22 June 2010

Rhineland's a Fine Land Once More!

"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:

sprite said...

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.

Marie said...

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.

Kathleen Dames said...

Purty! Are we going to get a modeled shot? I'll be careful around that yarn, should I ever come across it.

SissySees said...

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?

Wendy said...

So, you think you'll ever use that yarn again? Tee hee.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Lots of karmic threads coming together on that one!

Brigitte said...

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.

Lorraine said...

I saw that on your Ravelry picture page, and wondered about the Hitler thing.

It would have suited him. I think.

Quilting Mama said...

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.