One of last month's purchases was a bag of Silk Garden color #247. I've always been intrigued by this yarn, but could never bring myself to pay $11 for 109 yards for any yarn, Noro or not! But when it went on sale at littleknits.com (beware yarn hos with no self control!!) at over 50% off, I jumped at my chance to FINALLY experience Silk Garden. Yes, I do believe Silk Garden, and Noro in general, is an experience quite unlike any other yarn out there. (Heck, you don't even have to knit with it to appreciate it!) I've heard mixed reviews on Silk Garden, and after working with it, I definitely fall in the "LOVE IT!" camp.
My only qualm working with Silk Garden is the difficulty of matching up the color transitions in sleeves/cardigan fronts/backs. Each skein seems to cut off at different points of the colorway. Considering my personality and the fact that I've become quite enamored with this yarn, it does surprise me that I desire a more consistent, clean, and calculated look in the overall final knit product.
The funny thing is that Silk Garden is definitely not a clean, calculated type of yarn. I LOVE its more rustic, organic, and subtle nature. The uneven spin with thick and thin areas seem to work well with the composition and color shifts of the yarn, and the random bits of veg matter don't bother me.
After knitting a plain swatch with it late one night, I had a sudden burst of inspiration, and HAD to start a fair-isle project. Crazy, I know, to do stranded knitting with WORSTED weight wool blend yarn, especially when summer is just around the corner!
In my very inspired, excited mind, The front panel will be fair-isled, the 3/4 raglan sleeves and back will be in complete black, and a V-neck will top it off. I do realize it sounds a little strange, and is completely untraditional. It could turn out to be a complete disaster, but I'm too revved up about it to care! We'll see what happens.
The yellow yarn across the swatch marks where I switched the Silk Garden from the main color to the background. I like the original with the black background much better. Even though the Silk Garden hovers around worsted weight, the many thicker areas seem to really help design pop.
This thicker nature as you can see in the above picture, along with being conscious of yarn dominance will really showcase the lovely colors and design (anyone recognize it?). More on all this later.
Hospital boy is in his 8th week at the hospital, and is progressing very well!! His arm splints were taken off last week, and the 5 metal pins yanked out from his wrists with pliers (seriously...ouch!!) After a VERY painful couple days, his range of motion in his wrists are slowly returning with daily physical therapy, and the pain is finally subsiding.
empty splints!
His orthopedic surgeon is pleased with recent x-rays, and said his left arm can start weight bearing therapy. His left femur seems to be healed up, and may join the left arm in bearing weight too, a MONTH sooner than anticipated!!! This is FABULOUS because as soon as he can transfer himself from bed to wheelchair, he can FINALLY go home!!! Two months is a terribly long time for a young, active, independent fellow to be cooped up in a hospital bed. Can you tell by the preponderance of exclamation points that I'm VERY excited that his hospital time is drawing to a close?!
Yippee!!! :D
Have a safe and wonderful weekend!
