry sauntered back into the cabin with a self-satisfied smirk. I am certain that the other passengers had no idea why a flight attendant spent the remainder of the flight running up and down the aisle with a rolled-up Wall Street Journal.

Several people were anxious to see what I acquired in Japan, so I carefully took photos of the items purchased at Avril. During the past year, I've been buying most of my yarn undyed, so I am afraid the following photos are a bit bland.

This yarn is a new offering from Avril, and so should appear at Habu soon. It's a cabled 30% silk, 70% wool worsted weight. I have no idea what I will do with it, but it was irresistibly soft and squooshy.


This lovely 9/1 laceweight is also 30% silk, 70% wool. Nice for a heavy-ish shawl.


I purchased 6000 yards of this luscious stuff--60% wool, 20% cashmere, 20% silk. It's a 52/2 weight and just begs to become a complex Shetland. Perhaps I will finally knit the Unst shawl with it.


Several readers wrote and asked me where to buy the Hamanaka Parfait with which I knit the Hyrna shawl. Alas, it is not sold outside of Japan, however, Avril carries the undyed equivalent: 60% mohair, 40% silk. It's well worth seeking out and dying yourself, as it is much softer and silkier than Kidsilk Haze and clones thereof.


And as long as I am boring you to tears with white lace yarn, here's a mystery skein of soft Chinese wool obtained via trade with Natural State Knitter. The skein is enormous, but I won't know how huge until it's weighed and measured. The label is colorful, but gives me no clue about meterage or weight.


I wasn't wowed with this year's Japanese knitting books, which seemed to feature simple, bulky knits and really weird crocheted thingies. The Fall, 2008 Keito Dama, however, contained several lovely patterns, so I scooped it up.



Alas, there is no pattern for this sweet bear, but it may inspire some of you to create your own variation.


Although the knitting books were bland, I did find several exciting off-knitting-topic books that will feature in another blog post. Stay tuned!