My affair (note: this is not a love affair) with Kauni wool began sometime around 2007; I have the YarnHarlot to blame for it.
I think we can all (all knitters, that is!) find at least one or ten things that she's inspired us to knit---whether we really wanted to knit them or not. For me, it was the Kauni Cardigan. I still think this is one of the most beautiful things ever created. Who knows what I quit knitting so I could immediately cast on this beauty the minute my carefully copy-catted yarn arrived from somewhere.
Are you all familiar with this yarn? The colours are intense and rich. The repeats are long, and in 2007 long repeats were not as common as they are today. So, it was novel...and pretty....and colourful (this must have been before the black/grey/neutral phase of my life began). I was going to be the proud owner of the most beautiful sweater in the world. And maybe I would have...except for the fact that Kauni is one of the wooliest wools you are ever going to come across. The cardigan was knit with either slip stitch? or fair isle?.... the details don't matter as much as the fact that either technique was going to produce a garment that carries yarn across the back, making it double-thickness. And, of course, it's scratchy, so you must wear another layer underneath. Since 2007 the only time I even briefly thought about this 'sweater-that-got-away' was as I was packing for Iceland last December. I still own a half dozen handknit beauties from the years we lived in Buffalo. They all look brand new....maybe a bit dated, but definitely new. (Well, all except one that was obviously a meal for a family of moths and had to be culled from the sweater stash.) Fashionista I'm not, but you all already knew that, right?
Now I have a heap of Kauni and it's not going to be a sweater. According to Ravelry, that yarn of mine has had a history, most of which I'd totally forgotten. In 2012 I started a shawl called Light Waves. And frogged it. I guess I decided Wingspan was a better way to use the yarn....and I actually knit this shawl and finished it in about a month. I'm really glad I made this, because it was gifted to a dear friend whose middle-name could easily be 'Bright, Colorful, Happy' when she was undergoing some really really bad health issues; it brightened her day.
Right after that I started the Cascade Vest, obviously didn't find the love, let it linger in limbo for a couple years, and frogged it in 2014. I had apparently had my eye on the Mitered Cross Blanket for sometime....and had an 'aha' moment, thinking that gem (Kay Gardiner is also a major enabler in my life) would be a great way to use up this yarn....if only I had some BLACK to set off the colors. I found some. I bought it. I bought a lot.
Finally....Mitered Cross Blanket.
And in a desperate attempt to finally use up this yarn....I cast on the Maude Vest.
Look closely. It's the very same vest (under a different name) that I cast on in 2014 and ripped out.
All goes 'round comes 'round.
I rather like the look of Maude, and the yarn is gorgeous. Hope the project works out for you this time.
Posted by: Iris B | 02/04/2019 at 02:31 PM