Koolhaas 2
Coming back to the US after being in India for a while is always hard for me; coming back to regular teaching after research leave is proving quite hard too. Put the two together, and it’s resulting in quite a disaster for my work and concentration. The very thought of syllabi, prepping for courses and putting together reader packs is making me panic, procrastinate, and plunge for refuge into my yarn and knitting. I’ve been making up for a year’s absence by surfing Ravelry like a maniac, queuing and favouriting projects. Quelling all the guilt over the volume of work I am ignoring, I am agonising instead about whether I should buy some Black Water Abbey worsted now, or after I’ve finished making the Sidelines Top with this:
It’s Berroco Inca Gold in a new shade, Azul Marina. Isn’t it lovely? It’s a gorgeous navy-purple, the purple tones more visible in sunlight. I don’t have anything in this colourway in my stash, and I am really eager to get into it. How can a course pack possibly compete with this!
While I waited for it to arrive, I whipped up another Koolhaas hat for a dear friend, who had a run-in with some bad luck recently, and who had in the past, expressed a liking for the pattern. Here’s hoping this will cheer him up a bit, even if it is somewhat early for a northeastern winter!
I made one for myself early last year with Malabrigo, and thought it turned out a little small. This time I added 8 stitches (112 total) and one 8 row-repeat. It is, as a result, a bit more tubular, and looks rather like a tall fez hat on me, but am hoping it will fit the recipient’s head better. I used about 2/3 of a skein of New England Highland (same yarn I used for my BPT), which shows off the twisted stitches nicely. I was a bit torn at first between using a larger sized needle for more ease with the repeated twisting, versus a tighter gauge and fabric with a smaller one, but I finally went with ease, and used a size 7.
I wonder how long this feverish spell of knitting, sewing and blogging will last, because (sigh) I cannot procrastinate for ever. But there’s still a couple of weeks of summer left…
(Daku I hope you like it!)
