…a sequel to In praise of first things.
Years and years ago, after I made a few more garter stitch scarves for friends and family, and falling just as hard for knitting with wool as I did for alpaca, not to mention all of the other fibrous beasts, came what seemed at the time, a very massive project.
Yet I did not stray from my comfortable garter stitch. I may have started this as a poncho, or at least a shawl, but I don’t remember now, except that I didn’t have a pattern and I was afraid of them then. But ponchos were popular then, and then weren’t, and maybe they came back, I don’t know? Originally it was just going to be solid charcoal, though I ran out of yarn before it was a good length to wrap. Then something happened at the Brown Sheep/Lamb’s Pride mill? A fire? I can’t remember that either, but for a year, or years, worsted weight yarn in deep charcoal wasn’t available. When a new LYS opened in my old neighborhood, I bought four skeins (including a deep charcoal) in bulky weight. I got the only four colors available that weren’t some ghastly shade of pink or pastel blue (but I kind of liked the pastel sage). I didn’t really think about (or know?) the difference in yarn weights either, but ploughed through to the end, or enough of an end when I ran out of yarn again.
It too has a beautiful drape.
The bulky striped end is thick and especially warm. We use this most as a throw blanket lengthwise, with the bulky end wrapping shroud-like whichever is the colder end of the body.
I’m tempted to frog this once in awhile to get to the sweater’s worth of yarn, but it is the best way to stay warm when supine and corpse-like in the dead of winter.
ASTITCHMATISM 