Tale of Hops and Horror Cowl
Finished
May 10, 2013
May 11, 2013

Tale of Hops and Horror Cowl

Project info
Roam Cowl by Jennifer Dassau
Knitting
Neck / TorsoCowl
Needles & yarn
US 6 - 4.0 mm
String Theory Hand Dyed Yarn Caper Sock
100 yards in stash
0.75 skeins = 300.0 yards (274.3 meters), 84 grams
T247
Knit and Stitch = Bliss in Bethesda, Maryland
Notes

Made for Momma, Mother’s Day 2013

So I have a story to tell with this piece. I love the Roam Cowl. I’ve made it a half dozen times now; its my go to gift. I find it knits up best with the String Theory Caper Sock the pattern calls for, a delicious yarn I LOVE to work with.

After a string of bad luck with other yarns and other projects, trying to get the perfect thing made for my Mother In Law, I decided to just go ahead and make her one of these. Friday morning, before the Sunday of Mother’s Day, I found a LYS that carried the Caper Sock in the perfect colourway - the new “Passion”.

I came home with my skein (which for some reason, I forgot to ask them to ball for me!). I was sitting at my computer desk, the skein untwisted into the big loop, working it slowly to feed in to my yarn winder, when I heard the noise all dog owners know and fear. “Hyuk, hyuk, hyuk!” I dropped the yarn on to the desk, grabbed the dog, and put her in the bathroom to throw up. When I came back, the yarn loop had slid from the desk, to the chair, and partially on to the floor. So much for the lovely loop to ball from. If you have ever wondered approximately how many hours it takes to unknot 400 yards of yarn, I have the answer for you. EIGHT. EIGHT HOURS. I could have been knitting, but instead I was unknotting.

Side note: Like TINKing is knitting backwards, I have coined a new term. TONKing is knotting backwards. Pass it on.

So, around 10:30pm, I had finally finished TONKing and balling the yarn, and began to knit. Now, I’m not a big drinker, but I felt I deserved a beer. So I grabbed one and kept working. There I sat, project on the desk, yarn in my yarn bowl, beer to hand. Darling Husband asked me a question, and I spun in the desk chair to answer him. “Klink, glub, glub, glub”. My chair back hit the beer, knocking it over. I spun around and cried “Keyboard, keyboard” as it dripped over the edge of the desk and on to the keyboard tray. And then I SCREAMED “YARN!!!” because I realized it had spilled in to the yarn bowl, and was slowly soaking in to my beautiful purple passion yarn!

Additional side note: I am a graceful crier. I generally start with the glistening eyes, the single tear tracking down my cheek, and then the crying begins. I say this so you will understand that when I tell you I BURST in to tears, this is not something I have ever done before. I LITERALLY exploded immediately into sobbing, crying mess. This was apparently hilarious to my Darling Husband, who asked to film it for Facebook or YouTube…

I sponged the yarn damp dry, and continued to knit until 1:30 am. Then I got up at 8:30 in the morning on Saturday, and with the exception of maybe an hour and a half worth of food or bathroom breaks, knit until 1:30 in the morning. Finally finished, I washed and blocked the piece. It took me 8 hours to TONK the yarn, and then 20 hours to knit the piece, but I pulled it off and Mother-In-Law loved her gift (and the hilarious tale of woe that begot it!)

I could barely use my hands on Sunday, but it was worth it!

viewed 241 times | helped 3 people
Finished
May 10, 2013
May 11, 2013
About this pattern
206 projects, in 249 queues
StitchenWitch's overall rating
StitchenWitch's clarity rating
StitchenWitch's difficulty rating
About this yarn
by String Theory Hand Dyed Yarn
Fingering
80% Merino, 10% Nylon, 10% Cashmere goat
400 yards / 113 grams

6200 projects

stashed 6582 times

StitchenWitch's star rating
  • Project created: May 12, 2013
  • Finished: May 12, 2013
  • Updated: January 11, 2014