At last post, some of you wondered, “One short trip, why two projects?”
Because there’s nothing worse than Project Fail at 15,000 feet.
Go on, ask.
How do I know?
Loft in Barn Owl in lace section of Pei
It started out swimmingly. I began knitting the pretty cowl Pei using BrooklynTweed Loft. Oh. What. Yummy. Wool! It made my fingers sing! Because that’s what Loft is ~ minimally processed, close-to-the-sheep wool in fingering weight. It is also woolen-spun, so it does not have the tight twist and many plies found in most commercial fingering-weight yarns.
That fact brings with it a certain fragility that makes the appropriate choice of tools essential to knitting success.
And that is where Nutmeg Owl failed in the sky somewhere over Nebraska.
Regular readers know I like my needles slicker-than-snot. As such, I will often eschew a sharper tip on an Addi Lace needle to avoid its silly, icky “drag finish” and go instead with a plain ol’ Addi Turbo (the difference is in the name ~ turbo!). Had I packed this project around the time normal people go to bed, I might have paid attention to the fact that the lace chart has nupps. (Pronounced like “stoops,” if you’re wondering.) Nupps are the bane of many a knitter. I’m not usually one of them.
Until knitting with a minimally processed fingering-weight wool on
Dull tips + nupps + Loft = disintegration
dull-tipped original Addis, and finding myself consistently unable to grab the 3rd of the 5 loops to close the nupp. And you can see what happened as a result. Poor little Loft pretty much disintegrated.
Total tool fail on my part ~ my preferred Signature stiletto-tipped circs in that size were all tied up on other WIPs (ahem!) back home.
Time to back away from the yarn and move to the other project.
Remnants of Spirit Trail Nona for Plain Jhaynes
One round-trip and seven hours of Downton Abbey later, and my lace remnant-busting Plain Jhaynes mitts are well on their way. These won’t be plain, either. Just you wait.
And that is why no sane knitter leaves on a trip without two projects. Ever.
