Friday, November 07, 2014

FOUND on Friday: a perfect plan AND a fine idea

(Actually they are both fine ideas and perfect plans.)

A PERFECT PLAN  Behold my purchases from Rhinebeck,  as reported. Up by Bobo's paws,  Paintbox Gradients set from Fiber Optic.  When I taught at SSK the summer before last, I had the perq of shopping the marketplace early. A perq so wasted on me. There I stood, stumped by the beautiful gradients at Fiber Optics. What would I knit? What colors did I want? Bright and cheerful ? Subtle and earthy? Darn that talented dyer Kimber for her artfulness! The chocolate brown to light aqua transition totally spoke to me - but I guess it was mumbling. Took me till a couple of weeks ago, when I learned she was vending at Rhinebeck, to hear it clearly.  I only had to decide on yarn base.  Kashmir yarn with its 10% cashmere was it.
To offset my squirminess of owning a special yarn without a special plan, I sought a skein of natural to go with it, something with a halo. I had no pattern but a twinkle of a shawl idea.  Icelandics are feeling near to my heart this season, I've been working with Lars Rains on his  Modern Lopi collection.  When I bumped into Lars Himself at the Frelsi Farm Icelandics booth, I knew I had my 2nd yarn:  a  skein of fingering weight singles, in natural Bark.
Yesterday Kirsten Kapur released her Abingdon shawl pattern. The missing piece fell in place. A perfect plan for my  pairing. I can hardly wait to cast on.*

A FINE IDEA: I'll start blabbing about this now!  Beverly Army Williams is leading the charge for  CRAFT FRIDAY: a CraftActivist handmade alternative to the consumer-crass-ugly-day-after-Thanksgiving-glop that overlays the holiday weekend. First step: read her post and join the Pinterest Craft Friday page .  Second step: post about it yourself.  Spread the word. Plan a party. Third step: make a list of what you want to make that day.
More to come.

* the first commenter below will be my 5000th comment on this blog. 5000!  That seems so...I don't know, worthy of recognition! I love that you come by to read this, and taking the time to comment is icing on the cake. Very wonderful icing. I means seriously, you have no idea how great it is to hear from you. I'm going to gift the first commenter a copy of Kirsten's Abingdon shawl pattern, so you can knit one, too.

12 comments:

vwallner@sympatico.ca said...

A beautiful shawl and a beautiful plan!

Have Fun!

ravname:viki

Beverly said...

Thanks for sharing the rebellion!

twinsetellen said...

Congratulations on 5002 comments! And please keep up the blogging streak as you knit that shawl. :-)

ccr in MA said...

It's a fine thing when a plan comes together like that

kt said...

OMG those yarns are sumptuous. Congrats on your #s; keep at it! You are always a good read!!

Melissa said...

Congrats on your 5000 comment.

What lovely yarn and a lovely pattern as well. Can't wait to see how it turns out. Hopefully I can start on it after I finish the Christmas knitting.

steph said...

love being an activist!!! :)

Elaine said...

I really enjoy reading your posts. Congratulations on 5000!!

Kathryn said...

I have a gradient kit that also needs a plan!!

gale (she shoots sheep shots) said...

Kathryn , I am so curious what you'll do with yours. I love the gradients but not every patternworks. Wouldn't striped sleeves ona sweater be cool? Proably a super simple something is best but I didn't want to get bored knitting by special yarn....

gale (she shoots sheep shots) said...

KT, CCR, Margene, Elaine, Ellen, Viki, Beverly -thanks so much for reading & commenting. I am going to try to keep up blogging twice a week. I love the connections we make online.

Sam said...

The yarn is lovely and yummy. How on earth did you resist it the first time? Learned the hard way, if a yarn hums -walk away. If a yarn sings - BUY IT.