Dear Favorite Scottish Designer,
It’s been so long. Did you miss me? I missed you. I’m happy to be back!
Warmest Regards,
Wendy
I’ve got a new WIP — Kinsale, from Alice Starmore’s book Fishermen’s Sweaters.
The design called for an old Rowan yarn: “Wool and Cotton” — not to be confused with Rowan’s current offering “Wool Cotton.”
Here are the particulars on the old Rowan Wool and Cotton:
Fibre Content: 50% Superfine Botany Wool/50% Egyptian Cotton
Gauge: 28 st/4 inches on 3.25 mm (US 3)
Approx. 164 yds/50g ball
Here are the particulars on the current Rowan Wool Cotton:
Fibre Content: 50% Merino Wool/50% Cotton
Gauge: 5.5-6 sts/1in on US 5/6
Approx. 123 yds/50g ball
As it happens, I’ve got 20 balls of Rowan Wool Cotton, in the discontinued color “mango.”
Clearly, the Wool and Cotton is a finer gauge, but I did a gauge swatch on 2.5mm needles (US 1) of the Wool Cotton, and came up with the appropriate gauge for Kinsale. without it being stiff as a board. It makes quite a nice fabric, in fact.
So I cast on for Kinsale. And I’m using . . .
. . . wait for it . . .
STASH YARN!!!!
A rarity in the Wendyknits Universe!
So what if it’s only been in my stash for a few months? That matters not. The fact remains that the yarn was bought with no particular project in mind and I am now using it.
Alert the media.
For those of you unfamiliar with Kinsale, there’s a photo of it on the VirtualYarns site here. They are apparently selling the kit for it in Scottish Fleet — their 5-ply gansey wool. I think it would look killer in gansey wool, but I’m quite liking it in my Rowan Wool cotton.
Here’s the teeny bit I’ve got done so far.
It’ll take a bit more work before the pattern “pops.”
Why, Yes
Lucy does have her own bathroom. I guess it’s about the same size as mine, but hers has more counter space. Mine, however, has a bathtub while hers has just a shower. She doesn’t seem to mind.
As for how it’s decorated: there’s a framed, autographed photo of Socks, President Clinton’s cat, hanging in Lucy’s bathroom. She doesn’t seem to mind that it was autographed for Izzy and her brothers, long before Miss Lucy was born.
Doesn’t every cat have one? I guess only the Demo-cats.
hahahahahahaha