A Christmas Gift for My Mom

When I was deciding what I was going to give everyone for Christmas I immediately thought of making my mom a mini-clapotis becacuse she had admired mine when I was making it. However, I knew that I couldn't use the Noro Silk Garden to make hers because she had also told me that she is sensitive to wool and the silk garden is rather scratchy, even after being washed. I knew that I would have to find a soft substitute for it. First, I decided to use the recycled sari yarn that I had. As you all know, there was no way that was going to work, so I ripped it. Next I thought about giving her a simple scarf made from the sari silk yarn. I decided against that because I really wanted my mom to have something a little more special, a little more complicated. She is my mother, after all.

I agonized over this decision and agonized over it. I thought about making her socks instead, or a shawl. I thought about getting her a gift certificate to REI and being done with it. Part of the problem was that none of the yarn I was seeing at my LYS or elsewhere said "mom" to me. My mom needed a yarn that was several things. Smooth, since any hint of fuzziness makes her itch (she felt the backyard leaves scarf, made of buttery alpaca and she said, and I quote, "Eew. Itchy.") Soft, since I don't want her to itch. And brightly colored. My mom's favorite colors are magenta and red. Preferably together. Finally, I sort of gave up. After looking and looking for the right yarn and not finding it I decided that I wouldn't make any decisions about my mom's Christmas present until I found the right yarn and I wasn't going to choose something simply because it happened to be in the yarn store when I got there. No. I would wait until the right yarn appeared.

Then last week, right after work on Friday I stopped off at the yarn store to buy another hank of Mountain Colors to finish off the Column of Leaves Scarf (I didn't ultimately need it) and there it was sitting. In a basket in the middle of the table where people sit and knit in the yarn section. 210 yards of Lorna's Laces Shepherd's Sock Worsted in Bittersweet. It was the perfect mix of red, pink, purple and orange, and best of all, it's superwash. My mom is not big on the handwashing of garments. So, I found the yarn and decided to knit up yet another mini-clapotis. I knew she would love it and the yarn was perfect for it.

The only hitch that I ran into was that, like with sister's mini-clapotis, I ran out of yarn with only the tiniest bit of corner left to knit. I substituted a little bit of the leftover alpaca that happens to match the colorway perfectly. Serendipity.