I passed by a concert venue in the city this weekend that was featuring a band called Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head.

At first I thought it might just be the sign guy being funny, but the warm-up band listed was a normal-sounding name, and it seemed like a lot of trouble to put all those letters high up there on that marquee just for a laugh.

Well, color me pink  - there really is a band with this name (I checked on it later, in between Curlicue rows).  NPSH for short.  If I’m not mistaken, Nat had her head shaved for that V for Vendetta movie, so I’m guessing there may be a link there.  Ya think?

That movie looked scary to me, so I didn’t see it.  I’m a wuss.  I’ve learned not to pretend I can watch scary movies unscathed - doing so ends badly for everyone in the same house with me once the lights get turned out that night.

In less frightening news, I’ve whipped out my cashmere, and life is good.



Isn’t she lovely?

You’ll remember my recent ode to the Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere I bought from WEBS.  I unhanked my first skein and unwound it (by hand), then re-wound it (by hand) into a center pull ball - all 400 yards of it.  (Yes, I’ve been hinting pretty heavily to the fam that a ball winder and swift would make a grrrrrrreat gift at some point, sometime.  Any old time.)

It’s gorgeo.  Really, so soft and delicate.

A little too delicate, at first, for my unaccustomed-to-such-fineries man-hands.

I thought I was winding it loosely enough, but once the ball was completed, the first few yards I pulled back out were tougher than I expected.  After breaking the thin fiber a couple of times inadvertently (eeeek! eeeeeeek!), my fingers took the hint and handled it more gently.


Sheer Poncho
by Amy Arifin

Now the center pull is playing nice and I have a pleasing on-gauge swatch on which to base my work for the Sheer Poncho.  Remember this?  Yippee!  So happy to think I can cast this on any day.

The Jade Sapphire (2 ply) label provides guidance for a 6-8 stitches/inch gauge on US 1-3; the Sheer Poncho pattern calls for stitches that are “loose and open” with a 6 stitch/inch gauge.  The pattern as written by Amy Arifin (and featured in MagKnits, Warm 2004) features Jagger Spun Zephyr Lace Weight knit on US 5.

I was curious to see how the fabric of my cashmere pick would knit up on US 2, so I tried that first, just for kicks.  I came in at 8+ stitches/inch, and the stitch definition was nice and even; a smooth, solid look.  You can see this tighter gauge knit in the first four rows of my (small, lazy) swatch at the left.

However.  It’s a good thing that the stitches are meant to be more open for this garment, because I’d go buggy knitting on US 2s for the entire duration of something like this (all stockinette, all the time).

I finished my swatch with US 5, and the stitches are airy and sheer as prescribed.  Gauge is 6-7 stitches/inch:  close enough.

I’ll knit on the bigger side, and the fabric will be a bit stretchy - I think we’re going to be OK here.

As the WIP turns:  Boy, the Curlicue is flying along.  The tininess of the US 3s is a red herring when it comes to progress because the Blue Sky Alpacas Cotton is such a nice full fiber that the fabric feels like it knits itself.

Done with my second of four skeins, so we’re now at 50% length - well over 16 inches.  (See my quarters next to the blanket?  You know, for reference?  Thought you’d like that.)

Amy = Happy.

Happy with knitting, happy with the state of things in the country at large.  All is well.  Hallelujah.