Sunday, October 19, 2008

Quit it, Qiviut!

I have a busy week of editing coming up, so last night I thought I'd read October 2008 issue of Copy Talk from The Canadian Press.

Well. It seems that the Canadian Oxford Dictionary now rests in the hands of freelancers. This is better than being tossed altogether, since the book is unique in its choice of words. I hope I am not violating copyright when I quote Copy Talk's sample range, which ends with: "less-used terms such as qiviut, inukshuk and seigneury."

That's right, they said QIVIUT. You can't say that word to a newly reawakened knitter without a warning first!! For my non-knitting friends, qiviut is Musk Ox underfurriness, shed in spring. It is very warm, very non-itchy, very rare and consequently expensive, and heaven to knit with. Karen made a scarf from it but I wasn't knitting, so I was only interested. Now I am knitting and I want some.

But I am strong. I will resist qiviut* and finish my stupid cardigan instead.

*until I figure out how much yardage one needs for a non-lacy scarf.
*Wouldja lookit that! I figured it out! and now am somewhat poorer.

2 comments:

Karen said...

Oho, seduced by qiviut already, and at such a young age! :D
You do realize that this is the heroin of the knitting universe, right? Once you've started, you'll find yourself craving more, and then you'll have to settle for doses of Suri alpaca (the methadone equivalent) to keep from ordering more and more qiviut.
p.s. I have some in my stash, and it takes surpisingly little to make a scarf. Just sayin'.

Mary Keenan said...

how APPROPRIATE that Karen would be commenting, since the whole thing is her fault. I bought 320 yards of 2-ply, plus some qiviut/merino wool mix; my plan is to let the qiviut take me as far as it can in a double seed stitch, then pick up the end stitches and do lace in the blend till it's long enough. And then make a hat in the blend to match, maybe with a row or two of pink something to make it look matchy with my giant pink marshmallow coat, *sigh*