Too-Little Red Riding Hood

I kept meaning to write this one up as a finished object, but something kept holding me back. It's been done since May, and I have worn it several times, but something just wasn't quite right.


This is Katje, in Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran, a lovely scarlet shade called Merlot. Of course, since I love Silkroad Aran so much, it's been discontinued. I could only get a few balls of the colors I really liked. I have thirty balls in Casket, a lovely pumpkin color, but couldn't get any Venetian and could only get a few balls of this one. I bought as much as I could last year, and didn't properly catalog it before throwing it into the big stash bin.

In the interest of just making something - anything - with this Too Special to Ever Become Anything (TSEBA) favorite, I cast on for Katje and knit like the wind. I don't know how long it took, but I remember it being fast. I know it wasn't more than two months, because I broke my finger on June 5th. I think it was three weeks.

Toward the end, it was a real nail-biter. I had all of the Silkroad Aran that I was ever going to have, and it was barely going to be enough. Because the edges are knitted on, I wouldn't be able to easily add either length or width with a contrasting yarn. I had to bind off the last couple of stitches with spit-spliced ends from farther up in the garment. I was relieved that I'd made it, even with almost no yardage to spare. The few inches I had left are currently being used to hold a darning needle. That's how little there was.

Wearing it for these last few months, I kept getting the feeling that it was too short. I'd tug on the bottom, hoping that it'd magically drop down a couple of inches. If it wwere simply a cropped cardigan, that'd be one thing. The hood, though, gives it so much weight at the top that the cropped lower edge looks disproportionate. It doesn't look all that weird in the photo here, and people tell me it's cute when I wear it, but it's just not comfortable. I can tell that it rides up too much in the back. I meant to wash it and block it this weekend to see if I could fix it, but Silkroad Aran doesn't really do that. If anything my SRA garments shorten up as I wear them. "If only I'd had a couple more balls of it. Dammit. If only!"

And then these turned up while I was digging out the Pure Merino Heathers for Ysolda Teague's Vivian.


Yes, they were there the whole time, pinned under a bunch of Henry's Attic alpaca. They weren't with the rest of the balls because I hadn't bothered to put them into a bigger bag when I got them, and I didn't realize I even had them because that purchase was a "put it in the bin before I have to admit that I bought this much" purchase. This is what comes of lying.

My finding them, then, is what comes of telling the truth. I'm going to take them as a reward for my admitting to Accountant Boy that I bought too much yarn. Thanks, yarn faeries!

I plan to pull back the last couple of rows sometime this week, knit down for another 1 3/4 balls, then bind off again, maybe in seed stitch this time. And then there will be a finished object post, and much rejoicing.

So Faux Meaty

"Dmmmmunnuhphhh?"

Yes, Bernini's David?

"Whhhphh phnuey iph thph ahbuhmuh mphcuhluh phuhm?"

What finery is...what?


"Ahbuhmuh mphcuhluh phuhm?"

About your miniscule fume? What are you talking about?

"Ah. BUH. Muh. Mphculuh. PHUHM!"

Man, I can't understand a word your saying. Let's talk about the scarf. It's a catch-up Finished Object post from earlier this year. By the way, you look quite handsome wrapped up in it.


Details
Yarn
Elsebeth Lavold Silky Tweed - two skeins and
Berroco Softwist - one skein

I bought the Silky Tweed a few years ago from Webs, back when it was being cleared out. I'd intended to buy more of it if I ended up liking it, but never got around to it. The Softwist was left over from the Two-Tone Shrug I made a couple of years ago. The Silky Tweed ended up in one of those Lantern Moon small project bags, which I kept shifting around to different spots in my house. When it came time to put the leftover Softwist away, I shoved it into the bag as well. They looked good together, so I figured that they should stay that way. As it wasn't enough to make a full garment, I spent the next couple of years planning to buy more Softwist. It became a Too Special to Ever Become Anything (TSEBA) yarn.

Pattern/Design Thoughts
I tried a few motifs, and I thought about making granny squares with it, but nothing seemed right. I finally got frustrated with my inability to decide, and just started double-crocheting. I winged it from there, thought about making the various stripes thicker or thinner, but ultimately came up with this pattern.

