haekelmonster

Skyggen is Norwegian for shade. When in Greece, Sophia‘s Norwegian grandfather would rather jump from skyggen to skyggen than walk in the sun. A lovely thought (I have to admit it makes me smile without knowing the gentleman) and so it is no surprise that “jumping from skyggen to skyggen” later became the family’s code for “It’s hot outside.”

It is definitely hot outside in Berlin today: 36°C, that is 97°F. I don’t mind (dry) heat but there is a limit when it comes to working with yarn, I came to realize. Knitting anything other than socks is no fun right now.

Luckily, I have finished my own skyggen a few days ago, and this afternoon was the perfect time to block it. Hence, pictures shown are “making of” and “block pictures” that may not do justice to my beautiful wrap but I am not patient enough to wait much longer to show it to you.

Quite frankly: it is one of the nicest patterns I have ever knit, and probably the loveliest yarn I have ever worked with. Period.

The pattern is easy to understand and to memorize. Simple enough to knit everywhere and with everyone, however entertaining enough for not to be bored. Once I had started,  I kept knitting and knitting and knitting until there was no more yarn left.

There is no doubt I will knit another one of these (maybe in fall).

The yarn is wonderful. Rowan Fine Tweed is a dream to knit with. The more you knit the softer it will be just by laying on your lap. The beautiful green, speckled with yellow and blue – sigh – I really like it a lot.

I made minor adjustments: no iCord edging (simply because I forgot), no longer ribbing at the end (because I wanted it to be finished). It is beautiful nonetheless.

Now all I need is a mild summer evening.

Lately, I have been secretly working on quite a few test knits: a blanket, socks, a wrap, another wrap. Some of it is off my needles, some of it is not. Not yet. Like the ITO wrap.

Ito means yarn in Japanese. The wrap I am working on is made of three different and unusual bases: Washi is a paper yarn (54%) with rayon added for stability. Urugami too has a twisted paper core (28%), wrapped in wool. Shio is made of very fine merino (my favorite of the three, by the way. Lovely trace yarn).

I was tempted for a long time to work with ITO yarns. If only to try it. It is so different from the yarn I usually work with. Elegantly wrapped on cones – so nice. Hence, I jumped at the chance when Marisa, the designer, offered that I knit the wrap, which will be shown in her second book (focussing on wraps and shawls): Noch mehr Tücher stricken: 25 neue maschenfeine Projekte für jede Gelegenheit (EMF, Sept. 2017).

But then knitting did not turn out quite the way I had imagined … To be honest with you, ever so slightly it became tedious. Here’s why:

I am a perfectionist … Always striving for perfect stitch definition, for a smooth and even fabric. Well, that’s impossible to obtain with Washi and Urugami (at least for me) as paper yarn does not forgive careless knitting tension at all. So far for perfection … ?.

Plus, having two fine yarns on my finger meant to knit attentively, if only to make sure to catch both strands with every stitch. No movies, no distraction, not for me.

Hence, half way through I was ready to give up. But then I didn’t. And the more I knit the more I learned to enjoy the feel of the finished work: smooth but not soft. A silky softness maybe. Sleek and even. I am still not pleased with the way it looks (way too many uneven stitches) but surely blocking will work wonders. (It scares me to block paper yarns but that’s another story).

The design is beautiful. The colors Marisa picked – tangarine, carrot and hydrangea (which is a bright pink) – are stunning. Very bright, very much summer. Instructions are a piece of cake, while rows are getting longer and looooonger …

I am almost done. Yay!

It is said that paper yarns have a lasting tradition in Japan. Assumably, they have similar properties to silk: Cooling in summer and warming in winter. Can’t wait to give it a chance.

If it wasn’t that far away, if flights weren’t so expensive, if only it wasn’t winter but summer (ideally: vacation time) I would go to Washington to participate in the Women’s March on Washington. In fact, all three of us – the man, the son and me – would be marchers, but the way things are we can’t make it.

At least not the way we wanted to. Fortunately, there is the PussyHat-Project (pun intended: not PussyCat but PussyHat).

The Pussyhat Project is about making a powerful visual statement at the Women’s March on Washington, D.C.  It’s about the hats, and also a lot more. At its core, this project is about creating a form of representation for those who cannot be there, developing connections between people who care about women’s rights, and creating a framework for community and personal agency from the local to the national level.

Local – national – inernational! In a heartbeat I joined the movement by making three hats – two knitted in bright pink and one in light pink that is crocheted. Once they were done (one per day) I attached little labels with care instructions and personal messages. Tomorrow (on my birthday) I will go to the post office. YAY!  😀

Who knows – maybe you are the one to wear one of my hats on January 21 and afterwards. Please let me know!

And if you have not done it yet: please read the movement’s Mission & Vision and join in too!

To quote Audre Lorde, the internationally recognized activist and artist who lived in Berlin for a while, who referred to herself as a “black lesbian feminist mother poet warrior”

It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.

Now get your needles out – we need 1.17 million hats!

Thank you  <3