In the yawn of a waking year

Were you one of the few that didn't know of my secret gift to my mother?  It would greatly surprise me if you haven't seen me wandering around these past three months with a mysterious bag.

Maybe you've seen the end result, too.  If not, have no fear, the conclusion of the aran sweater epic is scheduled for the next blog post.  This post will only skim the surface of the great, three month story by the solitary picture, taken Christmas Eve just before being snugly wrapped in bright red tissue paper.

The tasseled scrolls you see above are no other than the white scarves that I also made as gifts.  Both are over six feet in length, but they are not of the same fibres.  I (and likely you as well) am unable to distinguish between the two white scarves from the pictures I have taken, above as well as below.  And yet, if I were to bring you the scarves side by side and you were to look at them, you would see that they are not the same.

The first scarf to explain is made of Bare Capretta by KnitPicks.  It was definitely "plushy."  I have no other word to describe it.  I believe it was the merino that made the yarn so springy and full, but the cashmere lent extra softness and the nylon greater sturdiness (and washability).  The biggest downside was that it STANK.  I don't know why, and I don't know what, but it was smelly, smelly yarn.

But it didn't "stink" in the sense of being bad.  It wove nicely, though it did have some stickiness that made it a little more difficult than the second scarf.

The second of the scarves is made of Bare Hare, also from KnitPicks (my favored retailer, if you haven't noticed).  It is a blend of wool and angora rabbit fur, more yellow in color than the first scarf.  I expected the yarn to be super fluffy, like it looks from the angora yarn I made a cowl from before...but it was not at all.  Very smooth, very sturdy, and wove VERY nicely.  Wet blocking the yarn also made it "bloom" beautifully.

In contrast, the angora from that old pink cowl looks like a rabbit exploded.

And thus, those are the scarves.  But keep reading because, would you believe it, I do have more done.  A sweater, two scarves, and....

A hat with a ginormous pom-pom that also has a really long story to go with it.

The story begins with a skein of alpaca from Eden Valley Alpacas, given to me by a friend when she stumbled upon it over a year ago.  It is beautiful, soft alpaca, definitely silky to the touch.  I didn't know the perfect project for it, and so I put it aside for a very long time.

The day came when I decided the best thing to do was to weave it into a scarf.  In reality, it was a wretched idea:  the beater of my rigid heddle loom beat the little alpaca strands to a pulp, and I had to scrap the little that I had woven.

Inspiration made me salvage the warp of the scarf for a pom-pom.  And what are pom-poms for but for hats?  Finding my leftover sock yarn, I put the two together to make a fantastically HIP hat.  It is slouchy, it is big, and it is soft.

I'm not always exactly HIP, you know.

The main stranded pattern was inspired by an L.L. Bean magazine that showed a "traditional Norwegian bird's eye pattern."  I have no idea if it's traditional or not, but it definitely came first to mind as excellent for my hat.

The top was the trickiest part, and I finally settled on an entirely different pattern.  I tried to do a snowflake-thing, but after a few times of absolute failure, I created an almost-snowflake design with many spokes.  I should have known that 132 stitches does not lend itself to circular color patterns easily.  Lucky for me, my horizontal striping and spokes turned out real nice.

And there is where I will quit for now.  Stay tuned, for the sweater is still waiting for its turn of story and explanation.

I hope your Christmas was very merry, and I hope the New Year is shining bright in expectation.  Thanks be to the God of new years and second chances!

Cheers!