Can You Hear the Mice Singing?

You know that scene in the Disney cartoon of Cinderella where the mice are putting together a dress and singing along...that is what went through my head as I worked on this scarf.  If you haven't heard it then here is a link.

The gist is the two sisters throw away a sash and some pearls because they are so last season.  The mice pick them up and create something absolutely stunning for Cinderella.

I have three yarns that have been thrown away by my friends and I'm going to call them Cinderella yarns.

The first culprit was quite a trouble maker.  Her sister skein had been wound on a ball winder and during the knitting process pulled herself inside out.  Once ribbon yarn has been allowed some freedom it gets really tangled and that is when we met.  I lovingly untangled this yarn for about a week.  Slowly as I knit on the project as a little ribbon became free and it was slow patient, meditative work but in the end, my friend had a beautiful scarf for all that trouble.  She didn't want to even touch the other ball so it became mine.

The next ribbon yarn fell into similar circumstances; her brother had given the knitter so much grief she didn't even want to look at the second skein...I took him in also.

The third ribbon yarn didn't have any kin and from the cast-on she was so despised that I had to take her in too.

And there they sat until I thought about putting all these lonesome ribbons together and see what they could create when someone believes in them.  "cue the mice"

I started with the leftover black cotton from the baby sweater because I thought it would be stabilizing but in my wildest imaginations, I never saw the stark contrast that the black provided against the colorful ribbons.  I fell in love with this combination and from that moment on I just have loved working on this project.  It is so simple yet, so rewarding.  :)


I love knits that make you feel good.  I just adore fibers that make my fingers sing as I work them.  I finished my prayer shawl by the way and it is soooo soft!  I enjoyed working with the Billow more then I can say.  And when you have to bind off almost 600 stitches in the end...that is saying something.  :)

Sorry, no picture; I was so happy to have it done...I packed it up in its mailing box and got it all taped up when I remembered.  Ooops!

In the last week, I actually completed a lot.  I finished this Fair Isle hat.  While I have done Fair Isle before this was the first time I knit Continental and English at the same time. It was also the first time I did the floats right.  I took a fabulous class with my friend at the Mannings from Missy Burns and we had a blast.  It was one of those aha moments that you don't know how you functioned before you knew the key.  Well, I know how I functioned.  I would pick up the yarn and move it so it was in the right place and there was no hole...and well, I got really fast at it...but still.  There is no substitute for knowing the correct way to do something.  I'm really happy with my hat.  My stranding got better and my hands started to understand that this was the way we were doing this by the third motif and then...it was a whole new world.  

So now I can redesign my iPhone bag and finish the bag o' Fair Isle that I started...and make sweaters for so many things...babies, stuffed animals and possibly a vest for me.  I've had the pattern for years and certainly enough Palette to last for at least 10 vests.  Ah, the doors that have been opened... it's like a magic wand was waved over my head and I've been "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Booed" by the knitting faerie.  :)

I've been putting a whole lot of my energy into a lace class I will be teaching.  The shawl the students are making will start with simple lace techniques and grow as they learn new stitches and such.  It is a joy to figure out the motifs and watch them knit into being.  Right now I'm test knitting on Malabrigo chunky.  I like to see what the lace will look like in different yarns so if someone wants to use something different I have first-hand knowledge of what it will look like.  Besides...Malabrigo is so soft and yummy and I have been on this soft tactile kick lately.

May what you create give you joy,

Ruinwen
:)