Unexpected Angels

I have a hard time doing anything more than once. I don't like to go back and re-read a book (at least if I can remember the ending) or re-watch a movie or re-play a computer game. When I vacation, I don't like going back to the same place all the time. When I was in the lab, after I had one successful experiment that I knew I had executed well, it was always a chore to make myself do it the second and third times it needed to be done to make sure that it was reproduceable.

I joke that I have a TV sitcom attention span... which is probably why I don't have a stunning collection of aran sweaters right now.

The same thing applies to knitting. Not only do I usually not like to knit the same thing more than once, I also tend to not like to use the same yarn more than once. The major exceptions to this rule are Cascade220 (although I don't think I've ever used the same color twice) and Opal and Regia sock yarns (once again, same yarn, but never the same pattern).

And then there's Angel.

I'm on my third batch of Lorna's Laces Angel -- and I don't think it will be my last. This time I'm working in the Baltic Sea colorway.

Lorna's Laces Angel in Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea is dyed a little differently than Oceanside or Aslan where you get bands of color at different places (and fairly regular intervals) in the skein. It is much more random looking when unskeined. One thing that I love about hand dyed yarns is that they always surprise me. I still can't predict how a skein of Koigu will look in a sock. When I looked at this Angel in the skein it said to me "dove grey with a hint of green and blue". When I knit it up, it said "forest green and a soft rusty orange on a soft grey field". I'm quite taken with it.

Not What I Expected

Not only am I knitting with my third batch of Angel, I am also making my second K2P2 ribbed scarf in it. It's a perfect TV project -- knits up fast but doesn't have to have too much attention. I've knit up two of the four skeins I bought as interludes to knitting the RDP.

Who is this scarf for? Well, not for me. It's final home will have to remain a mystery for a while. Will I be ordering more Angel? Very likely so. It makes such a nice luxurious special gift. And I love the feel of it. I'd love to have a sweater out of it, but I've also been thinking that it would make a lovely ruffly cuff on a sweater (some of us are not brave enough to take on ruffles in Kid Silk Haze).

Wednesday is "date night" for John and I, so I didn't get too much knitting done (instead I was out eating the most delightful gnocchi at a local upscale Italian place, Fortunato). But I did manage to creep past the armhole shaping on the RDP. 13 inches down, 6 inches to go before the back is finished.

RDP Progress

Since the swatch knitted up a lot like a board, I decided to block the swatch to see if it softened up. I am pleased to say that a little wet blocking did wonders for softening the fabric up a little bit, at least for the swatch. Hopefully the sweater will be the same way.