noper, it's made o' yarn! bluesky's super-bulky, super-smooshy, 50% wool, 50% alpaca to be exact. this, my friends, is the cadillac of yarns, the wooly equivalent of flourless chocolate cake, the...ok, i can't come up with a third luxurious metaphor, but i think i've made my point: it's really, really nice yarn...
(the front)the lady at the yarn shop called this pattern "big cabled stole" and i think you'll agree it lives up to its name! (ok, so she is better at designing & knitting stuff than she is at making up snappy titles) i have renamed it "big smooshy stole" (oh yeah, that's a real improvement!)
(the back)i started it last autumn. by new year's it was 95% finished...and so it remained until friday. all it needed was for the ribbing on the last short edge to be picked up & 12 rows of ribbing knitted. why i didn't do that sooner is something of a mystery; but for some reason, i really only knit in cars or planes. yes, i'm a travel-knitter. (i s'pose in "real life" i nearly always have something else, more pressing, that has to get done.)
(the collar: note the smooth & tidy "picked-up-stitch" line, and the way it folds over and lays neatly; it took a couple of go's for that to happen...which is why i mention it, proudly...)on friday morning, knowing that my friend liz would be driving us to the cloisters (on my own i'd be taking the train, then the subway, then the bus...which actually isn't as convoluted as it sounds...but is rather large-knitting-project prohibitive) it suddenly came to me: i could probably finish the big smooshy stole in the time it would take to get there and back. and i was RIGHT! hooray, me!
i looooooooove the finished product: it's warm, it's cozy, it's smooshy as all get out, and it is finished just in time for those to be particularly desirable qualities.
there's just one problem... and, in fairness, when i began the project it is something i could not possibly have guessed would be the standard by which i would come to judge the quality of all knitting projects...
...it's not a monkee...
(not even a little bit)
...sigh...
That is super cool...I wish I could knit.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter rachel is learning & just finished her first scarf.
oh & btw...love the monkey.
I love your smooshy stole! I am a travel only knitter too :)
ReplyDeleteI nominated you for an award today...
Well whatever you call it I think it's brilliant! And believe me - monkee knitting is NOTHING compared to all that cabling - I'd never know where to start!
ReplyDeletebtw, thanks for your email, I'm planning on replying right after I finish my daily dose of blog-stalking :)
well there is only one thing that can be done you know....
ReplyDeletemake a big smooshy monkee!!!!
pleeeeeez
(you're one amazing knitter! cables -egad! it's beautiful . and on top of all of your other talents too. i'm not sure that's fair :-) now off with you - make a monkee!)
Wow! it looks gorgeous! you are clever, do you have any other talents, that you havent told us about yet?!
ReplyDeleteOooh, lovely knitted smooshy thing! I'm very impressed. And don't worry about it not being a monkey: now that your wires are empty you can cast on a new monkey-project! It's fun, honest :o)
ReplyDeleteVCx
Didn't know you knit too! It looks good...would love to see you modeling it though!
ReplyDeleteWhat a warm smooshy! You're making me crave that yarn! Oh wait, I don't think I can stuff anything else in the yarn cupboard - the door is already bulging outward, wood ready to explode, sending yarn everywhere :) Bad for me, but it would be my cat's dream :)
ReplyDeleteThat monkey is cute! There's obviously a story there. Maybe you can make a monkey and then make it a matching smooshy? lol!