Tag Archives: noro

so very, very close

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i am not one to underestimate.

i have no intention of running out of yarn. ever.

i buy the extra skein. if i don’t need it, it will become a hat later on.

no frantic calculations at the end. no wondering if there will be enough.

all good.

but, when you’re knitting for a contract

often the company sends the yarn

that they’ve estimated you might need.

usually they’re right.

i’m always amazed that they are,

since i have so much trouble getting it just right myself, but right they are.IMG_8017this time, however, it was close.  really, really close.

forty-six narrow inches from not having enough.

less than a yard

and i admit to sweating

it out more than a little  bit right near the end.

but all’s well the ends well, and this one did.

‘close’ taken from 13:8 of genesis.

road trip: day two

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with

day one‘s

soundtrack

still ringing

in our ears,

we sallied forth

through

the remains of

an ice storm

into rain

and

ending in

the land without precipitation.

‘where did you put the snow, mama?’

i love

that they think me capable

of erasing

every last bit

of the winter whiteness

considering

that we left

this wonderland

at home sweet home.

and let me just say

that we all felt

exactly like this

to be out of the van

hugging our cousins,

settling in for our visit

and peeling off layers for the warmth.

soundtrack of the day: bill harley’s ‘there’s a pea on my plate’:

there’s a pea on my plate that my mother put there
she knows i don’t like peas but she doesn’t care
she says come on try it now it’s not the worst
if you want some ice cream, you must eat that pea first
and i really did put the pea on my spoon
but i made a mistake and my mouth closed too soon
it slipped off the spoon and fell on to the floor
my mom said don’t worry, she’s got plenty more…

‘warmth’ taken from 19:6 in the psalms.

sts on the road: 3/4 sleeves of a cardi done & 2 skeins of noro kogarashi balled.

quirkily

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(quirkily: def: done in a quirky way, odd, unusual)

i like my neck to be warm.

if not, i’m cold

all over.

ugh.

so i designed this vest

with a front piece that wraps

around to snuggle the bare skin

between the tips of my hair and the top of my t-shirt.

it’s not meant to close in the front,

think of it like a scarf

with a racerback

rather than a cardi

without any

sleeves to speak of.

i think

it’s the striping

that really kicks

it into overdrive.

‘pur’,

or noro,

any bulky,

(handspun?

absolutely!)

with variegations

will knit up just fine.

so pick your palette

based on your mood,

or your skin tone

or your favorite jeans

and have at it.

it’s quick

and fun,

so i’m sure

you’ll be glad you did.

‘quick’ taken from 15:22 in luke.

the fourth skein

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it seems like once the pattern idea is born,

picking a yarn to knit it in shouldn’t be that hard, right?

i mean i knit a lot,

at least a few minutes of every day if the truth be told,

and after all this time i should know what will work.

shouldn’t i?

but, no.

when the squall of my latest brainstorm had passed,

i assembled the usual suspects and the swatching began.

first up was plymouth yarn company’s

trabajos del peru

this is a semi-solid thick and thin yarn

(semi-solid colors and thick & thinness are two of my favorite things in a yarn)

but the stitches i wanted to use were blurred by the yarn’s strong personality.

malabrigo worsted

(which is actually aran weight, go figure)

was up next.

i bought this solely because the color tugged at me.

the tones in the velvet grape are very rich and deep and …

the stitches were now lost

in the variation of color in this skein.

i actually spent time trying to rework the pattern

determined to make this the perfect project

for just this yarn,

but it wasn’t.

this little ball

of brightly colored cotton would surely work

it isn’t thick and thin.

it’s all one shade (blue sky alpaca’s dyed cotton in ‘cumin’ to be exact).

but alas, the cotton had no elasticity to it leaving the cables flat and the ribbing dull.

down to my last contestant, i cast on turquoise retro by noro.

hopeful and a bit unsure,

much to my surprise it knit along absolutely the way i wanted.

the cables popped,

the ribbing held it’s own,

the smile spread across my face.

there is some color variation in this yarn, but it’s not really different shades.

more like the worn to perfection fade

that your favorite things acquire once they’ve been yours for long enough.

i’m headed back now to the retro and the needles and

the pattern that this combo is working up to be.

knit happy! and be safe this weekend.

‘the fourth’ taken from 1:19 in genesis.