You may remember that the first pattern for my October Mitt-A-Thon Challenge was decided to be Mrs. Beeton, a feminine Victorian-style wrist warmer intended as fine little beaded ruffles that would look lovely just peeking out of jacket sleeves. Ok. Now that I had the pattern all I needed was the yarn. Easy peasy.
I started thinking about what I had in the shop and at home in my stash. The black alpaca from Wolf Creek would be perfect, expecially mixed with the metallics of the Ritratto, but I'm not ready to take that ball of alpaca from the tasting just yet. There's the Baby Kid I've been itching to use for something, but I couldn't come up with the right yarn in the right color to coordinate with it. For days I would rack my brain, dig through my stash, and stand there staring at different combinations in the hopes finding just the right yarns to fit the pattern.
And then, by chance, my digging caused two yarns to enter into close proximity with each other on my dining table. Their colors and textures just looked so good together that I thought to myself "Yes! Perfect! At last, I have found my Mrs. Beetons!".
Ever tried taking a straight picture of your own wrist? Very complicated.
One of these was Tivoli, a wonderful silk and mohair blend that I had just used in the tasting. The wool gives it nice definition and warmth, while the silk gives a smooth feel. I had been planning on using it for this pattern but had been struggling to find a good compliment for it.
The other yarn, I'm sorry to say, is of unknown name as it was from my stash and had long since lost it's tag. I can tell you that it is a soft, fluffy little cloud of roving that makes me happy happy to play with, though! I had bought the same yarn in three different colors and have doled it out judiciously over time.
Both yarns were green (yes, I know...big shocker...green...from my stash...) and looked as if they had been dyed to match. And I really liked the matte fluff next to the drapey sheen.
The problem? While these yarns looked lovely together, they carried just a wee bit more weight about them than the yarn called for in the pattern.
But...but...oooh, hey! If I don't have the yarn to fit the pattern, maybe I can make the pattern fit the yarn! I mean, let's just see what would happen if I eliminated a couple of the ruffles to accomodate the heftier yarn and then we can go from there, right?
So, I cast on 84 stitches of the roving yarn for the inside ruffle. It came out great - nice and stretchy to fit around a hand and stay snug on a wrist. Then, I used the Tivoli for the outside ruffle. Not so nice and stretchy. So, I snuck a yarn over in at either side of the double decreases and knit those yarn overs by themselves when I joined the two ruffles. This threw the ribbing of the cuff off, so it became a 3 x 3 rib. And the bind off seemed to call for more of a bobble than a picot edge.
Fuzzy wuzzy was a wrist...
And there you have it! One down, one to go! That second has been started, and since the kinks have all been worked out I believe I can finish it up during Open Knit tomorrow to make them available in the shop by the afternoon. Then, it's on to the next pattern, whatever it may be!
