Tilt-a Whirl

“Well, shake it up, baby, now, (shake it up, baby)
Twist and shout. (twist and shout)
Cmon, cmon, cmon, cmon, baby, now, (come on baby)
Come on and work it on out. (work it on out)”
-The Beatles

Remember the thrill you felt as a kid, when summer rolled around?

Summer meant 3 blissful months of freedom. It meant:

• Swimming at the local pool
• Cherry freeze Pops staining your tongue red
• Neighborhood kickball games that lasted deep into the dusk
• Curling up under a big shade tree with a stack of library books
• Baseball games
• Movie matinees
• Bicycle races to the end of the street
• Our annual trip to the amusement park, complete with corn dogs and cotton candy

And a ride on the tilt-a-whirl.

When I first tried out this nifty little open cable pattern, back in February, it was all I could think about. Look at the way in which the cables display a slight list, first right and then left.

I tried it in a variegated yarn with primary colors, but the colors overwhelmed the pattern.

So I put the idea back on a shelf at the back of my fevered, fertile, little brain.

Fast forward four months...

I'm looking at this skein of Kureyon sock yarn, thinking, "Man- this thing is too bright to do anything with!"

And then my creative gut overrode my rational brain and retrieved the idea, dusted it off, and put the two together.

Thank God gut!

TILT-A-WHIRL SCARF
$4


SIZE: 8 inches wide by 88 inches long
MATERIALS: 1 ball (460 yds.) Noro Kureyon Sock or other sock yarn
Color: 180
Size 4 (US) needles
Cable needle
GAUGE: 6 stitches = 1 inch (blocked)

written directions - advanced beginner level



As you can see if you look closely, there is a touch of lacy open space in the center of the cables. The yarnovers that give it a slightly off kilter bent, also serve to lighten the piece.

This one is a lo-o-o-o-ng lean scarf, to wind around your neck a couple times.
Wear it to the county fair...
Wear it to the park...
Have a corn dog...
An elephant ear...
Don't forget the lemon shake-up!

Let the ends fly free.
Let it catch the summer breeze.

Twist and shout, bay-bee...

Twist and shout!

Yummy!

"For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you gain, you lose something else."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I suppose it was inevitable...

I should have expected it...

It is basic physics, after all...

In a world where every action, produces an equal and opposing reaction...
(Thank you to my seventh grade science teacher - see? I'm not hopeless after all!)

When the view out my window looks like this everyday:


And my WIP basket looks like this:

And this:


And this:


And this:


After months of khaki and beige and white and charcoal and taupe and silver and platinum and champagne...

It had to happen...

Eventually I was going to kick over the traces...

And embrace color again.

And I never do ANYTHING halfway.

I've been seduced...

By wine and currant and grape and avocado, and ochre and lilac and seafoam and russet and teal and ...

Malabrigo Sock in Andiecita
(no name for this scarf yet)

Noro Silk Garden Lite in 2048
(Festivus wrap - thank you Seinfeld)


Kureyon Sock in 180
(Tilt a Whirl scarf)

And just look what's in the hopper...

Lots of gorgeous JoJoland Melody fingering


Luscious Dream in Color Baby laceweight


More Kureyon Sock

Don't worry - Mendhi (Friday release)and Rose (by the end of the month) are still my top priority, but everyone needs to cleanse their palate palette from time to time...

Aperitifs, anyone?