the Akamai Knitter

On Thursday night I started the shawl Spring Things with Super Kydd. I absolutely adore this yarn. It’s fluffy as a cloud and soft as a baby’s… cheek. As I was nearing the 10th repeat though, I noticed how little my fluff resembled the pattern. It must be gauge. That’s why my fluff looks so loosey goosey. (Yes, that’s a technical term.)

So I went down two needle sizes, from a size 5US/3.75mm to a size 3US/3.00mm. With hope in my heart, I knit on. As I did, I didn’t see the structure in my stitches that the pattern model had. Take a look for yourself.

By then I was getting really frustrated, so I turned to my trusty guru Jenny K. for advice. She basically told me what I already knew. This yarn with this pattern was not working. For the second time in so many days I had to frog mohair, which you all know is a delightful experience. Ha!

Being a stubborn person, I decided to persevere with this pattern and give it another shot with my tried and true Jaggerspun Zephyr. The Zephyr is considerably thicker then the Super Kydd, so I allowed myself a glimmer of hope once again as I started the shawl for the third time. Here it is.

There’s definitely more structure and you can definitely see more of the pattern. The only problem I have is the colour. I really wanted to make a pink shawl for a friend. Do I want to buy some Zephyr in pink or do I just continue on in Sage? Do I want to just use the Super Kydd with another design? In my typically indecisive manner, I’ve just put the project and the yarn on a temporary shelf and picked up the Forest Path Stole again.

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If there’s one thing I needed this week it was cheer. One thing that cheered me up was last night’s Aloha Knitter’s meeting. The ladies there were wonderfully supportive. Keohinani was there with her cheery ripple afghan. Thanks to her and Lisa, I’ve become seriously tempted by the ripple. So far I’ve been resisting the call, since I have no yarn appropriate for such a project.

Instead, I’ve been concentrating on knitting a pair of excessively cheery socks. The yarn is so loud they make my eyes bleed. See for yourself.

The yarn is Opal Handpaint, Colour No. 20. I decided to use the Monkey pattern with it, but the pattern definitely competes with the yarn and I probably would have been better off sticking with something simpler like Jaywalker. But I love the Monkey pattern and I’m enjoying the knitting so much that I find I don’t really care how the socks look. Isn’t that what really counts when you get right down to it?

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There’s nothing like knitting a pair of warm wool socks with a cat by my side to comfort my soul and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. Last night I finished re-knitting the too small Mona sock, thus finishing the first pair of handknit socks for my mother.

Pattern: Mona by Cookie A.

Yarn: Essential in Dusk by Knitpicks (the colour in the detail picture is more accurate then in the top shot)

Needles: Size 1 and Size 0 Knitpicks Classic Circulars

Started: March 22, 2007

Finished: April 11, 2007

As usual, Cookie A. has provided a stellar patten that I thoroughly enjoyed knitting up. Her charts are wonderful and her design is fluid. The only thing I changed was the needle size as I closed in on the ankle for a snugger fit.

I wasn’t too impressed with the yarn. Although it’s soft, it does tend to split too much. I also have the feeling that it will start to pill rather quickly as well, though I certainly hope that that’s not the case.

I want to thank everyone for the great show of support this past week. It’s been a tough week and I’m still struggling to get back to normal, but it’s been made easier thanks to all of you.

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I love you and I’ll miss you, Cookie.

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I’m sorry to say that we had to give Bosco back to his original owners today. They returned from a three week vacation. We tried to hold on to him stating that they had abandoned him, but they called the police. The police said that the neighbors had a good case of theft against us if we were determined to keep him. Needless to say we didn’t want to take it that far. What did the neighbors have to say for themselves? She said she kept the window open and that she had left enough food and water for him for the duration of their vacation.

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