Turns out, what gets left in your hotel room in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Bummer.
One of my all-time favourites, this workhorse cowl somehow did not make it back into my suitcase at the end of a work trip to Las Vegas last fall. I called and emailed the housekeeping service that the hotel has set up for just such instances but was told that no such item was turned in.
My hope is that the cleaner did indeed find it and took a fancy to it and is even now (or maybe on a slightly cooler day) wearing it with her favourite outfit to add a little something. I just hate to think it was tossed out. Anyway, no grudges held here, just a little a regretful sigh and a promise to myself to, in future, double check the shadowy floor of hotel closets before zipping up the suitcase and heading out the door.
It did give me an excuse to revisit a pattern I very much enjoyed, once I stumbled across yarn that inspired me. In this case, the yarn I eventually went for was CashSilk Sock (75% superwash wool, 15% cashmere, 10% silk) from Expression Fiber Arts in the limited holiday edition yarn club colour “Baubles.”
For these yarn clubs, you don't know exactly what you're getting before it arrives. Here’s the sneak peek colour palette picture that caught my eye and prompted my order.
It was while I was working on Gail’s gorgeous Harlow Cowl, so I guess I was in a peridot place, but I did think it was going to have much more pine green balanced in. Nevertheless, I decided to go with it for the cowl. (I hear Expression Fiber Arts is excellent with returns if you're not supremely happy, so that was an option.) I like rolling the dice though, and I wanted to make it work. It’s simply not as “me” a colour as the first Starshower cowl I made, and I find it harder to decide to wear.
The yarn has very little springiness to it, which surprises me for something that is marketed as a sock yarn. I really, really can’t imagine using it for socks. That said, it is quite nice for a cowl, and I find it’s getting nicer the more I wear it. Somehow, even though I did soak and gently block after finishing, the fibres seem to be relaxing further over time.
All in all, I'm quite pleased with the bauble cowl and admit I'll always remember my first.
