Hobbits In Rivendell

So, as I wait for my yarn to arrive from whatever alternate dimension it’s in, I’ve started a project using the forlorn greenish yarn purchased in a fit of “let’s make a shawl for this lady who likes green.” The yarn’s been sitting (three large balls of it) for about a year. We’ve cast it onto various things, and given up because it turns out to be a bit of a pain to work with: it’s cotton, and seems to be made up of a series of loosely associated strings, rather than anything so wholesome as a yarn.

So, it’s sitting there, and it looked to be the best of the bunch, as far as the leftovers go (still sulking about the expense, yes).

I cast it onto a set of single-point size 4 needles, intending to work something flat-ish like a shawl or a shrug or whatever the “in” term is for something you throw over your shoulders to keep warm. I cast and cast, up to 134 stitches. So, the thing will end up being about 36 inches wide if you don’t stretch it out at all. A goodly width.

I’m working as follows:

1. s1, k1, *k*, k2
2. s1, k1, *k2tog*, k2
3. s1, k1, *k into front and back of each stitch*, k2
4. s1, k1, *p*, k2

Or, translated into something more reasonably understood:

To give ourselves a nice edging, we’re going to use 4 extra stitches (called a selvage). These first and last two stitches on each row will be treated the same, no matter what row we’re on. They’re worked like this: slip the first stitch of the row, as if to knit. Knit the second stitch. Do whatever you’ve got to do with the row, all the way up to the last two stitches. Knit these last two stitches.
Apart from the selvage, we’re going to:

1. Knit a row
2. Knit two stitches together, across the entire row
3. Knit into front and back of each stitch before slipping it off the needle, across the entire row
4. Purl the whole row
5. Repeat

Now is also the time to realize that at the speed you knit and with the number of stitches you’ve cast on you’re doing about an inch every two hours; at this rate, you will have to knit for about 72 hours in order to get something just square-shaped.

I hope that I will get faster. I’ve read Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting Without Tears, and thought I had taken her advice to heart: I gave up holding the yarn in my right hand & switched to the left, and I knit very loosely. Now I’m beginning to see the wisdom in another of her pieces of advice: unless you like fussing over a piece forever, knit using huge yarn. If I’d used nice chunky yarn, I’d have an afghan by now. Instead, I have a lovely horizontally-ridged, lacy piece … of about 4 inches in length.

But, I must say that I do enjoy just being able to zone out until the last couple of stitches of a row. It’d be easier if the yarn weren’t so multi-stranded-string-like, but it’s still much more relaxing than the Aran-esque sweater project which is awaiting the next installment of yarn. Perhaps not as rewarding, and definitely more boring, but … more of a sedative. As The Yarn Harlot says, “Knitting has this reliable rhythm that comforts a freaked out obsessive compulsive….“

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About a year ago – when it was last cold and dark and the urge to knit hit hard – I purchased a few balls of Lana Grossa’s “Cool Wool” Merino 2000 Superfein. No, I don’t know which part of that’s the product name, thank you. It’s 100% Merino wool, and, yes, super fine. It appears to have been ringspun or something (not the textile expert), and was a joy to work with, although, being really … fine, it took all of three balls to knit up a hat. While the hat’s beautiful (and monstrously huge), I don’t know that I’d go through that again just to have a hat which will be worn in front of the computer & nowhere else.

All that said, I’ve still lusted after this yarn, and thought that maybe I’d be able to find it online for … well, cheaper than the little yarn store in my neighborhood. Yes, local business, etc., but the stuff is expensive, and I’m feeling frugal with my habit at the moment. It’s probably the coming dark or something, so leave it alone! It’s a disability. When it starts to get light again, I’ll splurge and buy all of their lovely silk ribbon yarns and knit up some ruinously expensive scarves.

So, I went and did a search, and ended up at the manufacturer / importer’s site, which wasn’t much of a help as they’re in Germany & the yarn’s manufactured in Italy. So, I went searching some more, and found a site in the U.S. which sells the stuff for pretty close to a fortune. And then, with a little digging & poking, found a site in the E.U. (search for “Cool Wool”) which appears to sell it for about half of the U.S. price (my Euro / USD conversion being iffy). So, if I were in Europe, I could get a ball of the stuff for €3.95, whereas in the U.S. I’ve got to pay $7.75 if I buy it online, or I’ve got to kick down somewhere on order of $12 if I subsidize the nice grandmotherly Dutch lady a mile down the road.

If it wouldn’t make me feel like I was turning into my father, I’d contact the manufacturer and buy a huge box of the stuff. And then, someday, some relative would wonder at my sanity, as I did at the box of square Ray-Ban eyeglasses frames I happened upon in the garage one day as a kid. I mean, why buy so much yarn / many glasses frames? Creepy.

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So, I’m going through my various bookmarks, looking for someplace that’ll tell me how to knit a horseshoe cable (basically: cable to the back & then immediately cable to the front – no big deal). So, I end up just googling for it, and end up on DIYNetwork. And, if I want to get a good look at the pictures (which I do, ’cause the descriptions suck, as usual with anything to do with knitting), I have to turn off my popup blocker. And of course, upon refreshing the page I get a pop-up ad. From the University of Phoenix.

Now, I don’t know about you, but would you want to go get a degree from a place which advertised via pop-up ads?

My new red-heart yarn is on its way … from someplace called Wyoming, MI. I believe that this is the place which maintains that alternate dimension in which everything from the 1970’s is kept, alongside of the as-seen-on-TV warehouses. Billy-the-bearded-buffoon who sells everything seen on TV probably lives there. Be afraid.

To work with me, I suppose. Sigh.

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So, I’m thinking of doing an Aran pattern for this sweater, and have been researching stitches. I’ve found a site with descriptions of what some of the stitches mean, and another site which debunks the myth of Arans being used to identify families (or claims to). I’m particularly attracted to the Honeycomb Stitch (to the left) and to the Horseshoe Cable (to the right). We’ll see what ends up happening, though, as it appears that the company I started with (Red Heart) has discontinued the color I’ve been using … so I’m having to switch mid-way. That’s OK, I suppose, as I’ve not really been following any particular pattern, but just going intuitively. I did figure out how big around I wanted it, and how long, and have been sticking to that, but I’ve started with a varied series of stitches in a long panel for the back, and have been knitting back-and-forth joining the back panel together for the round.

At some point I’m going to have to worry about attaching arms, and making a neck, but that’s a ways off yet (using size 8 needles, with a fairly heavy yarn).

Feeling the cold on its way.

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