I admit I don’t really have a focus to this post (when do I ever?) but I felt a need to kind of throw an update out there before the big Holiday Weekend. I have been doing some stuff — really, I have. And here’s some pictures to prove it.
First, here’s a pic of the DH’s Socks From Hell that I wrote about last time. You’ll notice they are still two socks living on one circ — I still haven’t wised up about that part. Maybe after the heels. Which is coming up soon.
I did make a fair amount of progress on these bad boys late last week, once I got a new needle to work with. I’m a little calmer about them now, but still not feeling nearly so guilty.
Next, here’s a pic of the yoke to my top-down raglan sweater that is my entry in the Friday Group Knit-Along. All split onto different holding needles and ready for the sleeves! And then we’ll have the Moment of Truth — as in, does my "new" method of calculating raglans really work the way I think it should, or not. (I don’t call the Friday gals the "guinea pigs" for nothing, you know.)
BTW, you’ll notice it is a plain, solid color. I am beginning to notice that many of my handknits are plain, solid colors. It is beginning to get boring.
Lately, Sandi and I have been throwing around the term "kitchen sink" sweater, as in, a garment that contains everything but. We both have been kind of jonesing to do one. I may have to throw down a gauntlet and cast on soon.
However — the big fat problem I have with that kind of sweater is the choosing of the yarns.
I tend to, well, let’s say go overboard. MORE = BETTER in my book.
This can easily lead to a look that is a bit more "granny’s leftovers afghan" than "fabulous casual chic". One thing I have learned is that when something looks like it was made by just throwing a bunch of yarns effortlessly together, in actuality it probably was thought out very carefully .
In fact, I have a few bags of yarn sitting in the ol’ stash that contain "combos" of yarns:
- One is all different green MOHAIRS, which was a rather funny group birthday present from a whole bunch of knitters a couple of years ago.
- One is all purples and greens, which was based on a color combo that Berroco did called "olives and grapes". I have hesitated to use it because while I’m a big fan of the olives part, I’m not entirely sure about the grapes. I really do not wear purple, folks. Ever. At all.
- One is a combo of various blacks in all kinds of fibers and textures. Not sure what that’s going to be, but I’m pretty sure it will all go together well.
- And finally, one bag contains an assortment of yarns based on a Prism colorway that was once upon a time called "Brass" but it appears to not be what they are currently calling "Brass". At least, not all of it.
On the left, what my yarn collection looks like; on the right, what the same colorway looks like in the "Wild Stuff".
Fabulous, yes, but I have to say I don’t think they are the same colorway… I mean, parts of it are the same, but definitely not all of it. For example, there is zero rust in the one on the left — which, metallurgically speaking, is as it should be. Brass doesn’t rust!
However, I am very attracted to "Wild Stuff" just because it’s so crazy. I love it when there’s too much so much going on in there! Which may go a long way to explaining why I have trouble picking out collections of yarn like this. (MORE = BETTER!!)
My mother despaired of teaching me good taste from an early age. I remember her saying many times, about my choice of clothing: "Oh, you’re so dramatic!" And she usually had an eye roll to go along with it.
I prefer to think of this kind of style as being enthusiastic, rather than gaudy — but my mother had her own opinions.
So, when I recently did a collage art piece as part of a fundraiser for the Audobon Society, it was not altogether surprising to me that I found myself thinking, "peacocks". And here’s what I came up with:
Voilà! le peacock, a là kitchen sink!
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