Trenchwork

I have to admit that I’m confused. I’ve only worked with solid color or heathered yarns thus far (barring the crocheted exception), but I found this mohair and loved the color and feel of the thing, and thought it would be perfect for a shawl. So, that’s what I’m using for Miriam’s Seraphim Shawl. As a postscript, the color is a bit too light/bright in this photo; the reality is deeper and darker. In any event, I fully expected to get a sort of marbled look or strong heathering, but as you see, I have stripes.

And they’re not precisely subtle stripes, either. I suspect they’ll “dissolve” a bit when the thing is finally blocked and stretched, but I’m afraid it will play havoc with the lace pattern coming up. Am I going to rip it out? Heck no! The yarn is an Italian import called “Mohair Lux” and distributed byIdéna in Norway, and I was fortunate to get the stuff on sale. It’s soft, strong, richly colored—and absolutely hellish to rip out. Frog the whole thing? Absolutely no way in you-know-where. Just forget it. Ain’t gonna happen. This stuff is gonna be a Seraphim shawl whether it should be or not.

But here’s the question: How do you know whether something is going to stripe if it isn’t labeled as a self-striping yarn?? Do ALL yarns that look like this stripe? Seriously, someone enlighten me?

On other fronts, we’re having beautiful weather this afternoon. Don’t worry—it’s supposed to rain most of next week.