One of the reasons I’m pursuing a year with no patterns is to slow my rate of consumption when it comes to knitting. This includes my consumption of pattern books, yarn, needles (because sometimes projects need new needles), etc. The unfortunate downside of this plan is that I move slowly from project to project, and y’all on the blog suffer.
At the moment, I should be finishing the Flutterby Socks, but I’m simply out of love with them. Instead, I’m thinking deep thoughts about rectangular wraps. I’m ashamed to admit that my wrap of choice on cool evenings like now is a blue acrylic thing from a friend. Yes– I’m a knitter, I even have a lace wrap on my shelves, and I’m wearing a pilly sticky icky to the fingers acrylic thing. Why am I doing this?
Well, for one, the knitted wrap is circular, and it just isn’t large enough for what I want to do. It was an experiment in art knitting, and it looks gorgeous– it just isn’t terribly wearable for me. For another, the acrylic wrap is wonderfully solid. It’s just several feet of woven acrylic thread, so it’s light, it has no holes to catch on anything, I don’t have to worry about tugging it out of shape through the various abuses I put it through, and it is so light that static cling alone keeps it on my shoulders. I’m not emotionally attached to it, so I can drop it and run my desk chair over it accidentally and pick it up again with no particular regrets.
The problem is that this wrap is ugly. It’s pilled, it has stains, and it’s just… well, you know. It’s a utilitarian thing. So I’ve been thinking about knitting something to replace it. Something mainly stockinette, light and without any complex textures to distract me from whatever I plan to be doing while I’m wearing it. Something that can take the damage. Something… machine washable, even.
And then– a surprise!
Image from YarnCountry. The reality is greener, much more Jade-like than turquoise.
Cascade sent me my replacement for the Cascade Heritage that gave me so much trouble. I asked for it in Jade, but since the color was currently out of stock, my expectations weren’t high. Imagine my surprise when I got the mail this weekend and saw not one skein, or two, or even three, but five skeins of yarn! That’s 2,000 yards of fingering weight yarn, 75% merino wool, 25% acrylic. Yarn that I suspect doesn’t wear well under pressure, but on the other hand, yarn that is machine washable and which was free.
It seems like a dream come true. It’s the right weight, a pleasant color, a good amount, it’s machine washable, if I ruin it under my desk chair I probably won’t cry, and I suspect that as long as I don’t walk on it, it will behave just fine. It certainly felt lovely as I balled up the first skein.
I’m signing off and casting on as we speak. Since I can’t sketch to save my life, you’ll all have to wait until I have a swatch or a significant bit of knitting before you see what I’m thinking.
Whoa, kismet! Great timing from Cascade. I think I like them. Excited to see what you’re thinking!