It's the Pretty Thing cowl by the Yarn Harlot. It's actually the second one I made; the first was for my sister for Christmas, and I was so enamored with the easy lace knit and the yarn itself - I had to make a second.
But truthfully, it goes beyond love of yarn and knitting. It goes to frugality and thrift. Because the story of the yarn goes like this: I bought it back when money was MUCH easier. (Like when I had a paying job...) It is Mongolian cashmere, and I had never paid that much for so little yarn before in my life. When I went to cast on, I discovered that "something" had happened to the yarn causing multiple breaks throughout the whole skein. In some past life of mine, I might have thrown up my hands, boo-hooed a little, and tossed the yarn in the trash. Not in THIS life...I gingerly wound the ball and kept every little piece. As I knit, I patiently tied end to end as I came upon the multiple pieces and kept working. (Talk about having a lot of ends to weave in!) When I finished the gift, there was no way I could simply toss the remainder in my stash bin...it had to be used. Just as we try to use every little scrap around here that might have any use beyond its first assignment...
So, I knit a second one for me. (Really, no selfishness here - Christmas is over and nobody on my list has a birthday for months...so of course I was the logical recipient...denial is such a lovely river...)
And do you know, there's still yarn left over!
And it's going into a special stash bin - because I'm using every last inch of that stuff if it's the last thing I do!Next project...
P.S. The girls have squeezed out three eggs. I am still giving them stern looks as I pass by...
8 comments:
I love the color of the yarn too. The cowl is beautiful and I have a neck thing going on, my neck is short and very old looking, and I wear mock and turtlenecks to cover it up. :-) Cowl power!
loving it-thanks again :)
The cowl is lovely! I understand about frugal..since we started homesteading the money is stretched in so many directions.
Hey Sis-forgot you've made it to the blogger world! Good morning!!!!
Beautiful - cowl, work and yarn. Mine is not showing as clear a pattern - might be too lightweight or fuzzy yarn, but hoping when I block it it looks more like yours...the way it's supposed to. I've enjoyed making mine and learning more about lace knitting. Thanks for the encouragement :-D.
I think you did admirably; I've always had a giant frugal streak and don't care to lose it! Just in case you want to try it, I've stopped tying knots in my yarn or weaving in ends -- except for the very last cast-off tail. If I encounter a knot in a skein, I untie it for the same reason. I simply add in my new yarn when reaching the end of a length (leaving the tail of the new yarn hanging), and continue knitting with both strands (new yarn, old tail) until the tail is knit in. When I do the next row, I knit in the tail of the new yarn going the other direction. I knit in my cast-on tail the same way. So far, having an area that's double-stranded doesn't affect my knitted object at all; there's no knot to feel and no tails to weave in except the very last one. So easy I always wonder why I don't read about others doing it!
You know, I am the same way here - I use up thrums and leftover warp in an old Montello Hobby Knit into cording to use in "rag" rugs as the weft.
I think the days of extravagance are way over and the days of my grandmother's words of "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" are my mantra.
And I'm glad you made something for Y-O-U! :)
Love that cowl!!
If it makes you feel any better, even non-farmers are having to stretch their dollars...
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