We have an elderly neighbor lady we keep tabs on by delivering eggs every other week or so. While chatting with her just before our latest big snow (17” fell from 2/23-24!!!) she admired my fake beard. Since I fell on ice (not once but 3 times) while bringing eggs and a visit to other elderly friends later that same day, I got the message that knitting was the way to spend my time while it snowed, and snowed, and blew around the snow. Thank you Josette for giving me a small project!

This is the finished product. The edge yarn is yak and silk spun in a single ply. Super soft against the face. Shiny! The body is a series of leftovers from a variety of yarns. I found the last of the alpaca/mohair I used for my fake beard, a small skein of single ply merino and the last of a ball of merino Navajo plied. There was also a bit of commercially made merino triple plied. By doubling the single ply, they all fit into the same basic DK weight and color scheme. Think off-white to tan.

As you can see, my yarn is more uneven than the commercial yarn, but not by much. I like the subtle variation it creates when knit up.

The commercial yarn is at the widest part, which is also the smoothest. I alternated rows as I used up the leftovers so the transitions were not jarring. I also learned how to do a stretchy cast on and stretchy bind off. Thank you You Tube and all those generous people willing to share knowledge!

These are samples of a few small skeins I found in my stash I chose not to use. The light colored yarn on the left was made from alpaca, silk and mohair, much as my fake beard yarn. However, it was full of “veg” or small pieces of plant matter. Having veg in your yarn makes it feel scratchy, regardless of the softness of the fiber. It was also over-spun, as was the middle green yarn. Compare those yarns with the pink strand (which is one of my skeins). The white and green skeins kink up on themselves. The pink is a bit uneven in thickness, but doesn’t double up. Overspun yarn makes hard spots where it is twisty. It’s like having knots in your yarn. You never want to have a knot in a knit. It ruins the stretchy quality and makes uncomfortable lumps. I will find a use for this yarn, but would not choose it for any item meant to be worn close to the skin. Looking closely at other people’s yarn made me fall in love with my own. I need to start spinning again!

Snow blocking our front door. Snow covering the wheelbarrow of wood. Icicles bent by the wind. Beautiful drifts. Snow as deep as Zeke. The wall of snow built up by the plow. We (meaning mostly Michael, if only because I had to work slowly due to having fallen hard a few days before) got enough cleared so the kids had a place to pull off the road, turn around, and park. They had to hike the rest of the way to get to our house. Bless them for finishing the dooryard!

I’d share my knitting rocker with these cuties! I delivered Josette her own fake beard today. I didn’t get a photo of her as she was napping. Irene would get so cold. I’m hoping Josette will be a little warmer as we are due another big storm tomorrow. I hear the wind picking up as I write. I think I’ll work on finishing a baby blanket for this next storm.