Ah well, live and learn. I think I will stay away from hand-dyed yarns in the future. They're pretty, but making something that doesn't look weird or have discernible color variation between skeins (even of the same dye lot) is too difficult.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Purple sweater
Well, I finished my purple sweater. I'm not sure how I like it; because of my tribulations with the hand-dyed yarn, the sleeves are noticeably different from the body:
Ah well, live and learn. I think I will stay away from hand-dyed yarns in the future. They're pretty, but making something that doesn't look weird or have discernible color variation between skeins (even of the same dye lot) is too difficult.
Ah well, live and learn. I think I will stay away from hand-dyed yarns in the future. They're pretty, but making something that doesn't look weird or have discernible color variation between skeins (even of the same dye lot) is too difficult.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Argh!
Today I rediscovered, much to my chagrin, a downside to working with hand-dyed yarn. I joined in a new ball (same dye lot and all), and found after a bunch of rows that there was a noticeable difference between the colors in the new and old skeins -- the new one was much darker. Since I was working on the front of the sweater, this was really bad. So I ripped out an entire evening's work and took stock of the remaining yarn. I found that of the two hanks I hadn't yet wound, one was the same shade as the rest of the sweater and the other is the darker shade of the rows I just ripped out. So, I will use the two dark skeins for the sleeves and hope it doesn't look too weird. At least it'll be symmetrical.
Maybe this will teach me to do alternating rows with different skeins when I use a hand-dyed yarn from now on. That's the way you're supposed to do it just because of the potential for problems like this, but I'm lazy and so tonight I paid the price.
Maybe this will teach me to do alternating rows with different skeins when I use a hand-dyed yarn from now on. That's the way you're supposed to do it just because of the potential for problems like this, but I'm lazy and so tonight I paid the price.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
What I'm up to and stuff
I should really be working on the pullover I am planning to make for my mother's boyfriend Steve for Christmas. But I have had a seriously hard time finding the right yarn for it. I want something that's soft, but also easy to care for -- he's not the type of guy who's going to hand-wash his clothes, and I certainly don't want to make more work for my mother. So I was going to use this stuff I found at the new LYS -- Pure Gold Chunky, which is a high-end acrylic that feels exactly like cotton and is supposed to be very durable. It says it's chunky-weight but the yarn store owner insisted it was worsted, so I asked her to order me some as there wasn't enough for a sweater for such a large guy as Steve. I had gotten some to make a sweater for Ray, so I tried a swatch of the pattern I'm planning to use ("Marching Cables" by Jane Schwartz, from the Oct 2007 issue of Knit 'N Style)...but the swatch was way too big, meaning the yarn store lady was wrong, so I called and asked her not to put in the order. Even using smaller needles wouldn't have helped, as the fabric was very thick and dense.
So then I was going to go with Wool-Ease. I know the yarn snobs will sneer at me, but Wool-Ease has some nice colors and is durable, reasonably soft, and easy to care for. But I couldn't find enough of that in a decent color either. So I ended up ordering a bunch of KnitPicks Swish Superwash. Now I just have to wait for it to show up. I also indulged in a couple of color cards and a pair of their Options needles so I can see how I like them. If I do, I may get the set, although with a twinge of guilt as I already have the Boye Needlemaster and Denise sets. I use the Boyes almost exclusively; the Denises are not slippery enough for my taste.
Anyway, while I've been dithering about yarn for Steve's present, I've been working on a sweater called "Hearts on a String" by Lorraine Ehrlinger, from the January 2006 issue of Creative Knitting. I had gotten some purple Malabrigo worsted-weight Merino in New Hampshire last month, so I really wanted to use it for something. I've now finished the back and started on the front. It's going well so far; I'll post a picture soon. This is the first new pattern I've done in a couple months; my last project was another pair of Knitty's Broad Street mittens for a friend; before that, I re-did the Garter Stitch Aran cardigan for Ray since the first one I made met with a tragic felting accident. This time I used Wool-Ease, since it won't felt; it came out quite nice.
I just Freecycled a whole bunch of crochet magazines. Part of me feels a little guilty, like I'm somehow betraying my crocheting roots by getting rid of the stuff, but in reality, these are magazines I had subscribed to and none of these issues actually have anything I would want to make, even if I were still crocheting a lot. In fact, a lot of them would be good candidates for a "You Knit What?"-like snarking. I'm keeping all issues that do have anything I like. Anyway, at least I'm not tossing them into a landfill; I couldn't bring myself to just throw them out no matter how little I like them. It would be like throwing away books...horrors!
So then I was going to go with Wool-Ease. I know the yarn snobs will sneer at me, but Wool-Ease has some nice colors and is durable, reasonably soft, and easy to care for. But I couldn't find enough of that in a decent color either. So I ended up ordering a bunch of KnitPicks Swish Superwash. Now I just have to wait for it to show up. I also indulged in a couple of color cards and a pair of their Options needles so I can see how I like them. If I do, I may get the set, although with a twinge of guilt as I already have the Boye Needlemaster and Denise sets. I use the Boyes almost exclusively; the Denises are not slippery enough for my taste.
Anyway, while I've been dithering about yarn for Steve's present, I've been working on a sweater called "Hearts on a String" by Lorraine Ehrlinger, from the January 2006 issue of Creative Knitting. I had gotten some purple Malabrigo worsted-weight Merino in New Hampshire last month, so I really wanted to use it for something. I've now finished the back and started on the front. It's going well so far; I'll post a picture soon. This is the first new pattern I've done in a couple months; my last project was another pair of Knitty's Broad Street mittens for a friend; before that, I re-did the Garter Stitch Aran cardigan for Ray since the first one I made met with a tragic felting accident. This time I used Wool-Ease, since it won't felt; it came out quite nice.
I just Freecycled a whole bunch of crochet magazines. Part of me feels a little guilty, like I'm somehow betraying my crocheting roots by getting rid of the stuff, but in reality, these are magazines I had subscribed to and none of these issues actually have anything I would want to make, even if I were still crocheting a lot. In fact, a lot of them would be good candidates for a "You Knit What?"-like snarking. I'm keeping all issues that do have anything I like. Anyway, at least I'm not tossing them into a landfill; I couldn't bring myself to just throw them out no matter how little I like them. It would be like throwing away books...horrors!
Welcome!
I have had a LiveJournal blog for a while, but since a lot of my friends probably don't care about what I'm knitting (or crocheting; I do that too -- in fact, it was my first fiber craft and I'm still very fond of it), I decided to create this one. So, welcome! I'll mostly be posting about what I'm working on and what I've finished lately.
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