Friday, March 20, 2009

In Which I Make My Confession

apropos yesterday's post.


" 'But, Captain Wentworth,' cried Louisa, 'how vexed you must have been when you came to the Asp, to see what an old thing they had given you.'

'I knew pretty well what she was before that day;' said he, smiling. 'I had no more discoveries to make than you would have as to the fashion and strength of any old pelisse, which you had seen lent about among half your acquaintance ever since you could remember, and which at last, on some very wet day, is lent to yourself. Ah! she was a dear old Asp to me. She did all that I wanted."


Jane Austen, Persuasion


You see, this is how I feel about acrylic yarn (even Red Heart), though I doubt I would ever call it "dear". I'm pretty well aware of it's capabilities and it's limitations; I don't expect more from it than it is able to do, and under those terms it has sometimes done most, if not all, that I wanted.


editorial note: I am somewhat affronted that Blogger's spell check does not recognize the word "pelisse".

5 comments:

Leslie said...

As well you should be (regarding pelisse). Blogger using Mozilla Fire Fox let me add it to the dictionary for future uses.

Acrylic is better for some things than wool and wool or other natural fibers/blends are better than acrylic for others. As the mother (Katy Nolan) said in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" "There's a little man in every woman, and a little woman in every man." So goes it with fiber - depends on the ultimate use and care afforded to it.

Leslie said...

I did try to change mother's name to "Katie" after a quick Wiki check but it didn't work - forgive me ;->

YarnThrower said...

Are you a little affronted that **I** don't recognize the word "pelisse"?

Anonymous said...

I had to google-define "pelisse", but now I am pleased that it is in my vocabulary. (Hope it stays there; sometimes my memory is rather like Swiss cheese.)

You are absolutely correct about acrylic. Sometimes it is the perfect yarn for the purpose. I knit a dog blanket from acrylic last year (it was stunning, too, if I do say so myself), knowing that the recipient absolutely positively had to be able to throw it in the washer and dryer with no qualms.

magnusmog said...

One of my favourite novels - thank you!