Purples of Autumn

I have been working on a neck warmer/gaiter/cowl in a stitch that looks like ears of wheat.  It was suggested that gold would be more suitable than the purple I had chosen, but I think of purples as being autumnal as well.  Here’s some images of autumn purples from my garden.

So I made one neckwarmer  in purple, one in gold. Here we see the mysteries of row gauge illustrated.

The purple gaiter is in Kumara, from Classic Elite, an amazingly luscious blend of merino and baby camel. The reddish gold is  Lima, from Rowan,  a cabled alapaca blend that is luminous and soft.

I haven’t seen this cabled construction since Swa-Laine. (Anyone remember that one?) In fact, my first neck gaiter was in blue Swa-Laine, about 15 years ago.  It felted if you looked at it warmly, I imagine Lima will felt easily as well.

Kumara recommended gauge: 18 sts and 24 rows over 4 inches.
Lima recommended gauge: 20 sts and 26 rows over 4 inches.

I figured that if I knit the Lima at the same stockinette gauge as the Kumara, they would end up fairly close in size.  Width-wise yes, but not in the length. Working Lima in a gauge to match the Kumara didn’t affect the row gauge much at all.   Normally, this isn’t a problem, but in a pattern with a fixed number of repeats for the length, it will be one. Now, a neck gaiter that is an inch shorter than you want it isn’t a crisis, you can always work another repeat. In a sweater, it could be a big problem, especially if you are working set-in or raglan sleeves. And when subsituting yarn, you have to remember you will need more if you have to work more rows.

I just don’t know why the row gauge doesn’t always change as the stitch gauge changes.  There must be is a connection between how one person knits as well, just as in stitch gauge.   The highly productive Gale has offered to test knit.  It will be interesting to see how her row gauge turns out.

MLE

Day of the Dead

It’s been a time of passing here. My aunt, then when I was in Chicago I got the news that an old friend and housemate had died suddenly. He was the one I won $5 from in the Japanese Yarn Cocoon demonstration. Then a co-worker whose office was about 3 feet from mine, who died of the same disease at the same age as my mother. I know death is part of life, but still…

I live in an area that has a Mexican tradition, so my husband made some ofrendas for my aunt and my old housemate at a neighborhood site. While looking for photos for the ofrendas, I found this picture of me, at the All Saints Day pageant in kindergarten.

I was Saint Louise de Marillac. I know this because it is written on the back in my mother’s perfect Palmer Method. Note  the edge of the Jack o’Lantern in the lower left. Way to mix those traditions.

We had All Saints Day pageants on a regular basis throughout grammar school. My favorite was the year my friends was St. Lucy. St. Lucy had her eyes put out for refusing to give in to some pagan demand or other.  My friend carried two blue marbles in a saucer to represent the eyes. No wonder we loved the martyr stories!

So Happy Halloween, All Saints, All Souls, Dia de los Muertos to you all. Gather in your memories and your loved ones. Eat lots of Halloween candy. I’ve been knitting my way through the World Series, photos to follow.

MLE