road not taken

a basket of homespun yarn

wool, compliments of jubilee, shetland ewe

i found a beautiful book at the library called: a fine fleece: knitting with handspun yarns by lisa lloyd. it is filled with beautiful patterns and insights into knitting with these special yarns. one pattern in particular caught my eye, a lacy scarf which the author called "road not taken". it calls for a fine yarn, but all of my yarns are thick and woolly. so rather than try to spin up a new skein, i decided to use a single strand already on the bobbin instead of a plied yarn. i was not sure how my experiment would turn out since plying a yarn causes a counter twist which balances the yarn. you can see in the picture how the yarn has a little kink to it.

but it was worth a try. i found the pattern to be very forgiving of that extra kink, the variations in yarn thickness, and my mistakes. i loved spinning jubilee's oatmeal colored wool and found it just as nice to knit. i am so thrilled with the outcome!

the author's comments on the pattern inspired me, "...I realized that the zig-zag pattern represents the different directions and roads that we can take with knitting and spinning. I am always thinking of alternate versions of garments and wonder just how many different roads could be explored. small projects such as this scarf allow unlimited possibilities. So many choices, so many roads to take."

and yes, i had to go out and buy the book! if you know me, that does not surprise you!

the finished product

everyday gift: learning new stitches