I Is For Idiot

How apropos.

I've entered a new dimension of knitting. The third dimension.

Scarves are fine and dandy, but I've decided to mix it up a bit and try my hand at not-flat-stuff. What I really want is to knit myself (oh, greedy girl) a hat out of the beautiful merino roving yarn.

I have four 50 yard skeins of it. Some research revealed that I probably cannot get any more. It's an Italian yarn that doesn't seem to be available in the U.S. right now. Evil language!

So I went back to Tuesday Morning, where I got it, to see if they'd gotten any more in.

Nope.

I've learned the hard way that knit projects don't always (ever) turn out like I envision, so I decided to play it smart and bought the two skeins of a different color that they did have. I found a hat pattern that I liked and proceeded to knit and perl my way to a very gaudy glory.

There wasn't nearly enough yarn for a hat. My four skeins of the beautiful merino will be enough though (big sigh of satisfaction.) I decided to make a head diameter purse instead.

Upon finishing the body and flap of the planned purse, I had a grand total of four inches of yarn left. Talk about cutting it close! To further my self-imposed education, I plan to felt the resulting knit tube to see how it looks and how much it shrinks. But I don't want it to be just an educational exercise, I want a working purse at the end of the process.

Always resourceful (or nutso, your choice), I decided to use an ancient partial skein of black 100% wool worsted from my stash to knit an icord to make a bottom and strap for the purse. I also got some black lining fabric and a big black button for a fastener.

I've read that the "i" in icord stands for idiot. Again, how apropos.

I started my first icord yesterday using a double strand of the venerable worsted and size 13 (big) needles. Knit, knit, knit, knit, slide, repeat. That's how one knits a four stitch icord on double pointed needles. It worked, but it surely ain't pretty. Thank goodness I'm planning to cover my knitting sins by felting it.

After getting about 18 inches knit, it was time to do the dinner thing. I laid the icord out on the chair seat and got a good look at it.

"Hot dang! I'm knitting a snake!"

When I returned to the knitting after dinner, I somehow managed to get the icord turned inside out and made my snake a cloaca. Raw talent - I have it.

Good thing that felting will make it into a fuzzy blob so the "interesting" parts won't show.