Hitchhiker... It's a wrap!

What is it?

It's a bird?



It's a plane?

Huh?

(Not a great photo... sorry. The t-shirt is my favorite... "Chillin' with my Peeps")

It's my "Hitchhiker" and it's done!  Yay!

Finished two projects (two... count them... TWO projects) in ONE weekend! 

Pattern:  Hitchhiker by Martina Behm (pattern link is HERE).

Yarn:  Nymph Hand Paint by Flydesigns (link HERE).

My mom and I went to the Sock Summit in Portland, Oregon, in July 2011.  I was a bit overwhelmed by all the gorgeous yarn on display.  I was there for a few hours before I actually picked out a skein of yarn to purchase.  The colors in this yarn really caught my eye... vibrant blue, bright yellow, and fresh green.  The yarn is part merino wool and part tencel (made from wood pulp). I noticed the yarns containing tencel seem to have a very nice shine to them.  Of course once I bought this skein of yarn, my purse strings loosened up a bit and I bought some more yarn after that.  But this was my first Sock Summit purchase and it's finally been knit up.  The yarn was a dream to work with.  I did not block my project and it drapes and feels so nice.

On my plane ride home from the Sock Summit, I sat by another knitter who was returning to Denver, Colorado (she had attended the Sock Summit as well).  On the plane, she was knitting this great "Hitchhiker" pattern in some Wollmeise yarn.  Since my return home, I have not stopped thinking about this pattern. I finally broke down and purchased the pattern off of Ravelry a few weekends ago (it was less than five bucks and purchasing patterns on-line is really quick and simple... I just tend to avoid such since there are so many great FREE patterns out there).

I am glad I purchased the pattern and this yarn.  I am happy with my Hitchhiker.  I think it will be great to wear in the fall as the temperatures begin to dip. 

I enjoyed the pattern description on Ravelry; here it is:

Garter stitch. It‘s simple, its warm and squishy, stretchy and reversible and it makes any variegated, hand-dyed sockyarn really shine. So here‘s Hitchhiker: It is a narrow, slightly asymmetrically shaped triangular shawlette that can be wrapped around the neck several times. The ends are long enough to tie it with a knot. One of the short sides of the triangle features a saw-tooth border that evolves naturally during the knitting and gives the shawl its unusual shape. Because the knitting starts at one end, you can stop anytime, bind off and end up with a useful neckerchief, shawlette or shawl. A perfect project to relax in between more complicated ones, also very suitable for beginners and young knitters.

The name? Well, if you use a 150 g skein of Wollmeise 100% Merino for this, you can make how many teeth? That‘s right, 42. The answer to the question about the universe and everything, according to Douglas Adams' wonderful book "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy“. So don‘t forget your towel, and happy knitting!

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My project contains only 37 teeth but it is a nice sized wrap (I used nearly all of my 470 yards of yarn... on size US 4 needles... yep, that's a lot of stitches!).  I've heard of this book before and now I am very curious to read it.  What is the significance of 42 teeth and why do I need to remember my towel?  If anyone knows, let me know in the comments section.  Maybe I just need to read the book... while I wear my "Hitchhiker"...