Dulaan 2007: Item #2
Way back when, I bought some laceweight mohair on eBay. I had the notion that I really wanted a blue Birch shawl (Rowan 34), had the further notion that there was no need to pay the arm-and-a-leg some people were asking for the Kidsilk Haze, and the still further notion that this time ordering some previously-unknown-to-me yarn based only on the eBay photo/description would work out perfectly.
Problem was that it only came in packages of 8.
But such a good price!
So I got 8 balls in blue.
And naturally another 8 balls in some yellow-pink-teal variegated. Just for good measure.
When it arrived, of course, it was immediately evident that it would never work for Birch. At least not for any Birch I'd actually want to wear.
The thing is, I failed to read the fine print. (If there was any.) It is indeed a mohair yarn. But it is mohair "improved" by a shiny, indestructible acrylic core. It is too scratchy. The multicolor, as you might have predicted (as I might have predicted, for that matter), could not be offended if we called it god-awful. And we would only call it that if we were determined to be charitable.
As it turns out, however, it is absolutely the right yarn for this:
My first "Cloud Hat." (Thank you, Ryan.) There will probably be many more. (Knitting this guy literally did not make a dent in that first ball of mohair. And I've got 16 of them.)
This is a match made in heaven, elevating two downright sucky yarns to a far higher plane than either could have aspired to alone. The mohair makes the hat really (really) warm. And the companion yarn (mystery "wool," also from eBay -- when will I learn???) dilutes the mohair's scratchiness to a more-than-tolerable level (actually, a perfectly-comfortable level, for those with any hair protecting their scalps).
May all my mistakes become blessings for others. (Just about makes up for having made them in the first place.)
* * *
Oh.
What about Birch, you ask? Yes, I did knit her. (Didn't everyone?) And yes, I did cough up the dough for that Kidsilk Haze. Worth every penny.
Problem was that it only came in packages of 8.
But such a good price!
So I got 8 balls in blue.
And naturally another 8 balls in some yellow-pink-teal variegated. Just for good measure.
When it arrived, of course, it was immediately evident that it would never work for Birch. At least not for any Birch I'd actually want to wear.
The thing is, I failed to read the fine print. (If there was any.) It is indeed a mohair yarn. But it is mohair "improved" by a shiny, indestructible acrylic core. It is too scratchy. The multicolor, as you might have predicted (as I might have predicted, for that matter), could not be offended if we called it god-awful. And we would only call it that if we were determined to be charitable.
As it turns out, however, it is absolutely the right yarn for this:
My first "Cloud Hat." (Thank you, Ryan.) There will probably be many more. (Knitting this guy literally did not make a dent in that first ball of mohair. And I've got 16 of them.)
This is a match made in heaven, elevating two downright sucky yarns to a far higher plane than either could have aspired to alone. The mohair makes the hat really (really) warm. And the companion yarn (mystery "wool," also from eBay -- when will I learn???) dilutes the mohair's scratchiness to a more-than-tolerable level (actually, a perfectly-comfortable level, for those with any hair protecting their scalps).
May all my mistakes become blessings for others. (Just about makes up for having made them in the first place.)
* * *
Oh.
What about Birch, you ask? Yes, I did knit her. (Didn't everyone?) And yes, I did cough up the dough for that Kidsilk Haze. Worth every penny.
Labels: Dulaan, Finished 2006, Hats
posted by Anonyknits at Wednesday, June 28, 2006
1 Comments:
Hate to tell you this, but all of us read others mistakes and go out and do the same thing anyway...one of the quirks of knitting personalities;->
Ang
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