Of late, I have been working on a super-secret project, the culmination of which just happened to coincide with the anniversary of my mom's birth. Ok, yes, it wasn't coincidental at all. I was working on a cowl for her, and seeing as she's one of my two loyal followers, I could not post anything about the project!
Since we celebrated yesterday and Mom is in both knowledge and possession of it, here it is:
Ta-da! I think I shall call her Glenda.
Glenda's a simple design, but one which complimented the Alpaca/bamboo blend yarn (Mirasol Qina) nicely. I used larger-sized (US 15) straight needles to achieve a nice drape in the stockinette section (8 stitches long), smaller-sized (US 9) in the knit section (6st long), and used the kitchener stitch to join the ends into one continuous loop.
I just cannot describe rightly how soft the knit side of the stockinette is. You'll have to either take my word for it or hustle to your LYS and buy some Qina!
Some more Glenda shots:
Modeled by the always-fashionable Ikea chair.
I needed a genus humanis model but was feeling camera-shy.
A fun fact on this project (and segue to a new topic): It was supposed to have another color. Je vous raconterai l'histoire:
One day, a few Saturdays ago (January 28), I was feeling particularly adventurous after having just finished proctoring a standardized test (actually, not to toot my own horn, but it was my first day as a room supervisor ... oooOOOooo fancy). It was a lovely day, I had been sitting for hours, and my spirit felt like sending my body bravely into the unknown.
Just the day before, I had noticed the name of a LYS in a neighboring town referenced in the back of Interweave Knits magazine, and, vaguely recalling the address, I embarked for this destination known-and-unknown.
Oh, alright, I'll admit it - I suppose you'd find out sooner or later -
I own NEITHER
a smartphone, NOR
a GPS.
Before you cry "Luddite!" ...
Oh very well, you may call me "Luddite."
Anyway, my instincts/memory served me well, and I located the LYS, which as it so happens was having a wonderful sale. Serendipity! So of course, I did what any stash-busting, rational knitter would do and purchased $50 worth of yarn.
My finds:
I was feeling a touch of buyer's remorse and left my purchases in the bag for one whole day, considering making a return. But ... since all sales were final ...
I. Love. Yarn. Especially piles of it.
These four beauties were sharing the same cubby-hole at Village Wool. So, naturally, I assumed they were different colorways of the same yarn. Well, crack the whip and call me a Luddite ass, and while you're at it, consider yourself the same because you know what happened.
Lovely Yellow was actually Mirasol Nuna (as pictured), which wouldn't have been so bad except the fact that:
1) Nuna is a completely different weight than Qina (sport-weight 5-ply vs. DK-weight 8-ply), and
2) Nuna is a merino blend. This does not work well as a gift for a woman with a lanolin allergy.
So, poor sunshine-on-a-daisy's-center Nuna is sitting in the craft room, while I ponder her fate. What CAN I do with 50g of a sport-weight silk/merino/bamboo blend?
Happy Birthday, Mom!
Mrs. Pi
P.P.S. I shall argue - topic for another day - that a blog sans pictures is destined for failure. At least, in the age of Pinterest, it is.
P.P.P.S. I may have given away the entire topic of that future post in my second post-script. Fret not, it shall still be witty and interesting, even if you now know the punch-line before the joke.
