• 1.75 Down, 0.25 to Go
I finished the Plaited Cable Cowl for my friend Ellen a week or so ago and have been working on one for myself in utterly delicious Cash Vero. I knew I needed one of these cowls to keep me warm at Giants’ night games, but for all my love of knitting, I am fickle as all get-out about what fibers I will actually wear. Knitting with wool? Fun. Wearing wool? Right up there with sand in my socks. Hence my love of the softness that is Malabrigo and my predilection for alpaca or alpaca blends. Cash Vero is 55% extra fine merino, 33% microfiber, and 12% cashmere, but it miraculously feels like 55% cashmere, 33% microfiber, and 12% wool. Under appropriate temperatures, I could swaddle myself head-to-foot in this yarn and feel perfectly comfortable. It’s not cheap ($8-9 for a 98-yard skein), but there are a great many yarns out there that are even pricier and not nearly as yummy. The colors are deep and shiny, a real treat for the eyes. I get mine at The Golden Fleece. If you’ve never knit with this yarn, I urge you to find a local stockist and try it out.
• Raffle-Mania
Cathy-Cate at Hither and Yarn is hosting her own Blogiversary Raffle. She’s asking knitters to donate to their choice of Doctors without Borders, Knitters for Knockers, or The House that Yarn Built. You get one raffle entry for every $5 (on-your-honor self-reported) donation, and the prizes are dreamy!—amazing hand-dyed yarns, including two different Doctors without Borders special editions, and an autographed copy of the Yarn Harlot’s latest book. Go check it out right now and see if you can’t give a little something. All you have to do is redirect the cost of a single latte purchase (the world will manage to put up with you uncaffeinated for a day) to some folks who will do wonderful things with it—and you might even get yarn in the bargain! (And if you’re not a liberal, latte-sipping Californian like me, surely there’s some other small treat you could forgo just this once.)
• Going Batty
I have a particular fondness for bats. It’s not a creepy, vampire, blood-sucking type fondness. It’s a hearty, aren’t their-little-faces-lovely? and aren’t-they-just-amazing-in-flight? fondness. So you can imagine how delighted I’ve been to stumble acroos not one, but two bat-themed knitting patterns recently. First off, there’s Monica Gausen’s Bathat. The pattern is for a child’s size hat and uses sock weight yarn, so a little math and a heavier gauge should result in a lovely adult-sized product. Second, there are the bat wrist warmers from Reliquary Arts. I’d like to make these longer with—surprise!—even more bats.