Being on disability for a number of reasons and being single for the first time in six years (save a month or two in the middle) I have been knitting a lot lately to keep my thoughts at bay. It works somewhat, although stockinette portions are too easy for this to work. I made this part of Rogue in about three days, and then haven’t touched it. I’m at the shoulder portion with 36 rows of stockinette without any cables or shaping, and those rows, although short and sweet, seem endless. So, I put it aside for something more compatible with my brain. Namely this:
I’ve never had enough money to buy really great yarn. I’ve been driving the middle lane, not doing the cheapest acrylic (not that there’s anything wrong with acrylic, it has it’s function, but once you go wool, you most likely won’t be able to, uh, not stay wool), but at the same time never buying anything at a real yarn store, and instead at sale at Joann’s or online. I think the fanciest yarn I had ever tried was Paton’s Classic Merino. Which is like $4-5 for 200 yards. And then my relationship ended, blah blah blah, I happened to be in a yarn store and decided to shop myself happy. It didn’t help, but I got this gorgeous Malabrigo out of the deal, so I’m not complaining (that much).
I’ve been working on a hat+scarf set out of it for a while. The hat is done (although not blocked), and I’m using it. The scarf is taking forever, and after realising that I had like three feet of scarf and still had one untouched skein and one slightly used I decided to do mittens as well. I call it “The Extended Version”.
The perfectionist in me absolutely loves how the ribbing on the brim of the hat and cuff of the mittens shoot right into the cable. I just can’t stop looking at it. I plan to use the “after-thought thumb” and some sort of convertible fancy pants thing, sort of like this, but overlapping. Unfortunately I don’t think I can claim this pattern as mine since I’m taking inspiration from so many different places (Kpixie’s Karaoke Cable Scarf, PieKnit’s Ropes and ladders scarf and Peekabo from Magknits). Maybe I’ll put it here somewhere with a disclaimer and all that fun stuff.
Oh, and I promise, no matter how poor you are (and I’ve been there, so I know what I’m talking about), you would not for a second doubt that this yarn was worth every penny if you got to touch it and pet it and make love to it a little.
