There are many times that we come into the Center on a Tuesday morning to find that someone has brought in a relative's stash. Early sometime last year it was boxes and bags of yarn, there were also several half knitted items that would have been impossible to finish, and these were also divided/sold amongst those who were interested.
I happened to see a large worsted weight project that was in a heathered burgundy colorway that I thought I might use. I brought it home and frogged the whole project, skeined it up and washed it, then I put it away until I was ready to use it. I finished the poncho that I posted about last week and I immediately began to think about the next long term project I wanted to take on, and also to think about what kind of yarn I had on hand. That is when I remembered this lovely yarn.
The yarn is actually not quite as bright as it shows in this picture. I weighed the yarn, and compared what I found on the yarn labels that were on the unused skeins. Turns out there are approximately 10 skeins and a whopping 2700 yards of worsted weight yarn.
I don't usually knit with this weight yarn so I had no idea what kind of pattern I would be able to knit with this amount of yarn.
I knew that I wanted something textured and comfy, and using the Ravelry pattern search, I was pleased to find that I could knit Veronik Avery's "Landfall" quite easily with this much yarn! This is a paid for pattern on Ravelry. (I tried to link it, but my efforts were in vain!) "Landfall" is a sweater coat with lots of texture.
I did a good sized swatch and I washed it and let it dry. Happily I got gauge with the recommended size of knitting needle.
It has been a long time since I have done a pattern with so much texture and at such a scale as this. This is definitely a long term project!
To help me get back into the textured knitting groove, I decided that I would knit the sleeves first. Boy, am I glad I did! I had several false starts, with twisting the twisted stitches incorrectly, leaving out a cable twist etc. But as I persevered, I felt like I was getting it. Only to find that I had blown passed the start of the sleeve increases! Rip it!
Finally, last night, 3 pattern repeats in, I was loving how the texture was shaping up. I decided I had better make sure I was remembering to do the stitch increases on the end of the row as well as the beginning.
After a quick count, I found that one side of that center cable work had 2 stitches more than the other side did, but at the same time I had the correct number of stitches on the needle! I then checked my stitch count just above the ribbing and, you guessed it, I had not centered the center panel correctly. It was off by just that couple of stitches. Rip it!
I started over again, but I find that, I am already comfortable with reading the pattern charts, now that I have done them several times over, and it is once again moving along nicely. I can't wait until I get back to where I was last night!
Until next time, Happy Crafting, Tina
I happened to see a large worsted weight project that was in a heathered burgundy colorway that I thought I might use. I brought it home and frogged the whole project, skeined it up and washed it, then I put it away until I was ready to use it. I finished the poncho that I posted about last week and I immediately began to think about the next long term project I wanted to take on, and also to think about what kind of yarn I had on hand. That is when I remembered this lovely yarn.
I don't usually knit with this weight yarn so I had no idea what kind of pattern I would be able to knit with this amount of yarn.
I did a good sized swatch and I washed it and let it dry. Happily I got gauge with the recommended size of knitting needle.
It has been a long time since I have done a pattern with so much texture and at such a scale as this. This is definitely a long term project!
Finally, last night, 3 pattern repeats in, I was loving how the texture was shaping up. I decided I had better make sure I was remembering to do the stitch increases on the end of the row as well as the beginning.
After a quick count, I found that one side of that center cable work had 2 stitches more than the other side did, but at the same time I had the correct number of stitches on the needle! I then checked my stitch count just above the ribbing and, you guessed it, I had not centered the center panel correctly. It was off by just that couple of stitches. Rip it!
I started over again, but I find that, I am already comfortable with reading the pattern charts, now that I have done them several times over, and it is once again moving along nicely. I can't wait until I get back to where I was last night!
Until next time, Happy Crafting, Tina
2 comments:
You needed a new project to curl up on the couch with!!!! The weather report looks iffy....knitting will be just the ticket!
That's going to be beautiful!
Post a Comment