HOT! FUDGE! PONCHO!

I did it! I really, really DID it! I finished the poncho on the trip to the college, putting the finishing touches on the fringe literally minutes before we arrived on campus. I present to you HOT FUDGE, a Very Harlot Poncho. I'm modeling it here outside the incredibly lovely B&B where we were staying.

I feel very "Harlot"

I love my new poncho THIS MUCH. Thank you, Stephanie, for the fantastic pattern. It is elegant--both dressy and casual--and easy to make. All I kept wondering the whole time it was taking shape was, "How did she know this was going to work???! How does she KNOW these things?!!" Brava, Dear Harlot!

I'm so happy with the way it turned out -- semi-sheer, very drapey and form-fitting and SOOO flattering. Even though it was 80 degrees, I pretended it was cool enough to wear it to the play. I sweltered under it until I couldn't stand it any more, then took it off and used it as a very Hollywood-style wrap dangling from my hand until it got cool enough to wear it again.

The yarn: Pingouin Soft'Hair mohair/wool/acrylic. AWESOMEly soft, NOT ITCHY AT ALL (and I have ultra-sensitive skin and loads of allergies, so that's sayin' somethin'), and so good-looking. It does shed quite a bit, though.

Side benefit:

Abigail agreed to wear it in the restaurant when she got too cool from the air conditioning. (this was in the early afternoon before me getting dressed for the late-afternoon performance.) I told her it was going in my blog and she didn't argue, so I take that as a yes, and here you have it: (she's acting a little, well, theatrical here)

Dagger in my heart: (more like a cupid's dart, because it's so bittersweet, if you know what I mean):

She tried it on and said, "This is SO SOFT. I want a sweater out of this."

I'll save you a scroll-down in my blog and remind you that a few days ago, before I started this poncho with this yarn, I said I had bought this yarn on eBay last year, I believe it's discontinued (but I'm going to look that up later), with the intention of making a sweater for Abigail, but I was afraid of rejection from her, so I decided to make it into a poncho for me. See what I mean by "dagger/cupid's dart"? The yarn is gone. My daughter asked for a sweater out of it. AAAACK!

(ADDED LATER: Most awesome good fortune: I dug deeper in the stash and guess what! I have SIX MORE balls of that yarn. Somebody's smiling on me.)

Knitter's Dream Story: A couple from Cabot, Vermont, whose daughter is a freshman at the same college, were staying at the B&B, and the wife is A KNITTER. (Nope, I'm not lying again!) She saw my poncho and thought it was alpaca and said that my description of the color as chocolate brown was not doing it justice. The B&B owner, not a knitter, agreed, and said it's more complex and beautiful than that. They called it a burnished brown and loved it very much.

Once I found out at breakfast this morning that I had a knitter in the house, I ran to get my show & tell bag. She and the B&B lady ogled my scrumptious beaded skein from Anne. She pulled out her projects, which included the beginning of a gorgeous shawl of a complex green (with some gold) tweedy alpaca, and a lace scarf -- the EXACT lace scarf I'm doing with the beaded skein. Hers is being made of a Cherry Tree Hill glitter alpaca (I think she's partial to alpaca, heh) yarn.

We could have died.

We had another piece of delicious breakfast cake instead, and talked for about two hours. Once the yarn talk started, the husbands groaned in unison. She looked at my husband, as we were both talking 300 words a minute, and somehow slipped out, "We're everywhere."

Needless to say, a great time was had by all. Well, me, anyway.

There's more to relate about the wonderful weekend, but I'll save that for tomorrow. I need to go unpack and unwind a little bit.

Comments

[julia fc]

I clicked over here from Harlot's site because she said that you had given in to the siren call of the poncho, and I was going to try and talk you out of it, but now that I've seen you in it, I am glad I was too late. We ladies d'une certain age can indeed wear a poncho, as long as it is such an appropriate colour and worn with the savoir faire such as you have.
Congrats.

[alison]

It's beautiful, Norma. I hope you have enough for a sweater for Abigail - I know how rare it is for them to ask! So what yarn are you planning to use for your next poncho??

[Dawn]

What a beautiful poncho! And you're right - knitters are everywhere. Isn't it wonderful?

Also, you've got me coveting that poncho. Hmmm... what to make it out of? And can I start it now, or should I wait until I have one of the 400 projects I'm working on off the needles? Decisions, decisions.

This is why knitblogging is so wonderful. All of these glorious patterns I want to knit! And I'm sure I wouldn't have found half of them on my own.

[sandy]

ahem....
"All the leaves are brown....(all the leaves are brown)
And the sky is grey......(and the sky is greeeee-ey)
I'll be safe and warrrrrr-mmm....on a winter's day....."
For some reason, you in a poncho brought me back in time to that song. Know it? Sing it, Mama!! :)
Very seventies, I think I"m trying to say. And I love it! And Abigail? What a sweetie! I guess now you'll have to knit for her...sigh....
:)
It seems there's a knitter in every crowd.
MWAH!

[Kim]

I love it that much, too! It looks terrific on you! So soft and drape-y. Harlot, indeed! In the absolute *best* sense of the word.

What a hoot that there was another knitter staying in the B&B. She's right---we ARE everywhere. Doo-doo-doo-doo....

Now where are those purchases from the antique stores? Hmmmmm? xxoo

[margene]

Lovely, lovely!! It's just a perfect poncho. You're knitting, color and yarn choice and Harlot's perfect pattern. Good job!!

[Annie]

The poncho is wonderful. I can't believe how quickly you knit that!
And, Abigail is precious. You absolutely MUST knit something for her immediately! (Does she want a poncho?)

Also, I'm curious if you mentioned The Blog to your new knitting friend? Mwhahaha~ does she *really* know how we are everywhere?!?!

[Kerstin]

I expected some whipped cream atop your head for this photo, lady. Bring on the chocolate! Or better yet, the choco latte! Your poncho looks great on you. Congrats!

[Kat]

Looks great! Do you know if that yarn is similar to Pingouin Country Wool/Mohair/Acrylic? I've got a bunch of that sitting here waiting for a destiny.

[chelsea]

BEAUTIFUL! Oh wow, it looks SO soft and light-as-air! And the color *does* look very classy on you. I am glad you found somemore because (at least on my monitor) the color looks like it will suit Abigail very well, too.

I am finding it harder nad harder to resist the call of the poncho!

[LisaPrit]

Hi Norma-
Your poncho is gorgeous! I just casted on for one but the US13 seem very big. Do you mind me asking what size needle you used?
Thanks,
Lisa

lisaprit@rochester.rr.com