if you touch that, you’ll go blind

Posted on annePosted in designing, lace/shawls, projects

(sunday, 10 am)
just look at those yummy cocoons of cashmere-y goodness. they look innocent, but they’re not. not quite.

(monday, 2 pm)
i mean, what could look sweeter or cozier than a cashmere shawl sprawled across the living room floor? trust me, it’s a pose—it’s really there to suck me in, like the sucka i am.

i meant to work on other things these last two evenings, but my complete addiction to this project got the best of me. it’s over now, though.

really. it is.
(ok—the truth: i just plain ran out of yarn)
but can i just take one moment point out to you the gorgeous sheen and soft halo on this hand maiden yarn, and the way the colors play across the fabric? i’m desperate to try it on and feel it against my skin

but that’s cashmere for you—it dries slo-o-wly, just when you’re panting for it to go faster.

ahem . . . excuse me while i fan myself.

ok, that’s better. now, how about a name for this baby?
thank you for all the wonderful suggestions—it’s been really tough to decide. i know a LOT of people liked the name tussie-mussie, and it’s appropriate, but somehow the words just don’t sit right for me.

then one suggestion jumped out at me simply because it described the feeling of the yarn so well (it’s got a dangerously rich, buttery, caress). it was maryann b. who suggested “embrace me” and that one hit me as the one.

so off i went to google and search on ravelry, but lo and behold, that name has been used quite a bit (but i also like “caress” as an alternative). so i went to my favorite language translator to look for variations and came up with two choices: caricia (caress) and embrassez-moi (embrace me).

still waffling over which one i like better . . . wanna vote?
here, lemme give you something to help you concentrate

i did get some charting for the new shawl squared away but want to wait to show pictures of it till i have something substantial for you to look at ( i am loving the orange, though).

in late night knitting news, i experienced a small, what-the-hell-was-i-doing/thinking/looking
at-while-this-happened setback.

friday night i got my second bougainvillea sock all the way to the start of the toe shaping before i went to bed. on saturday morning i sat down to write the pattern and sat . . . and sat—it just wasn’t working out on paper. i had sock #1 right there and it looked fine (and i know it knit up ok), but what i stared at on-screen didn’t make sense any more, according to what i was doing on sock #2 (which i was knitting exactly the same way).

heh. i ran up to get my sock-in-progress, brought it downstairs, counted stitches and looked it over carefully several times before i finally saw it.

it wasn’t the same at all.

while working on it in the airport i somehow moved one stitch in the wrong direction before i started my heel flap. that resulted in the heel pattern being two stitches off-center, which in turn, caused the foot to be asymmetrical. that’s bad enough, but not the worst part, even—what’s really bad is that i proceeded to knit through the heel and down the whole foot without noticing, like i was high or something . . . oh wait—hehe, i was.

i’m blaming it on cashmere fumes. it’s just like your mama said—that’s dangerous territory and if you touch it, you’ll go blind.
another reason it was a very good idea to finish that schmata and lock it UP where it can’t harm anyone else.

i was so mad at myself that i started another sock saturday night just to calm my nerves and distract me from my own stupidity.

(don’t think i’m completely unaware that i’m trading one dangerous fiber for another here—i do, but like any good addict i can justify it. somehow)

anyway. this is the sock for this yarn i think, finally. you might remember this yarn in its previous incarnation as a poppy sock which i waffled over for a good long time before finally deciding to rip out. yes it was ok, but i thought i could do a better job showing off the yarn to its best potential.

i like the new one a lot better—the color transitions are more muted and the little wave in the motif enhances them. it’s another variation on a feather and fan pattern which works up quickly and easily, making the sock another good traveler.

ok . . . i’ve put myself on a bit of a schedule and i’m trying to stick with it in order to catch up and to fit in another activity that’s been on hold for way too long.

here’s a clue: it involves whatever is inside the box that arrived the other day.
(don’t forget to vote on one of the two names!)

164 thoughts on “if you touch that, you’ll go blind”

  1. Caricia is my vote 🙂 It’s lovely.
    And every time I read ‘poppy sock’, my brain helpfully shouts ‘Poppycock!!’ – which is making me giggle. Obviously, I’m in need of more sleep.
    Thanks for the cashmere fumes from afar…

  5. My choice is “embrassez-moi”! Not only does it mean “embrace me”, it also means “kiss me”, and that seems fitting to me because of what you said you were looking for the other day when you had bouquet and flowers in mind – bringing flowers to someone, isn’t it a way to ask for a kiss? (Hope this all makes sense, my mind is kind of busy packing a suitcase, so the words didn’t come easily, and aren’t necessarily in the right order…)

  6. Another vote for Caricia – it’s just stunning! I just wish there was a “feel-how-soft-this-is” button on my computer.

  11. Caricia seems perfect to me. By the way,I knit the Rivolo in the bronze colorway of Sea Silk and it is gorgeous. Love that colorway!

