I never showed you the fruits of my (admittedly selective) Habu pillaging! It was my first visit to the famous New York fiber lair, and I went in with a certain regimen of mental training behind me. I’ve been psyching myself up for this one for a long time. I knew I was going to be waylaid by sensual delights and my personal pitfall: stuff you can’t get anywhere else. The thing is, a lot of Habu’s products are intriguing, but flummoxing. (I gawp at the names alone.) What exactly am I going to make out of that nifty paper “yarn” — wouldn’t wearing it be a little like dumpster-diving in one of those big mobile shredders? And how exactly do you wash it? Or that stainless steel and silk combination — a versatile chapeau cum pasta strainer? Or those cobwebs of luxury fiber that look so fine you might not be able to feel a single strand between your fingers — a negligee for Titania’s booty calls to Oberon?

I was determined to stay practical, Dear Readers. No impulse purchases. Nothing I couldn’t immediately imagine a good use for. So this is the lot… if only I’d written down exactly what it is, because the chatty ladies behind the curtain operating the super-sweet fiber-related power tools don’t give you any kind of a ball band or tag once you’ve told them how many ounces of this, that, and the other thing you’d like. I believe that what I have is this — counterclockwise from top left:

1. a-145 kasuri cotton: 10/2 sumi cotton tegasuri

It’s laceweight cotton, in a colorway that seems to be titled “wine” on Habu’s website, but I’ll be calling it Japanese maple, for reasons obvious in this picture. I think I have three ounces, which I shall knit on largish needles into a very light and airy summer pullover of my own design. Stay tuned, although I may or may not get to it this summer…

2. a-174: 1/8.5 cotton gima
According to the website, gima means “fake linen” (only the Japanese could have a word for this) — it really does look like their linen paper yarns, but it seems sturdier. And cotton is pretty practical. My colorway is #53, “oak”, but it looks like butternut squash to me. Four ounces, I’m pretty sure, will make me two gen-yoo-wine Mason-Dixon curtains for the corner of the basement we’re sprucing up and officizing.

3. a-34: 2/26 cashmere

Cashmere, bay-bee! And it was (and I quote from the ballband) !!! 15% OFF !!! SALE YARN — w00t! (okay, the w00t is mine). I never buy cashmere, but $11.48 for 202 yards wasn’t going to break the bank, even with New York City sales tax added on. I figure I’ve got enough for some scrummy Wine and Roses Mitts from the Winter ’06 Interweave — although “mitts” hardly seems the right term for these delicate and ladylike confections. And these are deeply practical: if they prevent chilblains next winter, it’ll be $11.48 well spent indeed. Heck, it’ll be worth it if I run out of yarn and have to buy a second ball at full price.

I don’t get to cast on any of these right away, alas. I’m busy with ShibuiKnits projects I can’t yet show you, and with a little sweater I’m designing for my friend Abbie to knit for her small nephew. I’m thinking my own small cousin will be the recipient of the prototype, which should make for some truly adorable pictures next winter — my cousins could compete for Cutest Little Boys on the Planet. I’m also itching to cast on for a long-stashed summer sweater, and I’m cooking up a design challenge for myself that I’ll tell you about this weekend.