Why yes, it has been a while since I’ve shared any projects. I haven’t taken any breaks from knitting. Can’t stop, won’t stop. Perhaps I’ll update with a massive omnibus post of all the projects I’ve completed as the pandemic has plodded on – or maybe I won’t. You can always wander by my projects page on Ravelry if you’re curious what I’ve been up to.
I bought a few gradient bundles of Cloudborn Fibers Merino Superwash Sock Twist from webs.com last fall. Maybe it was on Black Friday? Not sure, but it was a good sale. This 5-pack of mini skeins (fingering weight, 80% merino; 20% polyamide, 125 g per skein) is in the Blue Dacnis colourway.
I realize I have a terrible weakness for these aqua blues. Put them together in a gradient set on sale, and I am powerless to resist. I think it’s because my mom never brought me anything to wear in blue, like ever. She doesn’t care for blue herself and it definitely affected her choices for me. There’s a scene in one of the Little House on the Prairie books where Mrs Ingalls has mixed up the girls’ hair ribbons. Laura absolutely revels in wearing blue for a change, and Mary treasured the pink ones. I understood this scene with 100% of my 8 year old self.
Anyhow, I wanted to choose a pattern that would make the most of the gradient. The Whiskey in a Teacup shawl, a free pattern on Ravelry, fit the bill nicely. It’s a very simple, mostly stockinette knit with occasional garter rows for interest, and some easy lace rows in the border section.
The pattern says the border section would require 58% of your yarn. Well, when I hit 58% remaining of my yarn, I was not yet near the border. So I had to decide whether to compromise the pattern or add more yarn. (Frogging my work to that point was decidedly not an option!) Fortunately, I had an additional mini-skein of navy from another gradient colourway that I felt confident would work beautifully, and it did.
Except that even with the additional skein I found myself in a dramatic game of yarn chicken - which I lost. I needed to finish the last several stitches of the picot binding in black. I don’t think it’s noticeable and I’m not particularly worried if it is. I made it for me, and I’m not going to complain! Besides, I’ll just call it the flaw that acknowledges only the divine is perfect. Imagine – some people are so competent they have to introduce mistakes deliberately for this purpose. Let’s just say this is not a habit I foresee needing to introduce for myself any time soon.
