Novelties are not my strong suit; neither is being on trend, and certainly not being cool. But never say never, right?
When Knit Picks released their super-bulky faux fur yarn, Fable Fur, I nearly had a laughing fit. Who would ever make something with that? A lot of people, apparently…including me.
I tried to ignore it. Every time I looked at it I forced a chuckle. Whenever I saw another yarn like it that I had never noticed before (Sirdar Alpine, Cascade Furliscious, Lion Brand Go for Faux, and so on it goes), I told myself “Stitch definition, stitch definition!” and attempted to turn up my nose. But one day I swung by Hobby Lobby (a place I always tell myself not to buy more yarn, and yet I always do) and happened to walk right by their display of Yarn Bee Fur the Moment; and I don’t know exactly how it happened, but four balls jumped into my hand.
Initially I wanted to make an intarsia crochet pillow cover for a submissions call (chalking up the price of the yarn as a business expense is never a bad idea); but as I worked on the sample something inside said, “Now, how about a knit version?”
Despite vowing not to succumb to Knit Picks’ November Big Sale (“The prices aren’t as good as they were last year, or the year before, remember?” Maybe this Big Sale isn’t so big!), I picked up three balls of the once-ridiculed Fable Fur.
I now love it.
The two yarns (Fur the Moment and Fable Fur) are essentially interchangeable; there are some slight differences that may merit a review/side-by-side comparison in future weeks, but both are squishy, fluffy, and unbelievably soft. My aunt wondered if they would pick up dust and suggested adding a zipper to both pillows, which was much less work and more fun than I thought it would be.
And as for the name—why would I name a cute pillow, which probably will be a made as a gift to everyone’s adorable litte children and grandchildren and nieces and nephews, after a character from That Hideous Strength (furry, tame cuddliness notwithstanding)? I don’t know; but it seemed like a good idea at the time. And besides, if one suddenly does something uncharacteristically trendy (that is, something that’s trendy now, not 500 years ago), it stands to reason to do something extra geeky to make up for it.
As for where you can get the pattern for this 14″ by 14″ serving of cuteness, both the knit and the crochet versions are available on Ravelry for $1 until midnight EST on Saturday, January 4, 2020; and I currently await approval from the powers that be at LoveCrafts for the pattern to be published there. Update: Mr. Bultitude (Knit) and Mr. Bultitude (Crochet) are now available via Lovecrafts.com
And if you want to rename your own pillow to something more genteel, you have my blessing. (But mine stays Mr. Bultitude.)
