Recuperating Knitting Thoughts

(Fairy Ring 08.22.08)

So I'm about 10 days after surgery and feel pretty well. I still have some minor soreness and tire a bit too easily, but all that should resolve in another week or so.

I have been resting a lot and thinking long thoughts and, what is most pleasing to me, have been doing a lot of knitting. I got out the three pairs of socks-in-progress that I hadn't touched in ages - two were stalled at the heels and one at the toe. I like to do heels and toes at home where I am not distracted and have the plain parts to do as carry-about knitting. So I turned two heels and kitchener-stitched a toe, cast on for the second sock of that pair and now have lots of the compact, plain knitting that socks can provide to occupy me when out and about.

For the longest time, I've been wanting to make more face cloths - I love knitting that I can use, it makes a nicer ritual of face-washing to have such cloths. I really want to have some in organic cotton, but kept resisting ordering some because:
a. there is so much available now that I had a hard time deciding on a particular yarn and color (I'm very attracted to Blue Sky Skinny in their low-impact dyes, but also like the natural colors)
b. I have so much stash, it's hard to justify any more yarn purchases

Then today, I remembered that I have some Fox Fiber organic cotton yarn on cones:
- in three colors and three sizes, all pretty fine. I just don't usually think of this because it's so fine. The last time I used this was for a little weaving and for my Peace Mother doll.

My hankering to have a little organic cotton face cloth made me get out the Fox Fiber...and then there was that 'd'oh' moment. Double it - use two strands - d'oh.....

So...I picked the 3/2 oatmeal, wound off a ball and started my little heart's desire, using one strand from the center and the other from the outside.

Its softness is okay, but I think that with a good washing and some time in the dryer, it will be moreso.
Fox Fiber also has the characteristic of darkening after washing, so that will be fun to see how it changes.

In any case, this was a good reminder to me to remember that finer coned yarns meant for weaving can often be bought at a very good price and that using one or more strands makes them suitable for knitting.

One caveat to remember though is that often yarns meant for weaving (especially warp yarns) have been coated with a sizing agent to strengthen them to withstand the weaving process. When washed, the yarns soften and full. This can wreak havoc with a knitted project in which gauge is important. So if one is going to use weaving yarns to knit a garment, it is best to skein the yarns and wash them first. See this post by the Yarn Harlot, wherein she skeins and washes the yarn she used to make Kate Gilbert's interesting Sunrise Circle Jacket, a pattern from the Spring 2006 Interweave Knits.

Well, those are some of my knitting thoughts today. I'm hoping to use this down time to sort through WIPs and get some more things worked on or completed or....gulp....frogged.

Namaste,
Zann