Reyna, Malabrigo and "The First Conspiracy"

 

  

     Two summers ago I bought myself for my birthday some gorgeous Malabrigo Mecheta yarn in Whales Road and Caribeno.  Thinking I'd do a Line Break shawl out of the Whales Road it sat unused (one day I'll get that done in I'm envisioning a purple Malabrigo).  In an effort to use up some of my stuff and finish projects I unearthed one of the skeins and started a Reyna.  The second skein I can save in case I want my Reyna larger or for a surprise project someday, or maybe pair it with another color for a two-toned shawl.

      Mecheta is one of my favorite of the Malabrigos.  But I have found a single strand of it can fuzz up a bit when repeatedly ripped out.  So that was my frustration at starting my Reyna Monday.  For some reason, I just couldn't get the beginning just right and I restarted so many times I lost count.  I had already used the beginning strand to knit up a square in garter with #4 (size recommend), then #5 and #6 in the same tiny swatch.  For the swatch, I found #5 the best, looser, but not lacy (makes sense since Mecheta is a little thicker than sock yarn).  So this little yarn at the beginning was overused by the time I kept on ripping out.  I did cut a bit off and finally got a good start. (Please note I did rip out this too finding it still too tight, eventually reknitting the start with #6 needles and I like the more loose knit more).

Designer's pics 

 photos by © Noora Laivola

     Reyna should be a delightfully light summer shawl and I wish I could capture the Whales Road color, it's amazingly gorgeous, but my tablet's camera has a blue filter.  Check out Whales Road here in Malabrigo at Jimmy Beans to truly see the colors - Malabrigo Mechita Yarn Whales Road.

 

      I'm still reading "The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington".  It's a great read, exciting with several entwined threads of narrative from Washington trying to uncover plots against the Colonial Army, to the former British New York Governor plotting in a ship in the Long Island Sound, to local thieves trying to counterfeit colonial money.  I interspersed reading it with some Audibles I have on the American Revolution.  My favorite is actually a huge 704-page tome on the battles in the war - "Almost A Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence".  I got the book, but I'm mostly listening to it.  It's actually very well written and the audio is done superbly by someone who keeps the excitement going. With listening to two other accounts (one more on social aspects, the other on Benedict Arnold) I've gotten up to 1778 - 1779.  It's slow going doing several books at once but I feel I'm getting a better grasp of it.  A new book is coming out mid-month and it sounds so good -"The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777" (The Revolution Trilogy Book 1), but I wonder can I go over it again, and be really interested?  Hum, tempted.

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