Sneaky Yarn
You know how sometimes yarn has a mind of its own? I swear my sweater's worth of Araucania Nature Wool in a fabulous tealy-blue was destined to be knit, ripped, knit and ripped over and over. Its first incarnation was as a brioche ribbed sweater called Nieuwmarkt that I knit 8 inches into before discovering I didn't have gauge and it was sized for a 12 year old (do you have any idea how much knitting 8in in brioche is?). Demoralized, I frogged it and left the yarn to marinate in the stash for a while.
When Low Tide Ripples was published, I immediatly associated it with this yarn. I even remembered its traitorous nature and swatched with it before allowing myself to see it completed in my minds eye. I got gauge easily and cast on, making merry progress and enjoying the knitting greatly. It is constructed from the neck down, all on one piece, and if you scroll down to the post below this one, you'll see that I was a mere 3 inches from finishing the body before discovering sabotage that happened halfway back. I dutifully ripped and re-knit, pleased that I went back and fixed my mistake. Does anyone else do that whole internal back and forth about whether or not its worth it to go back and fix, or if you can live with the mistake - I swear it takes me more time to come to the decision to actually re-knit than it does to actually re-knit.
Sleeves were next, and as a made my way through the first ingeniously crafted, beautiful cabley and buttony sleeve pattern, I realized I was knitting them long enough to fit a baby giraffe leg. Once again, the yarn bitch-slapped me when I least expected it, and called for the 3rd frogging of its life. Luckily, I managed not to make the same mistake on sleeve two and in no time I had a well fitting, comfy fall sweater for myself, despite the yarn's deepest desire to not be confined into such a conformist destiny.
I will not be complacent, however, and am keeping vigilant watch for things that might snag or rip my new garment and help the yarn to achieve its desired fate.
When Low Tide Ripples was published, I immediatly associated it with this yarn. I even remembered its traitorous nature and swatched with it before allowing myself to see it completed in my minds eye. I got gauge easily and cast on, making merry progress and enjoying the knitting greatly. It is constructed from the neck down, all on one piece, and if you scroll down to the post below this one, you'll see that I was a mere 3 inches from finishing the body before discovering sabotage that happened halfway back. I dutifully ripped and re-knit, pleased that I went back and fixed my mistake. Does anyone else do that whole internal back and forth about whether or not its worth it to go back and fix, or if you can live with the mistake - I swear it takes me more time to come to the decision to actually re-knit than it does to actually re-knit.
Sleeves were next, and as a made my way through the first ingeniously crafted, beautiful cabley and buttony sleeve pattern, I realized I was knitting them long enough to fit a baby giraffe leg. Once again, the yarn bitch-slapped me when I least expected it, and called for the 3rd frogging of its life. Luckily, I managed not to make the same mistake on sleeve two and in no time I had a well fitting, comfy fall sweater for myself, despite the yarn's deepest desire to not be confined into such a conformist destiny.
I will not be complacent, however, and am keeping vigilant watch for things that might snag or rip my new garment and help the yarn to achieve its desired fate.
posted by Pumpkinmama at Sunday, November 08, 2009
12 Comments:
Oooh... *love*. I am properly impressed by both the beauty of the yarn and the pattern. Mostly those cunning sleeves.
It's beautiful!!
So pretty, and very cozy-looking! Sometimes you have to beat that yarn into submission, and other times you have to listen to what it's telling you.
Totally worth the fix! It really is a lot easier to make the decision if you ask yourself that one question, will I wear it with the mistake? Truly, honestly. Some people will, but knowing oneself is key. That decision is never difficult for me. And hey! We love to knit, you got to do more of it!
Oh, I love the photo with the boots!
Gorgeous. It looks stunning on you!
I keep falling for the pullovers, but I'm going to be strong. I won't get nearly enough wear out of it. Maybe I can turn it into a cardigan...
Yarn with a mind of its own! Looks like a beautiful job of taming the beast. Yes, I go through that man on a galloping horse debate, it's only a baby sweater, it's in the shoe question.
I love this sweater! Kudos :) Isn't it funny sometimes how you either have yarn rolling around in your stash for years, or else its been knit and frogged more times than you can count and then all of a sudden, BAM, it hits you! It makes it kind of feel that yarn truly has a destiny of its own, haha :)
I really like and appreciate your post.Thanks Again. Keep writing.
These are all really solid tips. I can’t tell you how often I see a comment on one of the blogs I write for that amounts to “nice post” and nothing more. I’ve even worked at a couple of sites that delete comments that don’t add to the discussion!
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Really, you have some great tips here. Thanks for sharing. I sometimes get so caught up in writing my own blogs I forget to put the right thought into the comments. You’ve healed me, however!
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