The outlook is rosy

What is this?

Well, yes, it is pink.  Self-discipline was never going to be the preferred modus operandi for long now, was it? Let’s get real. It’s early January, the sun has not been seen for days and every time that I look out of the door it is blowin’ a hoolie.  Was I really going to be struggling in the gloom with dark green man-stuff, totally lacking in uplifting motivation –  when I might be flirting with some feminine, silky pink froth?

So yesterday I gave in to the craving and I purchased the Ripplerock pattern from the latest Twist Collective. It was not exactly an impulse decision – I had bought the pink yarn as soon as I first saw the pattern, specifically in order to make a Ripplerock an economic item for this year’s Show bench.

I am enjoying the knit. The yarn is cheap but not overly nasty, though certainly not the best that I have ever handled. It has four loose plies, each made from a two-ply – so thus has eight very silky threads that really do not hold together. It’s a splitty yarn, prone to unravelling at the ends and is very slippery and slinky. So, when I suddenly found that I had no working yarn between my fingers (a break in the yarn ball)  it was something of an issue. I was close to the end of a row, with insufficient yarn to make it the whole way. The yarn is way too slinky to simply join in the new end and being bamboo, a spit join was out of the question. I seriously doubted the prospects for a Russian join too.

Tinking back to the start of the row was one solution but not an attractive one and I know that such a slippery yarn would need much attention to maintain the tension of the stitches around the join, with the ends needing sewing in immediately.

If my mother were dead she would be turning in her grave at this point: I knotted my yarn! Using the weaver’s (“invisible”) knot that is suddenly so popular amongst knitters, I tied, I yanked… and I snipped – though not without bated breath. Every instinct says not to trust a knot in such a slippery yarn but hey-ho, nothing ventured, eh? Of course, I felt very bold, nay – dangerous and edgy, to go against the instruction of my youth never, ever, to be lazy and knot my yarn.

Now I am looking over my shoulder for the Knitting Police but it does seem to me that perhaps the wisdom of the weaver is brought well to knitting in the use of this knot.

Let us hope that it holds!

As I said, the knit is enjoyable, though maintaining tension with the slippery yarn is not easy, especially on circular needles. Constant vigilance is required to ensure the stitches are not split but overall the body stitch is suitably mindless and the colour is light enough to work in the half light. I do think however that the yarn choice is less than a good one. The fabric is going to drape beautifully and there is a proper balance between the shade and the weight of the fabric; the final item will be very light in appearance and feel. However, the stitch definition is poor. Then there remains the prospect of blocking – or, more accurately, not blocking the piece. It’s Bamboo! It is never going to open out in the same way that a wool piece would, nor will it hold its shape in the same way. Not a good choice for the show bench, is it?

On the other hand, what I said above about “suitably mindless”? Sometimes a knitter may get on the wrong track. Occasionally a knitter might occidentally repeat a row pair of the chart without noticing until somewhat later.  In such a case, poor stitch definition may prove a blessing, because this knitter does not plan to tink back and fix it. I shall sort out the stitch count when I reach the border. It should be a simple fudge.

Not that it will matter should that knit fail, when we shall be returning tot he starting blocks.

Today we have had a garden full of sheep. Nell had to stay in and not play ball games at lunchtime. It is too dark now to see if the sheep are still with us but I do hope that they have moved on – I hate to think of Nell doing unspeakable Collie things with all that sheep poop.

I am still feeling decidedly carp, worse today in fact –  though less concerned since my bathroom scales returned me to the weight of a week ago.  We may blame technology rather than hormones for my sudden weight loss.

Next week’s sudden weight gain may be explained by today’s arrival of emergency chocolate supplies – we raided the Hotel Chocolat sale on Boxing Day and the parcel has now reached us.  I can’t wait to sink my gnashers into those cinnamon chocolate almonds! (We bought some in a previous year’s sale and they were delicious) In looking for that last link I noticed that the sale is still on and a goodly choice at half price remains still – possibly the more overly festive lines remain but a chocolate snowflake remains chocolate when all is said and done – and HC chocolate is very good indeed.