A Magical Hood for Otherworldly Adventures
Everyone needs a little magic in their lives, something special that gives a little spark to life and helps them feel the magnificence of the world. I am madly in love with magic and wish to possess many magical things. Magic, to me, is an igniting force- and in this way, for some a spark is perfectly adequate. I, however, need a bright and brilliant inferno. This hood is one of those things.
It quickly became a project that I was going to tear through in no time - as you may be able to tell from the lack of fun, amorphous, "before it started becoming something" photos.
As soon as the colours started being worked together, I could barely put it down. This is the same yarn I used for my sweater (the baby alpaca one that makes me feel like I could just curl up in it like a warm kitten and never need the outside world again).
This time around with the Fair Isle stitch work I used my carrying behind technique for every stitch primarily so that I could see how well it worked but also to ensure that I wouldn't be catching those loops on one of my piercings.
The most fun part of this was that it ended up looking surprisingly beautiful on the inside. My partner even suggested that I could consider it a reversible hood.
The finished project itself was just as enchanting as I hoped it would be. All I had to do was simply knit one big rectangle and stitch it up in the back.
The scarf I attached to the hood is to help with keeping it on my head, and to ensure maximum coziness. It was created using the same design as the hood, except just one of each colour (white, light grey, dark grey, black) and knitted length-wise so it was just very long lines of each diamond colour. I'm going to be totally honest, I wasn't sure if I could manage having 300 stitches on my circular needles, but it worked (even though each row felt like it was never going to end).
For washing and blocking to keep the scarf from curling in on itself I used Mane 'n Tail horse shampoo. It's a surprisingly gentle soap given that it's for horse hair, and I use it for all of my quilts and fiber. I'm not sponsored by them at all, I just started using it because that's what was what was recommended to me when I learned how to quilt, and I've loved it ever since.
Just like my partner predicted, this ended up being a beautiful-on-the-inside sort of project as well, and I might just wear it both ways. I also can't help but be reminded of sewing good seams, and the delight I feel from that, even though no one but me will usually see them. I like that this time around it's something the rest of the world can see too.
As always, it's a pleasure being able to share these precious projects with people who are interested. Those of you reading this happen to be one of those magical things in my life - the kind of presence that reminds me of who I am, and why I love doing what I do. Thank you.