Prepare for hyperbole! I just opened my Rowan exchange package from Sue!
The first thing I found in the package was a pair of MONKEYS. Sue, of course, has no idea that these socks have been the object of my wonderment and desire since they appeared on Knitty last year. I am absolutely blown away! The stitch pattern is sneaky and tricksy and witty and incredibly luxurious all at once and they are even better in person (as it were) than I could have imagined. They really have the most chutzpah of any socks I have ever seen. They are knitted in a glorious alpaca merino blend from the natural dye studio, whose yarns I liked so much at Woolfest a few weeks ago. Because of the dye, the colour of the yarn is that soft blue you only really see elsewhere in eighteenth-century silks. It has pale snowflake flecks in it. Lovely.
Here are my be-monkeyed feet:
Even my fallen arches look good. And heres Sue’s impeccable stitchwork:
Sue, these are truly marvellous socks. I am very touched that you made them for me.
As if more was necessary, I then discovered this superb cloche from Lace Style. I had to put it on immediately:
The chic lace really takes my breath away:
These pictures do not do justice to the lustrous haziness of the pale mauvey-bluey yarn from the Wensleydale Sheep Shop. Nor do they show the hat’s cozy navy lining, knitted in 4 ply soft. In it I shall be too stylish for the mountains.
Finally, there was this elegant bracelet:
The sodalite crystals are like woven gems of frost. I’m going to give the braclet its first outing tonight, when I’m out for dinner with a visiting friend from the U.S.
Each individual item is deserving of its own rhapsody, but I was also really struck by the shared aesthetic of all three of them together. Theres a blue snow-queen feel to the whole parcel, but theres definitely something about the lightness and delicacy of the lace cloche, as well as the sheer impudence of the socks, that is very suggestive of the promise of Spring. Sue, your gifts were incredibly thoughtful, as well as impressively creative. I love them!
TA xx
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