Living on the Edge

I agreed with Jen last night that this morning we would get up early and hit the bikes. Now, Jen and I both work full time and manage families – Jen gets extra points here because there are still two people in her house not old enough to make a sandwich or put their own pants on, but still – we’re both busy, busy women. That means that if we agree to ride on a weekday, it’s early. Super early. Early like, set your alarm for 5:30 and weep soft, warm tears into your coffee sort of early.  Still, we made a commitment to the rally, so there we were, two knitters who like wine, knitting and staying up late, opting for herbal tea, not knitting and an early bedtime.  You could smell the virtue a mile off. 

Fast forward (not that far forward) to this morning, when I got up, made coffee, pulled on my bike shorts and awaited the text from Jen that would tell me she was close enough for me to jump on my bike and go meet her.  Just after 6am, I got a text, but it was just a screenshot of the weather forecast.  It was at that moment (because I am a genius) that I decided to look outside. Pouring. Just pouring and none too warm either, and Jen and I might be committed to this cause, but we don’t need to be committed, so we called it off. 

I would have gone back to bed for an hour, but I’d already made coffee and the house was quiet and it hit me that I had just been given the gift of three hours of time. I did what any sane woman would. I knit booties. Or I sort of knit booties.  Let me explain.
I’m still on my search for the perfect angora/wool yarn. You’ll recall that those last booties, they were nice, but they weren’t what I was looking for.  I have a few lines in the water about some other choices but last night I decided to try an approach suggested to me on twitter – another way to get a 50/50 mix that hadn’t really occurred to me, although I don’t know why not, it’s dead simple.  Spin a single of angora, then one of wool, then ply.  The idea had merit. Last night I spun up a little, being careful not to make too much.  The last kick at the bootie can I had almost half of my yarn left over, and I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.  I washed it and left it to dry overnight, but this morning it wasn’t quite dry – so I put it in the dryer with the clothes I had on the go.  

I know, I know. I put yarn in the dryer! It’s shocking, and a risk,  but it was just a little bit, and I was anxious for it, and it was almost dry and I was totally prepared for it to be ruined, but it’s 50% angora, and so to my way of thinking, there was an excellent chance the tumble in the dryer would improve it, encourage the halo and help with that fuzz I’m hunting for. If it was a trainwreck, then I could always make more, and exercise a little more patience. In it went, and ten minutes later it was dry, fluffy and looking awfully lovely.

After taking its picture outside (under the patio umbrella) I plunked myself down and whipped off a bootie. 

Ok. It’s not quite a bootie, but it will be. That’s the sole on top, and the top part folds over and gets sewn down. Trust me. It’s a bootie.  It also has quite a bit of halo, and is charmingly marled in a way that I like a lot.  I won’t know until I sew them up and give them a bit of a swish, but I think I might have a winner yarn. 

Of course, nothing can be totally perfect. That bootie might have potential, but it’s singular. After taking great pains not to make too much yarn..

I don’t have enough. The bootie weighs 6g, and the leftovers, only 2.  I’ll spin more today, and have the verdict on the booties tomorrow, when they’re knit, washed and dried.  Tomorrow? Yeah. That fast, because I have been emboldened by the dryer success. I’m putting the next skein of yarn in, and the booties too.
I like to live on the edge.