For "Owlie"

I keep waiting for my obsession with knitting to die down - usually my interests go in cycles, and this knitting/ spinning cycle has lasted close to two months now. Those who regularly stalk my blog may have noticed that my interests shift with the seasons. "Gardening? Please! That was so last week. This week we're doing FOOD STORAGE! And FAMILY HISTORY!"

But no, knitting is still "in." I was in between projects last week, so I had nothing to knit in church! I thought I was about ready to die. "What's this?" I asked myself, "You want me to sit still for three hours?! That might be good enough for the primary children, but I am having none of it." Without any yarn to play with, I was reduced to braiding, un-braiding, and re-braiding the cord on my necklace. Because I am that kind of person.

"Owlie" is how The Squeaker says the name of a very good friend of ours. She typically babysits our kids once a week so The Husband and I can enjoy our date nights. Last week I said to her, "I want something to knit. Do you want something to wear?" We sat down together with Ravelry and picked out a nice hat pattern.

Initially I was going to comb out the fiber and blend it with silk, but after a few days it became clear that this was going to be a problem. Have you ever seen wool combs? They're pointy. The Squeaker is intelligent enough to keep away from the pointy end, it is just too dangerous to have them out when The Cookie is awake and toddling around. This means if I want to do combing, I have to wait until the Cookie is in bed for the night or at least napping. And sometimes, as much as I love playing with wool, the last thing I want to do after 8 pm is comb.

I solved this problem by doing what any self-respecting mother of small children would do. I simplified. I decided to make a textured yarn on purpose:

Ta Da!

That there's good spiral yarn. One ply thick-and-thin merino lambswool (I have a lot of that in my stash), one ply silk from some silk caps. I dyed it this morning with food coloring, and I found that the two fibers took up the color a lot differently than I expected. The turquoise-blue parts are the silk.  

I have 152 yards, which I am pretty sure will be enough for the hat I want to make. 

I read something this morning about how wool is the ultimate luxury fiber. That made me smile. Usually people think of wool as being the "bland oatmeal" of the apparel world, but when all the information is put in front of you, wool comes out looking pretty good. Fine wool, especially, is luxurious indeed! I am really glad I learned the skills required to turn sheep fluff into usable - and luxurious - garments for the people I love.