Sneak Peek

Neck Warmer in Progress

Spontaneous yarn shopping is always dangerous. You’re waiting for someone for brunch. He is dependably late. You’re standing half a block away from a yarn shop. He hasn’t arrived. The yarn shop opens. You can’t hold back. You go in. You come back out in under fifteen minutes, which is probably some sort of yarn shop record and would be a good thing if you hadn’t also emerged with yarn, all poorly planned purchases I should emphasize, all consisting of a little of this or that for, um, well, something . . . four skeins will get you a cap-sleeved cardi, right? Right? I’m sure some size 0 ladies might have managed to squeeze one off the needles, but a size 0 I am not in anyone’s world (and even size 0’s would not also have been able to do any proper finishing).

So this past weekend — yes, after the 99/100 finished cardigan had been languishing on my needles for nearly two weeks — I finally had the budget and inclination to get myself back to this yarn store to buy — I commanded myself — exactly two skeins of yarn. One to finish and one just in case. Seven more skeins (all but one on sale, at least) crawled into my bag. I’m still not entirely when they had the opportunity.

Turns out one skein was enough for the neglected cardi so I decided I should start winterizing myself now. Last year I worked out a quick acrylic neck warmer that I loved dearly. It was cozy and the nice ruffle read Elizabethan. The only thing I regretted about it were the pom poms I had attached to the I-cord that held the entire thing together because (1) It is my mortal, irrational fear of being strangled to death by a scarf I am wearing that led me to a neck warmer in the first place, and (2) I predictably got caught up in all the junk I carry and popped off and lost one pom pom and spent the remainder of the season tucking one side of the I-cord into my jacket so as to pretend I hadn’t destroyed my work. I decided to go with that style again (sans pom pom), but I have to admit after knitting through So You Think You Can Dance that I prefer the style in acrylic. The acrylic model is stiffer so the neck warmer stands on its own, like a ruff.

Ruff! Ruff!

Clearly my acrylic neck warmer is nowhere near as voluminous (although I’m getting perverse winter coat ideas), but it has its own sculptural integrity. The cotton version is proving to be infinitely more 2d.  It’s cozy and comforting, but a little flat. It looks like it is going to be a half skein endeavor, however, so I might have one more in me.  I’m thinking it will be a simple knit with a textured stitch.  Possibly a good knit for people who don’t have the time, patience and money for scarves.