Monday, February 23, 2015

Looped

I couldn't resist, I just had to cast on with my new yarn
It's a new cowl design, and I love how the yarns are working together.

I have a love/hate relationship with mohair, but I just couldn't resist the Cirrus. That's because I absolutely loves how mohair looks. When I was about 7 or 8, I begged Mom to knit me a purple mohair sweater. Being the awesome Mom she is, she made it for me. It was dark purple and covered in eyelets. It was beautiful...

And I couldn't wear it.

It felt like I was covered in 10,000 mosquito bites. I wanted to wear it so bad. I'd pull it out of the drawer, put it on, and within two minutes, it was back in the drawer again. I haven't touched mohair since, though I've admired it many times in the yarn stores.

When I saw the Cirrus, I immediately thought of that beautiful purple sweater. I picked up a skein, thinking of the itch. But the label said "super kid mohair". And I'd heard it was suppose to be nicer. It did feel soft.  I put it back, remembering that purple sweater.

But I came back to it a few minutes later. I looked around the store... no one was looking, so I stuck a skein down my shirt. There was no itch. It still felt soft. Very soft. So I decided to take a chance and snapped up two more skeins (and removed the one from my shirt)
I've wrapped the WIP around my neck and so far so good. And look at that pretty halo....

But that brings up the other thing I hate about mohair... knitting with it. Those little hairs catch on everything! And lets not talk about ripping it out....

But it's looking great in the design, so I think it will be worth it.

The Boboli Lace, on the other hand,  is quite nice to work with.
Don't let the name fool you - it's not a lace weight at all, but a sport-weight. I'm knitting the cowl on 4.5 mm needles and it's poofing out quite nicely.

The Boboli is very much like a single-ply handspun - thick and thin with all these wonderful bits of colour. And it's got a wonderful sheen, you'd almost think it was silk.

I think it's going to be a lovely knit when I'm done. If only I didn't have to go to work!

6 comments:

Araignee said...

I have the same issue with Mohair. I love how it looks but hate how it feels.
Don't feel bad about work, I am retired but I never have time to sit and knit anymore. Life keeps getting in the way. I might as well have kept working. At least I got things done on my lunch hour without interruption.

Anonymous said...

Those colors are amazing together.

I have a picture in my mind of you stuffing that skein of yarn....absolutely gave me a case of the giggles.

Unknown said...

I'm glad you found a mohair you can wear. The colors are fabulous!!

Rachelle said...

I've decided to use most of my brushed mohair in weaving, at least until I've actually done it. I may change my mind once I'm actually weaving. I can at least wear it, but since I have 2 blanket quantities I think there might be 2 mohair blankies

Knatolee said...

That's so beautiful! My Dad had a mohair sweater I sometimes borrowed. It was itchy as hell!!

elns said...

Oh it's so true. All of it. Why is this one scratchy? Why is this one not? I think I'll have to add the "stick it down your shirt" method to my knitting wisdom notebook. Awesome.

I love the way those "fuzzy" yarns knit up, but backing out my screw ups have broken me, that I cannot promise a return to them anytime soon.

Please knit the halos for me, so I can live vicariously!