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. I’m going to vote ‘caricia’. I reminds me of the Jay & the Americans song ‘Cara Mia’ (giving my age away!). The yarn sounds so yummy! I’m a big fan of Fleece Artist/Handmaiden yarns but I’ve yet to try this one. Now I may have a reason!

  3. Sounds like your vote is in…. :). It’s a lovely shawl…such prettiness!

    Can’t wait to see what is in the box 🙂

  4. Caricia, please. What a fast knitter you are! Can’t wait for the wiggles scarf pattern by the way. (I’m not nagging.) I promised to make that one for my sister.

  5. I vote for both names use the embrace for the triangular as it falls over the shoulders like an embrace. Just to make more work; for those of us who like a rectagular shawl work one up in the same patter or similar because a caress requires more action like wrapping the rectangular shawl.

  7. Why not something along the lines of Blind Embrace (and then translate that)? I laughed so hard when you said, “if you touch it, you’ll go blind”–you have to link this up with the name.

  8. Caricia — absolutely gorgeous! Love the colors…..

    Also, I’m kinda liking Christine Link’s suggestion as well. Hmmm.

  9. I admit I am partial to embrassez-moi. To me,
    Caricia IS close to Cara Mia which was Gomez Addams of The Addams Family favorite endearment for his wife Morticia. Cute but too Goth for me-and the shawl is not Goth. How about My Embrace instead of Embrace me. Or My Love’s Embrace.

  10. Another vote for Caricia, here. The other is too close to Embarrass Me. Which cashmere might cause us to do…but I think Caricia rolls off the tongue more easily.

  11. Great names! The shawl is beautiful! I’m going with Caricia, because it’s Spanish, and I don’t think you’ve had a Spanish name yet, have you?

    So sorry about the sock! Cashmere fumes!!! I love it. If you’re going to have fumes, cashmere would be a good kind to have!

  12. This shawl is very enticing. It has a slight hint of Missoni – so I vote for an Italian connection. To me the fabric is well suited to Italian design. Caricia for me.

    By the way – huge improvement in design on the New Hue sock. The yarn colour needed a touch of control in the pattern to add some maturity. What a difference a stitch pattern can make!

  13. Although I like the idea of a french name, because Fleece Artist is from Canada, I’m not fond of Embrassez-moi. I do like the familiar version, Embrasse-moi better. But if I have to vote between the two choices given, then I think Caricia wins. It’s really lovely! If you were fanning the shawl instead of yourself it might dry faster… 🙂

    You’d better show what’s in the box! Is it a loom or perhaps a new wheel?

  14. I like “caricia” because it seems to roll off the tongue more smoothly…that being said, another commenter mentioned that embrassez-moi also means “kiss me” and that made me think of “besame”…..just throwing that little monkey wrench into the mix…

  15. Caricia. I had a lovely doe named Caricia. I like that colorway. It reminds me of the Bronze Fleece Artitst SeaWool sock yarn I still have.

  16. Oh, between the two you offered…Caricia all the way! It’s a lovely appropriate name.
    But… I LOVE Besame…. not sure why it seems to fit even better, but I”m warped that way.
    .
    Bummer about the socks. 🙁 I’m sure you’ll resolve it soon. (but… loving the new sock!)

  17. HAHA Caress is my cousin’s name. I was doing her taxes last night. We call her Caricia. 😀 So you KNOW that gets my vote.

    And…how many $40 skeins is it that one would need for that purty little shawl?!

  19. While I love French and embrassez-moi sounds oh, so enticing, really…..one has only to say the word “cashmere” and that one word evokes everything about the fiber. That’s why I think that just one word for the shawl, “Caricia” will do just fine to paint the word picture for this grand shawl.

  23. For me it’s embrassez-moi, most definitely. It SOUNDS like cashmere to me! But I see that I’m probably in the minority here. . .

  24. Caricia! Love it! I’m trying to find a stole to make quickly for my brother’s wedding (for his new bride). I only have a few weeks and I have a cone of off-white Zephyr. Any suggestions? Thanks!

  25. embrassez-moi! French for the wonderful, sexy, hot romance of it all!
    What a gorgeous shawl…
    Can’t wait to find out what’s in that box…
    (((hugs)))

  28. Caricia gets my vote.

    What type of blocking wires do you use? I’m looking for some right now but trying to choose ones that would be great for large projects like a shawl or scarf.

  30. I vote for caricia. When I look at embrassez-moi it looks like “embarrassment” to me…and this shawl is too beautiful to be an embarrassment!

  32. I’ve got fingerprints to wipe of the monitor from trying to snatch that shawl through the screen! I vote for the “tu” variation, embrasse-moi. Intimate and seductive.

  33. I liked Caricia too. Embrassez-moi is too colloquial with its other meanings (‘kiss’ actually being the primary one), and a false cognate with embarrass. (Hopefully caricia doesn’t have any hidden meanings! I don’t speak Italian (I assume it’s Italian), more than a few words!) And Caricia just is so liquid on the tongue, as I imagine the yarn to be to the touch. Lovely.

  35. Though I like the idea of a French name for this shawl (with the Canada connection), I like Caricia better. (Though I really like the suggestion of câlinou)

  39. Caricia for sure. And OMG I had no idea how gorgeous it was until you pinned it out! I have a large skein of handmaiden seasilk (in Melon) that would be gorgeous as that shawl. I’ve been waiting for just the right one to knit and I think this one would be it!

  40. another vote for Caricia.
    as for that BIG box. I’m guessing a loom. because its just too insanely cold and frozen out your door to have anything to do with the garden – unless you are going to start an indoor greenhouse. wait a minute.. you might be crazy enough to attempt either!

  41. Caricia is beautiful; Embrassez is to close to embarass for my eyes, even knowing the other meanings!

    And the shawl is beautiful too!

  43. I love Caricia too. And I love the title of this post! It reminds me of the people that turned to watch Sodom destroyed and were turned into pillars of salt!

  44. Oh, as soon as I read “embrace me,” I thought “oh, what about embrasse-moi!” And then I read the next paragraph. However, I think I really like caricia better. More mellifluous. And I can imagine a dark italian saying it….whew!

  50. Lovely! Caricia is my vote. It flows from the vocal cords and has an extra bit of anticipation in it.

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