Thursday, March 12, 2009

Spit Decision

Well, there I was in the car line to pick up my daughter. School had not actually let out yet, so it was going to be at least another 15 minutes before I could move anywhere. Perfect time to knit! I had Anise with me, which uses Rowan Big Wool. This is a great yarn, but there are only 87 yards in each ball. That means that you end up having to get a new ball fairly frequently. And as luck would have it, I was at a place where I needed to join in a new ball of yarn. What to do, what to do? If I left ends to be woven in, it wouldn't look very good with such bulky yarn. I had been using a felted join, and I usually use water from the faucet to achieve this. But I had no water with me. I had a juice box, but I decided it probably wouldn't be a good idea to saturate my yarn ends with apple juice. So the only liquid I had with me? Spit. Now, many people swear by it and argue that the pH of spit helps to make a more secure felted join than regular water, etc. But I don't live in a community that condones much public spitting, so I was in a quandary. Should I? Shouldn't I? I looked around. A fellow parent standing on the sidewalk smiled and waved. I sheepishly returned the social exchange and waited till she turned her attention elsewhere. Another quick look around, and then I quickly tried to surreptitiously spit on my yarn. But no, it was not enough. So I had to muster up the courage to hawk another wad of spit. And another. There. Done!

For a couple of days, I was paranoid that my daughter would come home and tell me she was socially devastated because some friend heard from some teacher who heard from someone's mom that I had been spitting in my car. Luckily, that hasn't happened. Yet. For my courage, Mother Nature rewarded me with a quick cold snap. Not only is it a break from the 80-degree whether we've been having, but it is also a chance to actually wear Anise. (Don't worry, it's been washed)


As always, more info in the gallery and on Ravelry.

7 comments:

  1. That is so funny! I'm sure no one say :)

    Anise looks great! So cozy.

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  2. Gorgeous as always! Even with the spit :)

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  3. OMG! I just laughed out loud picturing you hawking a fresh wad of spit. :-)

    Your Anise is beautiful.

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  4. LOL! I love that technique and I swear by it ~ its a little gross but it sure beats weaving in ends. Your jacket turned out so pretty and I love this feminine pink color!

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  5. Do you aware that the colorof your Anise the same with the flowers outside?

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  6. How funny! I had forgotten about the spit join until recently and have used it on the last few sweaters with great results (I'm not a fan of weaving in ends). My method may be a bit more inconspicuous (spelling??). I just suck on the two ends.

    Love the sweater by the way!

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