Although I took two weeks off work this year, and it was helpful. The Rex had his surgery (now he has his second bionic knee), everyone came to the house, ate all the food, I caught a cold and slept for four days straight, and then I bought some yarn.
Crazy, right?
Ain't that bowl pretty in the morning sun? I made a thing for my boss for Christmas. I don't, as a rule, knit for people for gifting occasions, but I'm in the middle of trying to destash. I got a bit of a bug about using up some old yarn, so I destashed -- and didn't even make a Rav project page for it!
I should go back and note it. That way, I can remember, when I get around to straightening up my stash, that I used that yarn and it's living away now.
I was going to use more stash yarn when I decided to join in the MMario Tribute KAL on Ravelry. MMario was a bit of a hero of mine -- his lace was sublime, and his speed at pattern development and writing truly amazing. I was a member of his Yahoo group well before I found Ravelry, and once I was on Rav, I looked up (and stuffed my library shelves with) all of his patterns I could find. Just about every single one went straight to my 'to be knit' pile, with a huge asterisk next to them, referring to a footnote that simply said, "when I'm a good enough knitter".
I will never be a good enough knitter, but perhaps as a merely competent one, I will be able to make do.
When his passing was noted on Rav, I had a momentary sadness -- not a sadness that I knew him and would miss him; that is for far more fortunate people than I. No, a profound sadness at the loss of an artist, at the passing of someone who brought beauty and reason to such a tawdry and workaday world. And at such great speed.
When the tribute C/KAL was announced on Rav, I stepped up and chose my pattern -- Apres Chartres. It's from his Cathedral Window series. I have plans to eventually make the second Chartres pattern (Altres Chartres) and maybe even a Queen Anne's Lace, when I work myself up to it.
I chose my tools, and since I had the bug up my butt to destash, I went with this beaut of a lace:
Araucania Lonco Multy in some gorgeously saturated colors, 4 skeins. I read all the complaints, I chatted with some people who said to ignore them and just go for it, and so I loaded up the Amish swift and started up the wind.
And stopped. And started. And tangled hopelessly, then untangled and started. Aaaand...stopped.
Eventually, I quit trying to cake up after getting most of the skein in one cake. I skeined up the tail end, was cranky all evening, and then decided shit is too complicated to deal with this yarn when I want to get cast on right away. So I put it all away again, to quiz upon again another day, and decided to use the gift certificate my secret Santa gave me to get a much more cooperative yarn:
Frabjous Fibers and Wonderland Yarns' "Mary Ann" in the colorway, 311, Between the Lines. The colors are a cross between candy and rainbows, and it's disgustingly cheery. I want to knit it right up and lick it.
I'm hoping the two projects on the pattern page are right, and the yardage required is only around 1,300 yards. The pattern itself calls for upwards of 1,700, and a) that's insane, and b) that's expensive. I'm just a poor librarian, a week out from payday after a long week of vacation spent mostly on the couch with the internet (and all the durable good available therein) and my wallet nearby. So I'm rolling the dice on this one. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
GNU Leo, GNU.
No comments:
Post a Comment