Thursday, September 8, 2011

Charmed

Somehow, right in the midst of the Tomato Tornado (to say nothing of the Apple Avalanche that came right on its heels), I managed to finish the scarf I've been working on over the past few weeks. It's the Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf, by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas, and I could not be more pleased with how it turned out. I don't want to say too much about it here, because I'm planning on giving it it's own post just as soon as I can find the time to take some fabulously stylish pictures of it this weekend (OK fine, I'll settle for decent, in-focus pictures taken in natural light), but I can totally see this scarf becoming the next Noro Striped Scarf. There are just so many possible colour combinations, and there's really NO way any of them could turn out to be crap, you know? I mean... it's KOIGU. Like, duh.


Enough about the scarf though (patience, my preciousssssses). The point is that I finished it, and I was now free to cast on something shiny and new. The thing is though, I wasn't too sure what I wanted to knit. Nothing was really jumping out at me, calling out to my Inner Knitter. Or rather, nothing I already had the yarn for in my stash was calling out to me. Oh sure, Carol Feller's Tembo (and the Quince & Co. Osprey I'd need to make it) was really tempting, and Stephen West's Spectra (and the 10 skeins of Noro (at LEAST) I would be FORCED to buy "just to be sure I had THE perfect one") was looking pretty gosh darn nifty... But socks? Mittens? A shawl? You know... things I already have the pattern and yarn for???? Nope. Not even a blip on my radar. Typical.

I was starting to get seriously discouraged, when I happened upon the Garden Gnome Hat, which I've had in my Rav queue ever since it first came out. Quick, perfect, and I had about a dozen single skeins of KnitPicks Palette in the stash. This was it, the next project, the next One True Thing.


And I'm charmed, completely and utterly charmed. Maybe it's the red and white colour scheme, which reminds me of Cauchy's completely awesome red work. Maybe it's the (yet to be completed) pompom, because y'all know I'm a sucker for a good pompom. Maybe it's just the cooler weather making me want to begin cranking out the winter wear.

Personally, I think it's the fact that it's a HAT WITH FREAKIN' GARDEN GNOMES ON IT. Gnomes!!! On a Hat!!! Brilliant.

Happy Knitting Everyone!

9 comments:

Chantal Boucher said...

Mais quel est ce point?... Hummm je suis curieuse! Cute chapeau!

Alrischa said...

I went straight to your project page to look for more linen stitch scarf pictures... drat!!

frown sulk mutter...

That red and white creation is looking beautiful. It's the contrast and brightness, maybe, since I can't see gnomes yet.

I checked out cauchy's post. It is inspiring!

hehehehehehe

Caroline said...

Speaking of Palette, I still have two skeins that I ordered so you could finish your mittens! We need to meet soon!

cauchy09 said...

look at the texture and the colors on that scarf! i'm knitting linen stitch next. pretty!

thakns for the shoutout, lady!

Maryse said...

Je n'avais jamais remarqué ce chapeau! J'ai hâte de voir ta version. Il va être superbe!

Sandra said...

Ayoye, mon écharpe Koigu n'est même pas terminée depuis l'an dernier ! Par contre, je termine un quilt pour bébé!

Knit and Purl Mama said...

I love the colors of the scarf! Wow! Cant wait to see the finished project post.

Can't wait to see the Gnomes on the hat! Very cool. I like the white and red color combo too.

Sinéad said...

That scarf is fab, it's like it's woven. Can't wait to see more pics. The hat is too cool as well, I love gnomes and the colours are great, really cheerful for grey Autumn & winter days. The gnome mittens I made for Alice before were a huge hit, and I believe there's a matching sock pattern too. Hmm. Glad to see you're knitting away furiously!

Dawn said...

I love that scarf...some how the woven stitch just adds such sophistication! That hat is going to be super rad!