He's Home. He's Safe...

...and here's the yarn!

Pink and Purple,

...more "fleck filled" than "heathered" per se but... "Nice Lady" said it was "local"* and its obviously hand dyed and there's 464 yards of it! Is that enough for knee highs?

*The term "local" is probably a relative one - when I tried to add the yarn (its the Fidelio colourway)to my stash list on Ravelry I discovered that its from a company in Missouri, USA which is only about 2700 kms or so from the store where My Beloved bought it. ("Local" must be a relative term!)

In his defence of "Nice Lady"...

• My Beloved felt she was perhaps a bit stressed rather than fully irritated serving a male, non knitter while participating in a hands free. long distance cell phone "conference call".
• He believes that if she is a blogger she may well have also posted about his rather unconventional "visit" to her store.
• He says after our call ended she tried hard to sell him a full set of Chrome Knit Picks Options complete with travelling case. ("Selling"? No probably just as I suspected - she was contemplating sticking one through his neck!)
• While she couldn't offer him a single option in yarn for a man's sweater, they did spend a few moments together flipping through pattern books looking for a man's sweater he might like. He did mention he liked one they flipped past called a "Barn Sweater". She agreed that yes, that was a nice one but it wouldn't suit him. When they couldn't find anything in the pattern books she thought he could wear, she tucked a sweater pattern into the bag that she thought he would look good in. He thought that bit of added attention to be a true demonstration of just how really "Nice" a "Lady" she was.

FYI the pattern is for a woman's sweater.

'Nuff said!

Comprehending a Real Threat

No, NOT H1N1...

...My Beloved is away on Business in the Maritimes . Mid day yesterday the phone rang...

"Hello?"

"Hi! I'm going to a yarn store."

"You're what? Where?"

"Near my hotel - I have a few minutes to spare, 'thought I'd see if there was some local yarn I could get so you could make me a sweater. What kind should I look for and how much will I need?" (See why I call him "Beloved"?!)

"About 1600 yards of Worsted Weight, 2000 yards of sport or DK weight."

"Okay, I'll let you know what I find."

"Bye bye!"

I hung up, walked 20 paces and the phone rang again...

"Hello?"

"I'm in the yarn store."

"Did you transport yourself there a la Star Trek?"

"It was closer to the hotel than I realized. Now behave yourself " he warns, "I'm using hands free while this Nice Lady helps me shop!" He's too jovial, I can only assume he's trying to win her over.

Its not working. Through the phone and across a time zone the irritation coursing through the "Nice Lady's" body is palpable as my out of towner with a Blackberry connection to his wife "shops" for yarn in what, before his arrival was probably her nice quiet and peaceful LYS...

His tone of voice is broad and generous and I can tell he's smiling.

"I'm looking at pink with purple stripes, orange, brown and green stripes..."

"They're heathered stripes" the "Nice" (and clearly irritated) "Lady" snarls in the background.

"Oh, yeah, they are heathered" he says.

He has noooo idea what "heathered" means.

"There's also yellow, gold and white heathered stripes..."

At this I'm sure he's smiling his most charming smile, looking right into "Nice Lady's" eyes which have now probably narrowed to slits. "Which one do you think would be best?" he asks.

Because I'm "behaving" I don't screech

"Pink and purple stripes? Heathered or not - are you nuts?"

And because, unlike him in his yarny innocence, I know he's blundered into that most dreaded species of "Nice Ladies" the Crabby LYS owner! Not wanting to further enrage the beast only I recognize is before him, I calmly and evenly say..."Well its up to you but frankly I'm surprised you're considering a striped sweater."

"Oh no" he says, "I'm looking at sock yarn!"

(I can only imagine what Nice Lady's face - and pulse - is doing at this point...)

Oh, oh, oh okay, get the purple! I blurt. (Instantly I regret this decision but fear "Nice Lady" might put an Addi Turbo through My Beloved's throat if I change my mind so I keep quiet.)

"Now what about a sweater for me?" He booms.

"We don't have any yarn for men." "Nice Lady" spits.

"What about this cashmere?" He booms (louder).

Its $22.00 a skein. she snarls

"So? I'm worth it!" He laughs. I imagine she's put herself between my man and her cashmere display.

"The sweater is going to cost $800.00" I chirp, hoping to put the idea quickly to rest in his mind.

"What???Are you serious?"

"No but it will be well over $200.00."

(Step away from her cashmere I silently pray.)

"Oh, okay forget that" he says. "What about this?"

I assume he's waving some huge floppy skein of something or other around at arms length.

"You can't make a sweater with that." Nice Lady hisses.

"Just get the sock yarn!" I plead - I want him out of there, out of harm's way!

"Okay" he says. "I'll talk to you later!" and hangs up, oblivious to the real and present threat he's facing.

I hung up, leaving him to pay for the pink and purple heathered beauty, hoping he would be alright. He's a big and if I don't say so myself, a very charming man - especially with women - but as we all know, you just don't mess with crabby yarn shop keepers!

I didn't hear from him again, I hope he made it back out onto the street okay. Even if I tell him, he'll probably never know the kind of danger he was in.

I can't wait to see what he comes home with but however it looks, I'll just be glad he's home safe and sound!

Manos Cowl FO

Pattern: Slip Stitch 1x1 Ribbed Cowl

Yarn: 1 Skein Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica

Colour: 114

Needles: 10 mm circular

Start: October 24 Finish October 31, 2009

Dimensions: 100 stitches over 39 rounds 7"w x 34" around

The story of this cowl is really about the yarn. I so adore it!

I love the sometimes fuzzy, sometimes shiny, thick and thin variance of it across so many wonderful colours. I wanted to do something with it that would just say "hey - look how great this yarn is!" Stockinette seemed to be the best way to do that but I also wanted chunky, huge stitches and the biggest needles I had were 10 mm. So I decided to slip the knit stitches in a 1x1 rib pattern for two rows out of three. Perfect!

I used the Old Norwegian cast on I learned this summer - look at the lovely edge it creates!

Then I just knit until I'd used up close to all the yarn - 39 rounds of 100 stitches. (I wanted to keep a wee bit to trim something yet to be determined in the future - I told you - I adore it!)

Here it is being very "cowl" ish and drapey...

Here it is doubled - probably the way I'll most often wear it...

Look at that jumble of big fat woolly-delicious stitches...

With such short hair, my neck is always exposed to the chill but this piece will keep me warm as can be...

Now where will I use my teeny little remnant?...

For today, this shot will be my day dream inducing computer wallpaper!

Thanks for dropping by!