Thursday, October 2, 2014

Glazed Carrots

Alas, it has been confirmed this morning that my sister won't be visiting me for Rhinebeck this year. While I am extremely bummed, I completely understand. There will always be next year for us to hit up our favorite fiber festival.

In the end, I think things always work out the way they are supposed to and I can tell you right now, I'm not sure if I will even have a sweater completed in time. So now I am off the hook, right?

Let me back up a little.

September was a busy, and a little crazy, month for me. I've been in and out of doctor's appointments, catching up on work stuff, apartment stuff still not done and frankly, when I finally went through my yarn stash, I was completely disappointed and lost my steam for knitting a sweater in time for the festival.

See, I have some fabulous sweater yarn in it that I purchased during my past adventures at  Rhinebeck. When said yarn was purchased, there were no patterns in my mind for them, so I tried to buy an amount that I thought would give me some options for knitting them up.

After I decided I was going to knit Montauk, I proceeded to plunge head first into my stash and when I came up for air, I seriously wanted to weep just a tad. Not only was I about 1 skein short for knitting Montauk, but I also was short for Pinoli.

At this time I am thinking I am still going to Rhinebeck and that I can't possibly go without knitting a new sweater. I searched and searched the interwebs for another yarn choice for either sweater and even another sweater pattern that would fit my yardage. I found a couple of yarns that I liked, but couldn't commit because of my indecisiveness in the colors. I also found another sweater that I like, but I wasn't so sure of the fit for my body. Deflated, I stopped looking for a few days.

Fast forward to Wednesday of last week, I realized that if I am going to Rhinebeck I knew there was no way I would finish Montauk in time. Pinoli maybe, but Montauk? Wasn't going to happen. I was also still not 100% on the other sweater I had found.

So what does one do? I plunged back into the interwebs and perused my friends' completed knits on Ravelry and came back to a pattern that I fell in love with when I first saw it many moons ago. In comes Mod Podge:
One of my dear friends knitted it in 2011 for Rhinebeck and I died and went to yarn heaven! That's how much I loved the pattern and the yarn! I mean, let's just look at how lovely it truly is:
And of course, after exchanging a few text messages with this lady, I realized this was my sweater to knit for Rhinebeck.

Did I think I could finish this one in time? Absolutely and those of you who know me, know I could get it done.

Did I have enough yarn in stash to knit it? Yes, but unfortunately the yarn has too much give and stretches when washed and blocked. I needed a firmer yarn for this style jacket.

I went to Webs Yarn and looked at the yarn Miss Shameka Knits used for hers and they had the color I wanted. The one that I have been obsessed with during the past few Fall seasons. Today, it arrived and looks a little like this:
It's Malabrigo Rios in Glazed Carrot colorway. The color is actually a deeper orange than what you see in the picture. The light shining from the ceiling makes it look like a pumpkin. I am so in love with it. I know this yarn is pricey, but I got a 20% discount and truthfully, I wanted to treat myself just a little, especially after the past month I had been through. This yarn makes me smile and makes my heart flutter.

Even though I am most likely not going to Rhineback, I am still hoping to finish this baby in time for it, just in case I do mange to venture up there for one of the days. There's some big stuff happening for me around that time, so I am not 100% sure if I'll make it, but if I do, I want to be wearing my glazed carrot/pumpkin!

4 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about your rough September! I hope October brings smoother sailing for you.

    I LOVE the yarn you got. My wardrobe (non-knit and knit) features lots of grays, dark greens, and browns, and I've recently decided to add a bit more color to my life. I've been mulling over knitting a sweater in something orange but can't justify purchasing more yarn until I knit down my stash a little (okay, a LOT). In the meantime, though I have consoled myself with a new Haiku hobo bag in ORANGE. :)

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    1. Thank you! We'll see how October goes for me. Not sure how smooth it will be, but hopefully it will bring a great gift!

      I am completely obsessed with my splurge of a yarn purchase! It's the perfect Fall color and it's so scrumptious. You wardrobe sounds a lot like mine. I've been trying to incorporate more color, but still find it a tad hard when it's so easy to put on the black or gray.

      I totally agree with you about wanting to knit down the stash. I so wanted to work from my stash, but it just didn't work out this time. I am still considering two other patterns (one worsted and one DK) for the stash yarn. Guess what colors those yarns are? Gray and brown.

      Yay for getting something orange in your life!!!!

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  2. Heres to smoother October! But I do love the yarn you've selected, the color is really lovely. I'm secretly happy you weren't writing about the food glazed carrots. I actually don't mind them, but I'd prefer them raw, ha!

    You are an amazing and fast knitter. I'm excited to see your project grow. I'm so happy you found a pattern that is "just right".

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    1. Thank you Ellen! I am hoping my October is smooth! We will see. The picture of the glazed carrot yarn really doesn't do the color justice. I need to snap a picture of it in natural light so the deep autumn color can be truly appreciated. As for the knitting of the sweater, I am not off to a great start. My swatches are off and now I need to figure out some math to see what size I can knit to get the size I want. I know in the end it will be worth the hassle.

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