Well, well, well. Now, I know many people think that because I knit all the time and pretty much know what I’m doing, that I never make mistakes. At least not big mistakes. However, I just frogged half – a little bit more than half, actually – of a sweater which will now never be made. I spent a solid week knitting on Moroccan Nights, a pattern I love,
(MadMad’s Moroccan Nights on Ravelry, a lovely project)
in Tenzing, a merino/yak blend that I love.
A match made in heaven. Just to let you know, a week of knitting for me is about 25 hours worth. The shaping was intricate, the stitching a little fussy, I made only a slight mod to the neckline, I did the sleeves prior to the body as I like to. I was enjoying myself. Got to 2″ below the armholes, put everything on spare cables to try it on to see if I wanted to adjust the waist shaping, and found that it was too big, too bulky, and made me look like a miniature linebacker. I left it in a heap overnight and realized in the morning that it had to go.
So what happened – why did I make such a mess? A lot of small things came together to make a big ugh. First, the designer made hers in a rather hairy fingering-weight wool and knit at a DK-weight gauge, so that even with all the heavy texture she got a light and drape-y fabric. Because I loved Tenzing so much and it knits very nicely at a DK-weight (although it’s rated sport) I hoped I would also get a fabric that draped nicely. I failed to block my swatch so even when I saw that the sweater was starting to feel a little stiff and look a little chunky, I hoped that blocking would solve that. When I tried it on, however, I realized that I had chosen a size that was too big anyway, so if the fabric blocked even a little looser, the sweater would have just hung and all the shaping would have been for naught. There was a lot of hoping and not much measuring and testing.
Anyway, let me just say that once I realized I would have to rip, I just didn’t have the heart to re-start, although I think if I had chosen the smaller size (a little too small for me) and gone up a needle size to get a looser fabric, things would have worked out. But it’s just not to be.
So I have taken the 700 yards that I used and started a funky triangle shawl/scarf with it, which I’m enjoying. Still think this yarn deserves a beautiful sweater and someday the right pattern will come along. And someday my prince will come, too.
I’m sticking to some smaller projects for a while. Not out of spite, but because there are a million new yarns I’m dying to try. I told you about Meadow last week, and this week Mimi came in, a 100% mink yarn from Trendsetter, and is it lovely! I don’t have a photo, sorry. We have 10 colors. The gauge is going to be light fingering, I think. It blooms like cashmere after knitting and washing and is perfect for charming little mitts, neckwarmers and cowls, scarves, lace shawls, and because it’s about half the price of cashmere, you can make a sweater without taking out a second mortgage. It’s got a 5-star rating on Ravelry and only good feedback so far. Can’t wait to use it. If it turns out to be as lovely to work with as it seems, we may have to get some hand-dyes next. And we received a few beautiful shades of Findley from Juniper Moon Farm, a silk and merino laceweight that I’ve been swatching doubled. This is one skein of a beautiful off-white and a lovely light taupe held together:
It’s silky smooth and elegant, must think of the perfect thing to make.
Can’t believe it’s almost November, I feel like summer ended yesterday. Time to make brother-in-law socks! In Manos’ Alegria this year, another yummy scrummy new yarn. I’m sure there are some other things I should mention, but my head is full of yarn. Life is good!
