Of Cowls, Unravelled Sweaters, and New Yarn

Not a very catchy title, I know. But it is blogging time! I need to decompress from today. I commute to university, for those of you who don't know, and I was on campus from 7:30 AM to 8 PM. In other words OMGKILLMEPLZ. In my one class, we have to prepare a mini lesson plan? Do you know how hard that is? I'll tell you: very. I have trouble narrowing my focus so much, and also understanding what other people need in terms of background. Reading has always been my thing, and I've never needed the explanations most do. Not to sound like a twat.

Anyway, this blog isn't about my personal life, it's about my craft! I'm still chugging away on my cowl/wimple. It's still going well, and I love working with the yarn. I've messed up a few times, but I'm too lazy to rip back, so the mistakes stay. Sometimes I end up with one less stitch than I should. My solution? Just make a new one! I know it's not kosher and the knitting goddesses are probably pissed at me, but whatevs. Boyfriend has graciously loaned me his camera, so there's an artsy fartsy shot on the side. I figure, it's an unblocked WIP, so there's no use in trying to show off the lace just yet. And yes, that is an Elvis Costello album hanging on my wall. Live at the El Mocambo. I am a giant, giant fan of his. I got to see him in concert once; one of the best days of my life, truly. Anywho, the cowl/wimple, as I said, is going fantastically. I'm done 2 repeats and have about 16/56 rounds left to go on repeat 3. Then there's another half repeat, 6 rows of garter, and I'm done! I'm really excited to be finishing up this project, not because I haven't enjoyed knitting it, but because I want to wear it! I'm wondering about the bind-off, though. You're supposed to bind off very loosely, and, well, I suck at that. I'm pondering if I should use Jeny's Suprisingly Stretchy Bind Off to do the job. It would be stretchy, but maybe too much so? I don't know. It's something to think about.

My other project has been finishing unraveling that wool and angora sweater I blogged about a while back. It's all done now, and most of the yarn is back in hanks (which, to me, are the twisty things), although two skeins are still drying. I'm ambivalent about the yarn itself now that I've gotten a good look at it, but it was still a worthwhile experience. I'm not sure if it looks too worn or not. But hey, I got about 1300 yards of it! Maybe it'll look better knitted up. The plies are really loose, and I'm sure that contributes to the look of it. If nothing else, I could probably make some bitchin socks. There's a crappy photo for your perusal on the left. The yarn isn't that kinky anymore after it's been washed; I didn't weight it too much, but the washing process itself does a lot of the de-kinking for you. It smells like shampoo. Lovely!

And a third fibery thing. Last post I was all excited about the Rowan Kidsilk Spray that I had won in Sara (at Lazy Knits and Purls)'s giveaway? Well, it arrived today! It's devilishly soft and really sinfully indulgent. Beautiful yarn all around. Since I seem to be on a picture spree, go ahead and take a look off to your right. I'll wait. ...Okay, you done drooling? You see that? That's Kidsilk Spray. That shit looks at Malabrigo and says "That's all you got"? It laughs in the face of mere nylon blends, touting its silky softness in the face of any opposition. It blows raspberries at other mohair. Okay, enough silliness. Really, though, it's gorgeous yarn and oh-so-soft. They really need to invent a Feel-O-Screen. I'm going to make a friend's mother something out of at least one skein. She gave me her mother's knitting needles and is all around an awesome lady. Now that I have some really, really nice yarn that is deserving of her, I'll happily use it on someone else. Now, just to pick a pattern. Aka the funnest part, amirite, amirite?

And lastly, I see that I have a follower! Hi! *waves* I'm very flattered that of all the knitting blogs in all the corners of the Internet, you walk into mine. Grab a chair, get cozy!