Dear Kay,
Infidelity is a central component of knitting. Wanton cheating is definitely one of the reasons I knit.
I am having a ridiculous amount of fun, stepping out on my main project. I finished the body of the navy blue gansey guernsey jersey knit-frock whatever and faced the sleeves. The thought of wrestling a sleeve into existence is always something I’m happy to delay, sometimes for five or six years, so I gleefully ditched out as fast as I could find a tote bag big enough to cram the thing into.
I dunno, I just wanted something simpler, a project that wouldn’t ask so much of me. A project that really understands me. The Inside Outside Cowl from Churchmouse Yarns has been on my mind since discovering it over at Habu Textiles. And Rowan Kidsilk Haze is about as far from traditional gansey yarn as it gets.
This cowl will be a simple double layer of mohair/silk yarn, all stockinette. I’ve picked the first color; the second will come once I get there.
Shade 661 Rosso is a violent sort of orange-red. I’m looking forward to picking its mate for this cowl—Kidsilk Haze has long had one of the most famously beautiful sets of shades anywhere. See?
I’m using size 3 needles, which I’ve never done with Kidsilk Haze before. The fabric is totally different from the airy lace I’ve made with this yarn. The tiny stitches are buried in a deep haze. I completely and totally love it.
The sole piece of actual technique required in this is a provisional cast-on, so that the final piece will be a magically seamless tube of wonderfulness. I can’t recommend a Kidsilk Haze provisional cast-on as a fun thing to do. But once those 175 stitches are up and running, this is exactly the palate cleanser I’d hoped it would be.
I will also say that this pattern is one of those patterns where you go, aw man, I could just wing that. But I will also say that it is a joy to have a pattern telling me exactly what to do. There is a time for winging it, and a time for sitting back and enjoying the ride.
This yarn is the souvenir of a trip son David and I took to London last year at this time. We wandered with Belinda and Neil. We ate like maniacs. And, of course, we stopped by Liberty so Mom could get some yarn.
David will be home from college tonight, and I can’t wait to talk to him without inflicting the Mom Facetime Face of Doom on him.
Love,
Ann
Ann, the end of this post! I hope my infant son flashes me such a sweet smile when he is grown and away at college. Hope it’s an awesome time together this week.
Thanks, Tallu! When I look at that photo, I see David when he was a fat little baby. He hasn’t changed one bit. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your beautiful family.
Ooh, looking forward to seeing the second colour of that!
Am veering wildly from one idea to the next. No idea what will happen.
You made me smile. As always. Glad David will be home. Since you taught me how to knit I’ve been feeling unfaithful to crochet. So I work really hard to give both my attention, but knitting’s complexity is so satisfying! What’s a girl to do?
Oh, Vesia, torn between two lovers . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sks0x_GJIDs
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I am vicariously enjoying all the Thanksgiving family stories on the blogs these days 🙂
Do you have a favorite provisional CO? I’m guessing there are 11 ways to do it, and it’s high time I learned to do one or two of them.
My favorite, and simplest in my humble opinion, is the invisible cast on described by Eunny Jang here: http://eunnyjang.com/knit/2006/03/majoring_in_lace_part_iv.html.
I have done crochet provisional cast ons, but this one is so great because the motion is so natural and fast–no crochet hook required.
Here’s a video that explains it well:
http://www.knittinghelp.com/video/play/invisible-provisional-cast-on
At least your Mom-Facetime-Face-of-Doom is properly framed… My mum’s FaceTime-face-of-doom often only consists of the very top of her hair, as she completely doesn’t get the idea of making sure I can actually see her face. ?
The app I want to make is the Facetime Corrector. Turns our bad-lighting, bad-angle Facetimes into perfect 3/4 view portraits.
Love the yarn color, it makes me feel warm & fuzzy. I think you are looking at FaceTime wrong. I tilt it a bit with my “mom” heart & I see a happy mom & a happy son.
I can’t think of a better way to usher in the holidays than a luscious, brightly colored slip of magic, the likes of which you have on your needles. I wanna some of the same….after I finish my test knit, maybe.
Enjoy your darling boy. Mine is arriving with three friends for a long weekend. Lots of big boy bear hugs soon to be mine. 😉
Is there a rite of passage when going from chunky yarn size 10+ needles to fingering yarn and size 3 needles and below? I can’t seem to stick with needles and small stitches as I lose interest. I am missing out on many great patterns and unsure if I’ll ever graduate. I do love the kidsilk palette and see Graces and Blush as a wining duo.
Di,
What helped me was when I began to make socks. Someone showed me Cat Bordhi’s book “Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles”, newly released at the time. I made the simple, basic, socks from the book, only I did two inches of 1×1 ribbed at the top, rather than ribbing all the way down. I used US size 2 needles. There was something about completing the project that was transformative because I gradually realized that I no longer resisted using small needles.
I don’t know what your “gateway ” experience might be, but I wish you many more happy hours of knitting, whatever size needles you use.
LoveDiane
How wonderful to see David again! I guess we have sons of the same age – mine are coming home tomorrow – can’t wait.
Happy Thanksgiving, Ann and Kay
margieinmaryland
Ann, I’d love to see the inside of the cowl in 2-row stripes, charcoal and acid lime, perhaps?
Enjoy your time with your son at home, I see my kids’ baby faces when I look at them, too.
so thrilled to see these daily posts… curious about a behaviour i have found in both safari and chrome. – one cannot adjust the size of the page by zooming – to increase the size of the text – (as in a finger zoom)
the new website design is gorgeous but the font size is rather small
i have viewed it on iPhone 6s, iPad mini and regular and six different monitors
on desktops its easy to increase the size (in chrome ctl and +) however on the mobile devices no zoom means no way to increase the size. ;(
forgot to enter my name… sorry
Face of doom! Ha! I know what you mean.
Once I used Facetime with my 90 year old mother, and she was rocking in her lazy boy recliner, and it was dizzying seeing the background move up and down as she rocked!
That looks so gloriously luscious. But you said there’s a sole piece of actual technique, the provisional CO. That doesn’t faze me. But what about the endless kitchener stitch? That makes me want to run away!
Enjoy the return of the CollegeDude. The first Thanksgiving is so sweet when they come home. Big hugs!
Michele, I am blocking that whole kitchener thing out! I’m just pretending it will magically loop together when the time comes. I have never done kitchener with this yarn before but have a vivid imagination about how that’s going to go!
I’m head-over-heels in love with her…not to mention she will cause me to cheat on my current WIP but she’s so worth it! And not to mention again…the color is my favorite for cold New England winters…pure love! Thanks for sharing…Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Ann, I’m right there with you on enjoying the happy anticipation of kids coming home from school. I’m smiling for, no, WITH you. Happy Thanksgiving. Thankful for you. xoxo
Backatcha! Wishing you pie and naps and cranberry relish.
Granted, it’s lovely, but $7?! A great opportunity for reverse knitting.
I know what you mean–anyone with knitting experience could crank this cowl with no pattern at all. But for a beginning knitter, this pattern teaches a lot. It gives graphics for how to align the edges for kitchener at the end, as well as provisional cast-on tips and kitchener instructions. It’s well written and gives options for two sizes.
Last spring I started a Gradient Cowl using four colors of Shibui Silk Cloud (fabulous stuff). But I worked on it during a long car ride; when we changed drivers I somehow managed to shut the car door on the working yarn, thereby putting the WIP outside the car and the project bag/balls of yarn inside the car. Tried to frog and tink and somehow recover, but SSC is impossible to un-knit (kinda like KSH that way). This pattern would allow me to use some of that leftover SSC — thanks!