Stash enhancement again -- and really, this must slow down!

Did y'all see the new issue of Knitty? The one with this gorgeous creation on the opening page?


That's Twist and Shout, a most flattering cardigan with some interesting cabling and whatnot that looks so absolutely gorgeous I knew I had to have it. Go and look at it. Do. There are more pictures on the Knitty page. I'll wait...

Okay? So it calls for something called Rooster Almerino Aran, which seems to be a UK yarn, and I couldn't get a good source for. Now watch, since this pattern appeared, every shop in the US is going to carry it by next week. How-some-ever, I shopped around and decided on this -- please pardon the yellowish picture, it was taken under an incandescent bulb because I was too impatient to wait for morning, but imagine it nearly as plummy as the cardigan above:


It's silk and alpaca in a heavy worsted weight. It'll take a little calculation and needle adjustment to get gauge -- or me, I tend to go in reverse, and if I'm not getting gauge, I get out the calculator and figure out how many stitches wide I need it to be, then see which size calls for that many stitches and knit that size. I ordered enough from Knit Picks to make the cardigan when I finally get to it. Very good they were, too, and shipped all dozen-and-a-half balls from the same dye lot. ::Wild applause::

And really, now, that must be enough for a while. My stash box under the bed is so full I can barely close it. While yes, I do have some stash and UFOs in a copper wash boiler, and some leftover skeins in a closet, the stash box is "live" stash, stash that is meant to be something, and I must, must, MUST get it knitted up before I go and buy some more. Must.

But then I did go out and buy some more, but just ONE skein of speckled blue (yes, it's blue, sorry about the yellow light) DK for baby booties that must be ready mid-October for a surprise shower for a different baby, more to come on that:


Because one skein for booties for a shower in a couple of weeks doesn't really count, does it?