I decided to take a break from socks for a few days and work on my Hitchhiker shawlette. It’s been quite awhile since I cast on for this project and it’s good for evening knitting and TV watching.
While knitting I happened to remember that it’s been ages since I read The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy so I downloaded it to my Kobo e-reader. Like I needed one more book to read. Right? Well, I don’t think I can have too many books whether in print or e-book format. In a nod to the book from which the pattern takes it’s name there are 42 ‘teeth’ in the finished shawlette. I won’t give away anything from the book. You’ll have to read it to find out the significance of the number 42.
I bought this pattern several years ago when I was active on Ravelry. I imagine it is still available for purchase on their site. I downloaded the pdf file of the pattern to my phone so I don’t have to keep checking it on the laptop. The pattern calls for 150 g of Wollmeise SW Merino and a size 2 needle. I am using a 150 g/600 yd skein of a Fishknits Yarn, 80% SW Merino/20% Silk (Isabella) in Hooplah colorway that’s been in my stash for about a year and a size 3 needle. I started this project in October 2021 and it’s been lurking in a project bag for a long time. I got busy knitting socks and forgot about it.
This colorway will literally go with any of my short-sleeve or long-sleeve tee shirts. It’s very cheerful and a fun knit. I’ve worked with Jo Dee’s Isabella base before and once it’s washed and blocked it has a wonderful drape and silky feel to it. It’s a great yarn to use for a Sockhead Hat but you wouldn’t need the 600 yd skein. A 400 yd skein will do nicely with some left over. It’s definitely a hand wash yarn. I suppose it would be possible to put it in the washer on hand wash cycle with cold water and lay it flat to dry, but I’ll let it soak in a basin with Eucalan, put it through the spin cycle on the washer and lay it out to dry on blocking mats.
Good news about the house repairs! Our foundation repair guy said the work he did a couple of years ago is under warranty and it won’t cost us to have him re-level the part he’d worked on before. And the son of our roofing guy came out, took a look at the garage roof and found where shingles had come loose in an area a couple of square feet in diameter. All it will need is some caulking to seal the shingles and…it’s all under warranty! Apparently back when we had some high winds last month those shingles kicked up and then we got the rain last week so that’s why we had the leak. Easily remedied, both foundation and roof. Yay!
Our foundation guy will be here early on Tuesday morning and we’ll wait to hear back about the roof repair. Next on the list of home improvement projects is to replace the gutters. And both bathroom sink faucets. And paint the house in the spring…
Rural Texas Knitter 