romney kerchief

What a week. I was out of town for performances on Monday, and then again on Wednesday through Friday, with Election Day in between (and by the way, hurrah! it's about time some of those Tea Party nutjobs started losing, plus Wisconsin came through in a big way at the national level).

The second part of the week I was in Kansas with my singer-friend Julia to do some teaching and a recital at the small college where I did my bachelor's degree. We stayed with my aunt and uncle, who so kindly put us up and fed us for three days. Less than a week before the trip, I decided I needed to make my aunt something as a thank you gift. It needed to be something I could do quickly, and I wanted to use stash yarn. After a day or two of hemming and hawing (plus a call to my mom to ask about her sister's color preferences - she suggested red), I settled on BT's Romney Kerchief pattern, using some 50/50 wool/alpaca yarn in a DK weight that you can't even find anymore. (It's called Khroma by the Fibre Company, and it's not on their website, so I assume it's not available.)

The yarn was a treat to work with - lofty and squishy and quite soft. It's basically sport weight, and I used size 8 needles to keep it airy and give it some drape, but I bet I could have gone up to size 9 without a problem. Just before leaving for the airport on Wednesday, I got in a quick photo session:

Of course, Anya had to ham it up for the camera!

My parents are here taking care of the kids while I travel, so my mom and I did a little shopping for a shawl pin to go with it. My aunt was planning to wear her new shawl to the performance Friday night, but it was about 80 degrees that day, so she certainly didn't need it then, though she is often chilly. I hope it's useful for her!

Pattern: Romney Kerchief by Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed

Yarn: Khroma DK by Fibre Company (50/50 wool/alpaca blend, about 165 yds per 50g skein)

I used almost 2 skeins and could have made it a little bigger, but it blocked out okay.

Needles: size 8, and I have no idea what my gauge was. That's the beauty of knitting a triangle; you just quit when it's big enough!