A real treasure
Have you ever had this experience?
You're standing in a yarn shop and you see something wonderful and gorgeous. You love it, of course you do, but you can't think of any use for it whatsoever. You haven't got a project in mind, you can't think of one whilst standing there desperately wracking your brains. You don't even really know how far the yardage will go or how much of it you'll need to make the something you haven't even thought of yet. Sound familiar, or is it just me?
This is probably the point at which I should put the yarn down and walk away. I should do that, and sometimes I do manage to do that. But more often, I don't. I quite often take it home with me because it's just so pretty and it needs to be mine. I hope you're still with me.
I think that's ok though because, at some point along the way, I will find the right project for that yarn and it will, eventually, get used. Well, that's my excuse. And it's what happened with this absolute stunner of a yarn here. Feast your eyes on this...
I got this just over a year ago on a trip to Loop in London. I went for a bit of a birthday splurge and I just couldn't leave that bundle of joy there in the shop when I could have it at home to love and admire. I had absolutely no idea what to do with it of course, but for that moment, the 'love and admire' part was enough to be going along with.
I've had it out a few times over the past year, while rummaging in stash looking for other things and occasionally I'd have a little look through the Ravelry patterns to see what would jump out. Eventually, over Christmas I settled on a cowl pattern. The yardage seemed to mean a hat or cowl was a favourite option and as almost every hat I try looks daft on me, a cowl seemed the wiser choice.
I went for the Chickadee Cowl by Kirsten Kapur (Rav link), it seems a popular choice for this yarn as you can just knit and knit until you've used all the yards up. It was nice and simple and of course, as the yarn was so chunky, super quick too.
I do love knitting with these multi coloured yarns and seeing all the different shades come over the needles. It's so inspiring, when you are working so close to them, to see colours falling in different combinations. I always find a few new colour palettes to try when working projects like this.
The downside though, for me at least, is that the colours nearly always seem to look better in their hank, skein or in this case, bundle, than they do knitted up. This one actually pooled slightly and I'd really rather it hadn't. I much prefer the top third where the colours are more mixed, than the bottom two thirds where the bands of colour are quite clearly defined. I guess it's the control freak in me, but I want the colour to do what I want it to!
Still, even if the first heady days of passion don't burn quite so brightly now that the yarn has become a proper knitted thing, I can't say I don't still love it. It's hard not to love something so jolly and it's one of those where the bumpy inside is as good as the smooth woven look of the outside. I think I could wear it either way round to ring the changes.
And, it's a ringing endorsement of my 'buy it if you love it' policy because I know if I do love it I will use it... eventually.
: : TREASURE COWL : :
Pattern: Chickadee Cowl by Kirsten Kapur
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Chunky in Treasure (CP51)
My Ravelry Project Page
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