The Finish Line

Finished.  

It looks odd laying flat, but it works great.  The neck with its soft red Rios is so comfy and that bit of flap back and front are perfect.  Dickies may have been derided by fashionistas, but unfussy as they are, they just work. Neck cozy? Check. Upper back warm? Check.  Front tidy and looks good under sweaters or coats?  Check.

The little bonus for me is that all these small things look really good together too.  

It almost makes me wish I had a plain black coat to wear them with.  A tidy pea coat style perhaps?  Yeah, NO.  I refuse to pay hundreds of dollars for a coat that will fit badly and be made out of atrociously cheap material and will not be as warm as sweaters.  I just refuse.  However, I may start looking for a good black sweater yarn. Black is a challenge to knit and that is why you see so few black sweaters in handknits.  It is hard to see your work.  A dark Grey?  Oh yes.  Now we are talking.

It would also look seriously fine with a natural brown or cream colour.  I have lots of different creamy natural colour but I am afraid I am far too sloppy and clumsy to wear that.  I would spill something on it the first time I wore it.  It would stain and there I would be, wishing it was a colour to hide the mess I made.  So dark grey it is.  And I know just the yarn I will use.  Eventually.  

Meanwhile, back at the ranch so to speak, I have bits left over.

I know what I am going to do with them too.  Piecework had articles years ago about wristbands that one of the Baltic nations used to make.  Just like wrist warmers, they help to keep the pulse points in your wrists warmer and that can make a difference to  achy hands like mine.  Without the hand bit they are much more practical for all day work.  I had a pair out of tiny bits of Mission Falls 1824 Wool a few years ago, back just when I started wearing wrist warmers to sleep at night,  I have often thought about making more.  These yarn ends will be perfect for a few pair.

I am happy to confirm that I feel a hundred percent this morning.  The new machine and I are now best buds.  I feel awake and alert and a lot less frenzied than the last few weeks.  Today, it is back to the Sun Dogs Variation and finishing it.