"And now it's Springtime for Hitler and Germany,
Rhineland's a fine land once more!"
(from "The Producers" - lyrics by Mel Brooks)
I never got around to seeing the stage version, but "The Producers" is one of my favorite movies. Ordinarily, I can't think of something related to knitting that might remind me of not just the movie, but this song in particular.
That is, until I started - and finally finished - this project:
I love this pattern, "Springtime in Philadelphia," and have wanted to make it for a while. I got it in my head that I would use this yarn for it. For all of the yarn's "issues," I have to say that the color variegation covers up a lot of mistakes, so for that reason, I'm really pleased with the finished item.
I originally bought this yarn because the colorway is called Brookland, and that is the neighborhood in DC where The Catholic University of America is located, which is where I went to library school. The colors appealed to me as well, and the fiber content (spun silk) is so soft and shiny, I thought it just really needed to come home with me.
Never never ever ever again will I buy this yarn. Not. Ever.
It all started when I went to wind the yarn. I was at Rosie's one Sunday, and had brought it with me, figuring I would wind it there, saving me the process of getting my swift out, clearing a table to use it, etc. Almost immediately, it started tangling from the skein while I was trying to wind it! My co-worker, Andrea, offered to try and untangle it, saying that she enjoyed that activity. Well, yeah, until she met this yarn ...
Splitty, sticky, knotty - those adjectives don't even begin to describe it. Ugh. And thus it became my very own "Springtime for Hitler" beret ...
Details:
Pattern: Springtime in Philadelphia, by Kate Gagnon Osborn
Yarn: Penthouse Spun Silk, by Neighborhood Fiber Company, colorway "Brookland"
Needles: US 2 and US 0 (circular)
Started: May 3, 2010
Finished: June 20, 2010
Comments: Love, love, love the pattern! Hate the yarn. Pleased with the end result, though, and it actually fits my humongous head, which is nice. I will definitely try this again with a solid yarn, which will also be nice because now I "get" the pattern, so there won't be as many times that I need to rip back (at least in theory). Part of the reason it took so long is because there was more than one occasion that I had to rip back quite a bit and re-knit it.
And - I finished it on June 20, which was the last day of spring! You remember spring - the season that used to come between winter and summer? Yes, beautiful days, cool nights, occasional rainy days. Good times ...
9 comments:
Very pretty. I haven't tried the spun silk (and probably won't), but I have knit with the Neighborhood Fiber Co. two sock yarns and can recommend them. I hope this bad experience won't keep you from all of her lines.
I got a skein of difficult yarn once. It got so tangled I had to snip and splice. Pain in the behind. Love the beret.
Purty! Are we going to get a modeled shot? I'll be careful around that yarn, should I ever come across it.
When were you at Catholic? I played basketball at Trinity, and we used Catholic's co-rec center as our court...
Good for you for pushing past the knots and such and finishing. Don't you wonder how some of these yarns/companies manage to have a single repeat buyer?
So, you think you'll ever use that yarn again? Tee hee.
Wow! Lots of karmic threads coming together on that one!
I love it! And you know, I have a forever damned and banned yarn as well. One that tangled and pulled and knotted - every.skein.I.purchased. All 11 of them. I've never used the yarn, so you're one up on me.
I saw that on your Ravelry picture page, and wondered about the Hitler thing.
It would have suited him. I think.
Thanks for the Producers connection too funny.
The beret is loverly and hopefully fall will return to all its standard beauty and you will get to wear your beret.
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