How one project leads to another
This piece has a bit of antique flavor, like an old plaid lap rug from the carriage house. I love the way the blocked-out ribbing, going against the grain of the color stripes, gives a gingham-ish, almost 3-D effect, like there is more to this in design than just stripes in ribbing, which, by the way, is my new favorite thing.
On the needles, it looked like this:
and it sorta looked like it could be a skirt if all else failed, and it might have been a cute skirt if left unblocked—file that idea away for later—but it of course it wasn’t meant to be a skirt.
This wrap was inspired by (but not knitted entirely to the specs of) the Wearwithall Shawl, made using KnitPicks Palette, one ball of each color, in marble heather, gosling, green tea heather, silver, ash, and hare heather, on a US 5 needle. I was planning to use nine colors, but after six, it seemed wide enough, and I didn’t know how I would wear it if it got any wider. It blocked out to about 18” wide, which seems just right. Palette is a fingering weight/sock weight yarn, a teeny bit fuzzy, as if it’s angling toward wanting to be a Shetland-type wool, with a scruffiness I kind of like, and it comes in a bazillion colors. It will felt with a stunning alacrity, so if you delve into this and use Palette, wash with care. I didn’t happen to have a paper catalog handy, so I chose this color scheme by squinting at the 1/2” photos on my computer screen, and then hoped for the best. I think it has a wonderful, casual country vibe, like old curtains in the window of the house at the lake. Looking at it, I can imagine a whole blanket done this way, so fine and light, a summer blanket, a barely-there layer, and a hundred million hours of bland knitting, one row after another in casual stripes, choosing the next color when the time comes to choose it. It would take ages. It would be Epic. A divine journey. I am aching to start.
