Catkin

I finally bit the bullet and purchased yarn to make the Catkin capelet. I knew I wanted to use madelinetosh Tosh merino light, but I had a lot of trouble deciding on the color combo. I hate ordering yarn online but my "local" yarn shop isn't all that local, so I end up buying a lot of yarn without seeing it in person. For someone like me, this is a recipe for insanity. I spent countless hours looking at every colorway, trying to imagine which would make the perfect combination, which would look best on me, which I would wear most often... I'm a little obsessive about the color thing. Eventually I would get so overwhelmed I wouldn't order anything. And so the months passed...

Then last week I realized that my vacation is coming up and I had no vacation knitting planned. Squeak! Yes, the project (and yarn) I will pack for a trip takes precedence over all those other silly things. Like clothing. A four hour flight each way calls for some serious knitting; Catkin's time had come.

So, I kicked myself in the butt and told myself to order the dang yarn already. I ended up with Earl Gray and Violin. While I thought they would go well together, I was a bit worried that violin might be too orange for me, but I was somewhat boxed in by what I was (and wasn't) able to find in stock.

As with all madelinetosh, both colorways were beautiful; I knitted up a Catkin swatch, and they looked wonderful together...and horrid on me. As I feared, Violin leans distinctly towards rust. While it's a gorgeous color, it really doesn't flatter my complexion's pink-like-a-pig undertones.

I had also ordered a onesie of Terrarium. I love onesies; they have a Forrest Gump quality of surprise, because you truly never know what you're going to get. In the case of Terrarium, it in no way resembled the "standard" Terrarium colorway, which is a swampy mix of greens and browns. What I got was black shot through with glints of brighter green. When I swatched it I could see that it was actually an incredibly dark, nearly-black green. Pretty cool. Unfortunately, it wasn't a great fit with Earl Gray.

Terrarium onesie

What's a knitter to do? Why, order more yarn, of course! Budget, schmudget. Money is no object when you're fulfilling an artistic vision.

I wanted something with a cool base to pull out the cool, blue gray tones in Earl Gray. After more hemming and hawing (and much counsel from the husbeast) I finally settled on Composition Book Gray. I must confess, I have my doubts. I'm afraid it will be too dark or not have quite the right cast to fit my vision. I also ordered a hank of Tarte; if the Earl/Comp Book Grays don't work out, I thought I might pair it up with my Terrarium onesie. As a Plan B, you know. All right, I admit it - I ordered it just because it's so pretty and it's always out of stock and I can never have enough madelinetosh. Don't judge me!

Chilly Chicken

My mother-in-law is always cold. 98 degree heat wave? Ma's cold. She wears hoodies in the summer. I call her my chilly chicken (don't ask). She has COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), and since Chicago in August is one of the worst places to be if you have breathing problems, she has to run the air conditioner all the time. You know, like a normal person would in August in Chicago. Living here is a little like living in the Amazon, but without the interesting animals and attractive scenery.

Of course, my mother-in-law is always cold because she has no adipose tissue (read: fat). I offered to give her some of mine (I have plenty to share). Or I could make her a shawl. Strangely, she opted for the shawl.

I finished the Wing O' the Moth shawl last week and finally blocked it yesterday. It did not block well, and I am not entirely happy with it. I think the main problem was the cast off. The instructions say "bind off in knit". So I did a plain old-fashioned knitted bind off. Uh-uh. I make every effort to bind off loosely, and I even used a needle 3 1/2 sizes larger than what I used to knit the shawl. It was still too tight. I thought so before I blocked it, but I thought maybe the knitting gods would make magic and it would be all right. Nope. The fir cone stitch didn't open up as much as I would have liked, and I couldn't get a really good stretch on the coronas. And believe me, I am an aggressive blocker. Poop.









I did not frog. I did not fix it. I admit it - I am lazy. And I knew my mother-in-law would love it anyway. But if I were to make the shawl again (which I may) I would use a different bind off.

Here it is being modeled by the lovely Eleanore. I know the photos could be better, but it's the best I could manage in a pinch. No time for a real photo shoot, since I must rush it to the recipient before she freezes to death in her own home!









The chicken will be chilly no more.

Pattern: Wing O' the Moth
Yarn: KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in Sand, 3 hanks
Needles: Size 7 (size 10.5 for binding off)