". Arranged Words: Wool ~ A Natural Wonder

24 Sept 2013

Wool ~ A Natural Wonder


Over the past few years, I've been re-discovering wool. That's not to say, because I was only knitting sporadically over several years, that wool wasn't a part of my everyday life. There's always been, thankfully, a wool coat in the closet along with a few wool sweaters some now (who knows what happens to cause this) too itchy--but too beautiful to part with, and from the Precambrian era, my knitted Fair Isle sweater.

Flame-resistant, breathable, acclimatizing, insulating, durable, will absorb nearly half its weight in moisture without feeling wet, natural, renewable, and biodegradable are some of the qualities of wool. In other words, if you knit a garment that you can't stand, are too stubborn to frog, or, better yet, have worn it until it's threadbare, you can grab a shovel, therapeutically rip it to shreds and dig it into the garden. As an added bonus, the wool might also fertilize your prize tomatoes.

These days I have a few knitting projects on the needles. Are serial projects a personality trait, or a necessity? Consider if you will a yarn shortage, or a simple project to carry about, or the epic gauge fail that I suffered last week.(How? The swatch was perfect. A gremlin in the mix--perhaps.) Also, languishing in the dark my mini fox. I've tried a few times to make its face, but it always turns out a little askew. (A tiny bit of white yarn in a sport weight will do.) Since we do not have a yarn shop in town, it`s either mail order or a trip to the city. (I've forgotten it a few times.) Given these variables, in my case, serial projects are a necessity.

Also on the needles: socks, a purse ( gauge fail I spoke about earlier), and fingerless mitts.


I rarely sit down to knit without first making a cup of tea. On the needles, the Darjeeling shawl. Unfortunately, the cup isn't full of Darjeeling tea. 
In an earlier post, someone asked what substance was used to dye the wool to the right. Since I was recently in the village for a walk, I found out that it's Brazilwood with tin and oxalic acid. The hank to the far right would, I've been told, be from a second/or third dipping ~ really?


Original post
Short a few yards.
 
I made this Fair Isle sweater years ago. I didn't have a clue about colour work. I've filed it under beginner's luck. The great news: it still fits!

4 comments:

Carolyn said...

I love a good yarn-y wooly post! Great job on that first sweater!

Anonymous said...

Great sheep tales. Who knew?
Darjeeling shawl looks like it will be so nice. If you have extra, you know where to find me.
;) Sue

Dixie @ Arranged Words said...

Yes, I'm overdue on the yarn talk. Thanks. That first sweater was so long ago, but it's still holding up!

Dixie @ Arranged Words said...

Dust off your knitting needles and we can KAL...It would be fun!