I want to say "don't ask" but I'll try to give some sort of explanation for what's in this package from yet another Danish yarn company.
I've returned to an obsession I've had off and on over the years: yarn and knitting patterns. Add to that the trend for so many in the knitting community to have Youtube channels where they share what they buy and make, often along with critiques and helpful hints. I've mentioned before that there are several of these knitters I've started to follow, learning so much, and I kept hearing about Drops Belle yarn. Never heard of it but soon learned it was a cotton/linen blend with apparently good qualities. I started hunting for it and couldn't find any U.S. distributors. That's why I ended up at Rito where they were having a ridiculous sale on an already reasonably priced yarn. There was a bit of tariff to pay but I still wound up paying around $2 a skein - a fraction of what I pay for my wool blend yarns. Risky doing this sight unseen on the recommendation of strangers, but I decided to load up.
I'd been looking for a very long time for a cotton/linen blend yarn for a mobius shawl, so that was the main reason I wanted to get some of this. It's another cotton yarn that is not twisted but which construction is called chainette. It seems to make for a sturdier yarn - cotton does not have the same strength and "stickiness" that wool does. Picture's a bit blurry but perhaps you can spot the chaining.
There's also some viscose in the blend, exactly what my mobius pattern was recommending.
I ended up choosing four colors - 4 skeins each of the off-white and chocolate, 10 of the lilac and blue. The 4 skeins of off white should be what I need for the mobius shawl, but not sure what I will do with the four chocolate at this point. The others should be enough for a short sleeve or 3/4 sleeve top, and I've already picked out a pattern for the lilac. But starting on any of these is way down the road. Just couldn't pass up that incredible sale.
Another incoming was this picture from my favorite nephew. I'd given him the Tetris quilt when he showed an interest in it during a visit. I could tell he would not only take good care of it but actually use it too as he asked questions about if it could be washed. He has a fiance now who decided it should be placed on the back of their couch and I'm so happy he sent me a picture of it - perfect!
The last incoming is new information on that berry-filled tree behind my place. Pat took issue with me calling it an elderberry and with good reason, so I did more research, finding a plant identification site on-line that would scan my photo and give me a name. It came up with a kind of Buckthorn, which I must admit was one I'd seen when doing some searching before and wondering if it fit. Now I went to Buckthorn specific sites including this one if you're interested, and started adding up the evidence, starting with this thorn-like protrusion at the end of branches that gives the tree its name.
I'd not actually got up close to the tree before this but needed to in order to check out the leaves. One variety has smooth edged leaves while another has slightly serrated leaves. I thought mine were smooth until I had one in hand.
Between the wind blowing and the birds making noise showing how upset they were that I was messing with their tree, I struggled to get a good shot of the third thing that identifies a buckthorn - white lenticels on branches, which is what I think is on these branches. Added up, I think what I have here is a Common Buckthorn. According to several sites I studied, there are different kinds of Buckthorn, some native to an area while others are considered invasive and are being actively stamped out. Not sure of the situation in my area. No matter the variety, the berries are toxic for humans but a feast for the birds and a very large squirrel that I caught feeding on them as well. Mystery solved!
