Knitter’s Lullaby

OKay– First thing you’ve got to do is click that video above, because it’s got, like, the theme music I hear whenever I look at this finished project. There. Mood set? There you go.

This is chunky alpaca, which means that, yes, I’m ready to wear a cloak to the ice age. Or, well, at least move to a misty country that is frequently chilly. But I don’t care, it’s so soft it makes baby bunnies feel like razorback hogs.

The pictures are crap because they were taken in the evening on my phone camera, but you get the idea. It was knit side to side, with one cable lining each side as I went. I’m not sure how that works area wise, because the cable on the bottom actually contours the increases that I made on one side down to the flat bottom, and then contours back. I mean, the sides and bottom are actually LONGER added together than the top, and I don’t know how that cable just kept growing. For some reason it makes me think of how airplanes take off, but no. It’s not that light.

And the back cable was solidly lifted from a Barbara Walker book, because I’m not that visual either, but I needed to fill in all of that empty space of reverse stockinette. And the hood was sort of an afterthought, because… well… hoods are COOL. My only complaint, really, was that mattress stitching the cable together led to that weird flatness that cables DON’T have and that makes the hood come in at a little point. I’m sure there are lots of suggestions for fixing that, but Im thinking of maybe just blocking it and seeing if the stiffness goes away.

The button is… lovely. Probably doesn’t even really match, but it had such a layer of color that I had to have it. And days of trying to figure out if I wanted a pin or a clasp or nothing at all were immediately put to rest when I saw it. It’s dark. It’s mysterious. It looks like the song.

Now, here’s the thing. I am not small. I am not graceful. There is nothing about me that suggests the heroine in a highland romance or an Arthurian legend. But there is a part of me that has always wanted to be that girl in the cloak, the mysterious one, the simple one, who is brave and strong and true. So forgive me for being self indulgent, for playing the creepy music, for spending a lot of time on something that will only make me look larger and that really isn’t my color. I may never be the girl in the cloak–but by Goddess, I’ve got the damned cloak. (And btw? Chicken looks lovely in it, doesn’t she?)

(btw– there is a blogpost BEFORE the previous post that posted out of order. I don’t know if anyone saw it. It’s the one with the picture of the two boys on it, holding hands. It’s adorable. Anyway– just mentioning. Oh yeah– and Mate updated the website! Go Mate!)