Jennyarn

Dictionary.com’s Word of the Day is woolgathering!

woolgathering \WOOL-gath-(uh)-ring\, noun:

Indulgence in idle daydreaming.

Of course, I don’t consider my daydreaming to be idle! Daydreaming is not the first definition that comes to mind either! Other yarnaholics knitters may find this to be the case too.

Yesterday I gathered some wool at Fengari. Traffic did not get beyond a slow crawl, so in the hour it took to get there I had plenty of time for woolgathering, about wool gathering no less. I may as well have gone to San Francisco! Not many shops carry Elsebeth Lavold Angora. I called many, and had luck in the coastal towns of Capitola and Half Moon Bay.

While it is certainly nice to have a yarn shop in Half Moon Bay, Fengari is not the ideal place to shop for yarn. It is so expensive! I got to thinking they marked it up after receiving my inquiry call. I know that’s silly, but on each Angora skein there was a new sticker over the previous price which was already high! And the too-sticky stickers cover the labels which is not what I’m after. I had hoped to include them around the finished knitted fingerless mitts for easy reference to washing instructions and such.

Alas, I needed to get this yarn quickly; time is drawing near for the Christmas Around The World swap. And it was good to see the yarn in person, to assess the colors. I am pleased with the Misty Blue shade I got, although I ought not divulge why that is. It’s a secret swap after all! I do hope the recipient finds it to her liking.

I’ve had a go at two Dashing fingerless mitts. The first was made with Morehouse Farm merino yarn leftover from my Dad’s birthday vest. There are 40 stitches and the majority of the pattern is in k4, p1 ribbing. Leave it to me to accidentally use k3, p1 ribbing. I thought the alignment of stitches was odd when I reached the cabling rounds. Otherwise, since my multiple happened to work out to 40 stitches too, it wasn’t that obvious I was off! I took to knitting another Dashing so I could get that first attempt off my mind. This time I used Elsebeth Lavold Angora. That is one good yarn for this pattern! It is like a teddy bear hug, soft in a snuggly way.

Bijou, I love you!

I also knitted one Fetching wrist warmer using Dale of Norway Falk.
That is a quick knit but I prefer Dashing to Fetching!

Then I found this nice pattern. It is almost exactly what I was looking for. It’s just that I don’t do well with little gauges. I remembered that I had some Brown Sheep Wildfoote. I had to get it - it was on sale (2 for $6) and it is pink. I have since read that it’s not people’s favorite yarn for socks. I refrained from knitting socks, and I’ve started yet another glove-type knit! Lo and behold, I was so intent on getting the cabling right, that I neglected to simultaneously increase for the thumb gore halfway up the chart!

And meanwhile I concluded that glove knitting may not be my forté. Maybe it seems easier to only have to deal with the thumb and not all the fingers! A mitten I had knit from lite Lopi came to mind. Now that was knitting I did like - at least to the extent of finishing the one mitten. Here she is.

That particular green of lite Lopi, leaf, has been discontinued. Of course!

I’ve again borrowed the above book Folk Mittens from the library. Now
I have my eye on the English Dale Mittens! I don’t quite like how pointy
they are at top. Otherwise I think they could be rather nice. I ordered
some Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport from Woodland Woolworks.

So I believe I will make for my swap partner either the
Dashing fingerless mitts from Elsebeth Lavold Angora
(is that also discontinued?) or these English Dale mittens.