Booty!

So I finished my Butin necklace last night and promptly wore it to work today.  Isn’t it pretty?!??

I’ll bet you’re wondering what part of this photo has to do with booty.  During the class last Friday, someone asked Laura Nelkin where the name “butin” came from and she said “well, that’s a funny story…”  She likes to use non-English words as design names and she used an online translator to find non-English words meaning “swag.”  She liked the sound of the French translation, “butin.”  BUT…  she later learned that one should also use the REVERSE translator, because “butin” really means “booty” or “spoils” or “haul,” not the drape-y kind of swag.  Funny!I got lots of compliments on this today.  One coworker said “Oooo, are you into beading now?  Or wait, is it knitting?”  To which I cheerfully replied “it’s both!!”  She may just get some Laura Nelkin swag for Christmas.

I spent a giddy hour (or, ahem, maybe more) online yesterday shopping for beads with which to make more Nelkin designs.  Some pretty sparkly things are on their way to me from Fire Mountain Gems.  At least this kind of stash won’t take up much space.

I also finished up the fair isle headband.  This is made of Plymouth Encore DK from Julie’s stash (she may have been happy to have me help use it up?).  I didn’t have any DK or sportweight yarn in 3 colors, which is what we were supposed to bring to class.  She saved me from buying some. While I think this came out just fine, I’m still not enamored of the technique.  Maybe because this was knit in the round on a 16” needle?  I’ve always found that size uncomfortable for my fingers to hold.

Because this is DK yarn, I think the headband is a little loose.  Not crazy loose – just a little.  Loose in a way that it won’t mess up your hair too much.  I also think it’s a bit wide.  Here is a terrible shot of it on my head (it’s really hard to take a picture of your own head):Still, it is DONE.  Now I can:

• get back to my Elm sock, which is past the heel flap but not through the gusset decrease, and/or
• finalize my pattern choice for the SPAKAL yarn.  It’s all plied and I will share photos sometime this week.

Bonny and Steven, I left the secret of 50% faster kitchener stitch in the comments on the previous post.  Now, you too can graft swiftly!