Hook
Brittany Birch, size F

Time
I packed that little embroidered sack of yarn into my laptop bag and took it with me on a business trip to Nebraska. I started crocheting it when the plane was over Nevada, worked on it in my hotel room that week, and finished it up right before crossing back into Nevada from the other direction. May 9th through 14th 2010.

Conclusion
I love how this came out, and that the yarn isn't sitting in TSEBA-ville. For a while, I was worried that it looked a little like vegetarian bacon, but I've made peace with it. I've worn this one a few times, and I'm happy with how it's holding its shape. Good scarf, nice body, good form...

...oh! About your muscular form?

"Yepphhh!"

Don't talk with your mouth full.

Le Pacte Des Loupes

Until I can knit again - still some weeks off, if my friends, coworkers and well-meaning strangers are to be believed - I might as well pass the time by catching up on some earlier finished work. This lovely short scarf is...

Domina?

Yes, Bernini's David?

Domina, there are things afoot in the villa about which I, as your steadfast champion, need to be informed.

For example?

For example, what has happened to your lovely hands? What has damaged them so badly that you can no longer craft beautiful adornments for The David? Where you attacked by the pack of wolves?

Wolves? What are you talking about? David, there aren't any wolves here.

Aren't any wolves..oh, fairest lady! How I have failed you! Not only has that scoundrel of a husband allowed wolves to overrun the grounds while I remained anchored on this hateful pedestal, but the trauma has wiped the horror from your mind. Would that I could have stood between you and their slavering jaws. I turn from you in defeat and shame.


Have you gone insane, my stationary friend? I broke my finger in a motorcycle accident. You know that. I mean, yeah, I was on some powerful pain medicine after the surgery, but I'm pretty sure there weren't wolves roaming about the place.

But they were everywhere! Did you not...oh, accursed sound! I hear their diabolical howls. Hide! I beg you! Take shelter behind my muscular frame. I shall hold them off while you flee.

David, that's just Molly, whining and throwing her food bowl around because she's up in her kennel. Molly. You've met, remember? She drinks at the water di...majestic pool at your feet fifteen times a day.

Good lord! You have NAMED the beast?




Details
Pattern
Wisp from Knitty Summer 2007

Yarn
Artyarns Pearl Rhapsody (kind of like Silk Rhapsody, but better) in color 2268...I think. Molly ate the skein wrapper. I think it was 260 yards, and I have about a yard left.

Daisy bought this yarn on her cross-country trek home to Maine and sent it out to me. It languished in a basket for several months, and was at risk of being a Too Special to Ever Become Anything yarn. Readers, you know how I feel about TSEBA yarns. Something had to be done before it got any closer to the dreaded garage bin Vortex of Indecision. Yarns go in, and they never make it back out again. I went into my queue, picked the closest thing I could find, yardage-wise, and just started knitting.

Needles
Brittany Birch, size 8. In retrospect, this project would have been a lot easier with lace needles, or even the pointier tips of the Boye interchangeables, but the BBs weren't too bad. The yarn felt better on wooden needles, so I stuck with it.

Time
It was my lunchtime knitting, so I didn't really keep track. I finished it about two months ago, and I started it right after finishing the crochet throw.

Modifications
Only because I screwed up at the beginning and didn't do the setup rows right. The ends don't match, because one end has the support for the buttons and the other doesn't.

Conclusions
I liked this pattern. I think I'd like it a lot more if I were to knit it again with pointier needles. The finished scarflette/wrap/whatever is shorter than I usually like regular scarves to be, but then again, it's not supposed to be a full-length scarf.

I can see wearing it as a cowl once I find the right buttons for it. It'll look stylish and sophisticated while I'm driving down the road in the follow car, trailing behind all of my motorcycling loved ones. But that is a story for another day, when I can stand to type for a bit longer. My left hand is about to give out, and I can feel the pins moving around under the dressing on my pinkie. It's creepy, actually. I'm going to wrap this up and stop moving for a while.


Yes, Domina! Be still, in the name of all that is holy! There is danger in the wind. Can you not detect its menacing miasma?

David, for God's sake, there aren't wolves in the house. That's the smell of the pan from last night's dinner. It's garlic. We're perfectly safe.

Hush, noble lady. They are watching...