  15. ummm i recall from my french class that in modern colloquial french embrassez-moi means something a lot less graceful and sweet as you are intending… it means f___ me!! So I vote for caricia

  16. I vote for caricia. I kept reading embrassez-moi as embarrass me and that is not true of this shawl. It is beautiful, and I love the yarn colors.

  19. As a francophone, I can assure you that “embrassez-moi” does not mean what Brooklynne suggests. It simply and sweetly means “kiss me” or “embrace me”. I think she may be confusing it with “baisez-moi” which both means “kiss me” and “f… me”.

    And that’s your French lesson for today.

    (I must admit that Caricia just rolls off the tongue.)

    And by the way, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the new pattern for the handspun.

  20. I love how caracia sounds, so that gets my vote. It is beautiful, and the colors are fabulous and mix so well together.

    Bummer on the pink sock problem. The nice thing about knitting is that it is fixable. I ripped out 5 inches of a sweater back a couple weeks ago convinced I had screwed up the stitch pattern. I cast on again, and then realized I hadn’t screwed up before and had ripped for nothing. I had a glass of wine then.

  22. Hi. I just bought a pattern from you. I love your designs and sometime I will get the Honey Bee Stole from you. When will have the pattern available for your newest shawl? I love the pattern and the yarn…got to know about that yarn too. I love the colorway.Please write to me and let me know.
    Sherry

  23. Wow! Yeah – love the colors and their marriage with the pattern. I can “almost” feel the cashmere from here. 😀

    I’m voting for caricia.

  24. I vote for embrassez-moi. French is the language of love! Actually, I was going to suggest “flower basket”, which admittedly doesn’t have much of a ring to it, but the pattern reminds me so much of a flower basket quilt I have that my grandmother made. I’m fascinated that the knitted motif resembles the quilted motif so strongly. The bougainvillea socks are gorgeous, and I especially love the newest pair. The pattern really does show off the quiet loveliness of the yarn to great advantage.

  25. Caricia is what I vote for. Evertime I wear cashmere I feel the caress of the fabric. Seems to be the perfect name.
    Another beautiful shawl! I love the warm colors.

  27. Caricia. That’s definitely an Italian shawl. (Your post title made me snicker…) I’m so sorry about the bougainvillea socks – I hate it when that kind of thing happens (I’m still charmed to pieces by the combination of pattern and yarn color, though). And i love the way that new sock is working up — it’s a great way to show off the yarn 🙂

  30. Here’s my logic–Handmaiden’s from Canada, Canada’s bilingual (English and French)– no-brainer–go with the French but I’d use the personal “embrasse-moi”–(“tu” instead of “vous”)–more seductive. Especially if you can say it a la Piaf, with a real roll of the “r”. Good luck and have fun wrapping this one around you!

    Cheers, Barbie O.

  36. Caricia. Because I am a lazy punkin (to quote Frank Zappa) and one word is easier to remember than two. Especially at this hour of the morning.

  38. Caricia for sure. Rolls right off the tongue. “What are you knitting??” Caricia! Now get on your bike and pedal!

  39. Caricia…it sounds so lovely and romantic, just like that gorgeous shawl.

    Sorry about the oops in your sock; I sure know how you felt. I needed more than one glass of wine…more like the entire bottle!…after discovering an oops in a simple feather and fan stole I was making. How on earth could I reverse the pattern and not notice until nearly 6 inches later?? Since I didn’t use a lifeline, I have to very carefully tink back all 6 inches to keep it all straight. Hmmmm. Maybe this calls for a few stiff drinks instead?

  42. Caricia !
    Altough I do confess that at first I thought this was Italian ( but then Caricia means desk) but it turns out it’s Spanish 🙂
    It sounds a lot better than it would in my language anyway, what about “omhelzing” or ” streling” who could pronounce that! No, Caricia sounds a lot more exotic to me haha !

  43. Hi Anne! The shawl is gorgeous as always! I came in to point out that “embrassez-moi” definitely means kiss me in modern French but obviously that’s been taken care of already! If you’re looking for a French word in the same vein, however, I would suggest “câlin” or the familiar “câlinou”, which is a hug. 🙂

  45. I’m still giggling over the title. I was wondering what in that world you to what you were referring.

    Caricia works for me. It just… rolls off the tongue.

  46. Another vote for Caricia – it rolls off the tongue nicely!

    It’s a beautiful shawl. 🙂 I can see how it could mess with your head…

  47. I vote for Caricia. At first glance, I read embrassez-moi as “embarrass me” which I know is incorrect, but still.

  48. I prefer “embrassez-moi” because it looks cleaner to me when typed.

    For Caricia, the letters seem to smoosh together making it both harder to read and to pronounce without thinking. It might be a nice word but it also just doesn’t flow verbally for me. I doubt I could remember Caricia as a pattern name.

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