Letters
Almost There: Hei Snood
Dear Ann,
Here’s a Monday-morning news flash for you: I still haven’t gotten the knack of brioche stitch, but I’m nearing the finish line of my Hei cowl aka snood. (Note to self: a snood apparently isn’t just a veil/hairnet, as I’d thought it was.)
This was the state of play as the sun started to fade yesterday afternoon. Two more eyelet repeats to go. I never quite achieved total pattern independence on this project. There’s a bit in every repeat where you have to move the marker, and I’ll be danged if I can remember it with confidence.
I’m sad to be getting into the last third of my one and only precious wheel of Rifton in our Appalachian Trail colorway. I’ll have a good bit left over, and I’ve got my eye on Ella Gordon’s Hap Cowl, suggested by a helpful reader. Waste not, want not! I could combine my Appalachian Trail remnant with a skein of Rifton Mono in Central Park Bench (aka green) or Skies Over the Cumberland (aka whisper blue), depending on my mood and the recipient. My unintentional holiday gift pile is growing!
An overthinker’s dilemma: I almost always block my knits, whether they need it or not. (They need it.) But I’m hesitating (hei-sitating har har) on Hei. I don’t want to flatten out the waffle-ish, corrugated texture of the stitch pattern. It looks particularly toothsome on the wrong side. But I know that Rifton gets even softer with a wash, and soft is good.
Still time to think about it.
Love,
Kay
A good soak in Eucalan or similar will give the yarn a chance to do it’s soften thing without squishing down the texture. Soak, drain, and let dry without the “I want this done faster, so I”m going to roll it in a towel and stand on the towel” stage. Plus, it will be nice and clean, removing any of the aura it may have picked up while being knit on the subway or having been used for a catnap. By a cat.
So give it a bath.
I would ask Olga whether to block. I made her Moko Moko cowl and deliberately did not block, only did a light steaming to preserve the dimensionality. Come to think of it, Moko Moko might look great in Rifton too.
I am loving the patterning of that! Does it narrow at the top?
oooh love that Hap cowl. Favorited.
It looks just perfect as is.Like it just came off a steamy waffle iron!
Been busy and scarce in comments lately, but Beatles fan that I am, I can’t let Hei Snood go by without a thumbs up!
Lol!
Ask Carrie for a second opinion, once you’ve washed it and allowed it to dry without blocking. She can try it on and give you some feedback as to whether it is unwieldy, too warm, likely to stretch out anyway, “eeewwwww”, etc. (I suspect the MDK Yarn Testing Lab would pronounce it a “Warm Thing to Lay Upon,” and Olive would proclaim “Woof! For meeee??”, whether you blocked it or not.)
It is gorgeous! Like you I thought a snood was a kind of fancier hairnet – think Vivien Leigh in GWTW or Barbara Stanwyck in “The Lady Eve.” Some even had sparkly beads and sequins!
When I have that blockin dilemma, I wear it for a year unblocked. Then, since it needs a wah anyway, I block. And althoughit may flatten, it’s never as much as I feared. Also by then I love it so much, it doesn’t matter.
I’m currently in the nidst of np y yearly wash & block, which is supposed to happen in the spring. I started with 2 stripey shawls I finshed within the last few months but happily wore unblocked & with ends unwoven. I still got compliments. But now they are so soft & bigger!!
Hap Cowl? Cowl??? Truly, I had started to set my heart on the leftover Rifton mixed with Noro blanket pattern to be. Oh well, yes, a cowl is nice, too.
I’m fickle! Once I saw the Hap Cowl, it spoke to me….maybe it’s just the holiday gift pile talking.
I know you will think I am stupid, but what does the hap mean????????