Monday, November 07, 2016

november post 6: new sweater project and a vocabulary revelation


Jill Draper makes fabulous yarn. I think we can all agree on that. After working on her Rural Renewal collection, and then on assignment for Etsy, I  wanted needed to knit a sweater in one of her yarns.  Coincidentally, Dave made a rare request for a sweater. That''s my knitting stars aligning, because Jill's yarn is special--and Dave will wear a sweater I make him for years and years. Decades of years, even.  So we found a pattern he liked a lot---not a simple task-- and hopped online.

Jill posted that new yarn was up in her shop. Dave fell for Valkill in Prune--a killer good black/purple/brown--y'know, like a prune. But it was gone before we had a chance stick it in a cart.

we like to wind yarn al fresco
So I'll interject here that a son and I were just discussing how often people misuse the word ironic.  Usually, it's actually coincidence--when two unrelated events happen and they are related in your mind. Irony is when an outcome is not what you'd expect.
my #1 yarn winding assistant these days
So when I saw that designer Thea Colman was flaunting her good mail  Jill Draper Makes Stuff Yarn delivery, I squinted into my phone to read the ballband of a familiar looking color... Valkill Prune....damn!  But it's Thea, and if someone had to nab that yarn, at least it's a friend who will do beautiful things with it. Coincidence!



Dave chose this Middlefield in Old Mahogany instead.It's a little heavier than the pattern gauge but I can make it work. I love it.

Wondering what pattern he chose for his new sweater-for-the-ages? Before he'd even looked at the yarn colors?  Zacapa. By Thea Colman. 

That, I'm pretty sure, is irony.


9 comments:

  1. There are so many connections in our fiber world. I'm glad you had a few of them align for this project, it will mean good karma!

    ReplyDelete
  2. great post and great vocab reminder!!! and pretty darn great pattern, too....hubby just asked for a sweater and decided he liked the one i just finished for myself which just 'coincidentally' was sized to men's sizes, too. he might have to take a look at this one before i actually cast on. (I hate making the same thing twice in a row! but the ironic thing is, i probably would do it) OK, teach---did I pass? If he picks Thea's pattern....are you aiming for a Christmas done-date? We might have to have a knitalong.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dave has excellent taste. I'm sure he was guided along the way a bit.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the grammar lesson - because that is one of my pet peeves! Know your words, people! And, I love that yarn and that pattern! Tis the season for casting on all the sweaters!! (And, that is bliss! Pure bliss!!)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous9:10 AM

    This is all perfect. And sorry about that Prune - I'll send you a copy of whatever it does become and make sure Jill dyes up more in the same shade!

    And you want to know something even better? At Rhinebeck, I procured a batch of Middlefield in a pale, icy lavender from Jill for a design - BUT, she originally sent me Old Mahogany, which was gorgeous but not right for what I had in mind. Zoe may just be holding my original sweater quantity in her hands right there!

    And I've been throwing your name out about something I have in mind and need to email you about separately.

    Thea xo

    We are all so beautifully connected, my dear. Let's take it as a harbinger of tomorrow. Together, we women are all intertwined and stronger because of it. Yes?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thea-- YES!!!!
    And that is onbviously that yarns' karma- the Old Mahogany is destined to be a Thea sweater no matter where it lands.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think your intern is adorable just sayin.

    And Old Mahogany is really beautiful, Gale. What a delicious thing to get in the mail. Can't wait to see how Dave's sweater turns out. I have knit only one sweater for Hubbo, a tent of a garment, and it was sweetly, gently, tenderly rejected because it had A TOGGLE BUTTON on it. Beware the notions . . .

    ReplyDelete
  8. Definitely irony. :-)
    And now . . . I think I've discovered which color to order. (Or, well. Which color to WISH I'd ordered.)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Reading Thea's comment on November 26, my heart breaks just a little more.

    ReplyDelete

Want me to reply? leave your email address!