Kay's Korner - A Knitters Notes

Dear Knitter,

Ever since I have reached adulthood, I have broken my Mum's convention that all mature women must have short hair. After so many years of pixie cuts and shags, my rebellion has been to wear longer hair styles. I have a good excuse. My curly locks get kinkier and curlier the shorter they are cut, so long and loose is how I hang.

Of course, like everyone else, I have bad hair days. For years, I have scoured department stores and hair boutiques for clever barrettes and sassy hats, to help out on those days when I fight the hair and the hair wins. So when the Berroco rep. showed us the booklet featuring Borealis, one of their great, new yarns for Fall 2010, and on the cover was a clever kerchief, from first glance, I knew I had to knit one. A quick and easy project knit in a lofty, super bulky yarn, Outre' is a weekend project. The only question was which of the glimmering, lavish colorways would I knit up first?

I chose the brightest colorway, figuring the holidays were a time to be a bit outlandish, and cast on the fat single ply on #11 single points. After years of knitting only on circulars, I am enjoying digging in my basket for vintage needles. I am having retro fun, even with these primitive, plastic pariahs. There is a tiny, sharp nib of plastic, right at each point that is appalling and I made a mental note to toss them after this project, but in my heart of hearts I know, I have never trashed a knitting needle. There is always a less particular knitter who will come along, happy to give them a home.

As you can see, the long, seed stitch band looks fabulous in the plys of blended wool and acrylic, each stitch plump and proper. When picking up the stitches for the attached kerchief, I used stitch markers to divide the band into sections, making it easy to estimate where to place the 63 knit stitches.

Of course, I had to show all the guys and gals at knit night my latest in progress project. Even with only the first ball (of two) knit, they, too, just adored this novel, yet practical design.

Afterwards, we all met for a holiday party, so it was the next day when my kerchief was finished. Then, all that was left to do was post it on Ravelry and find the perfect outfit to compliment my new accessory. Now isn't this a sassy topper? And it isn't even a bad hair day.

Happy knitting!

Kay