Thanks so much to everyone who commented on my comfi cardi – I may not be able to respond to each comment, but you all have made me feel so special! I took the advice in the comments and tried wearing the cardigan with a long sleeved shirt underneath – much better with the arms! I wore it to work on Wednesday and was complimented, and it is indeed very comfy.

I had some sadness this week… the very first death of a handknit. Yes, my Wicked sweater has met a sad end – a combination of pilly yarn, a washing machine, a wool hungry cat, and my own really lousy job of binding off. Here we are in happier times…

*Sniff* Seriously though… if anyone tries to give you a bag of discontinued Debbie Bliss Merino Aran, just say no! I have never had any sweater, handmade or storebought, wear so terribly. And then, of course, the cat pictured in the photo decided to nearly chew a hole in it during blocking, and finally my crappy bind-off came loose in the washer, and I had to accept that the sweater’s time had come.

There is a bright side though… I had been wanting to make a sweater out of Dream in Color Classy, but I couldn’t find a design I wanted to knit that would show off the yarn (I think handpaints look best in plain stockinette.) I had even thought about another Wicked, but then I couldn’t bring myself to own two… problem solved! Now the only problem is choosing a color… my LYS only has Smooshy, so I’ll have to order online. Any color recommendations?

I had a little knitting mishap this week… the first time in a long time that I have had gauge bite me. I swatched twice for the hexacomb cardigan, and then went with the smaller needle in case the gauge was bigger in the stitch pattern. The body should measure a little over 16″ across for my size.

Oops. Apparently my gauge is much looser in the stitch pattern. Lesson learned – even though the pattern said to swatch in stockinette, you can’t always assume that will work out in the sweater. The gauge ended up 4 st/in instead of 5 st/in (give or take… anyway, it’s too big.) On the bright side (again) I was not really loving this yarn knit up into the pattern – it wasn’t showing the pattern enough for my taste, and was somewhat inelastic. So I’m going to try again, but I’m going to swatch in pattern, and I’m going to use a different yarn – something with a little more “spring” perhaps. I’ll swatch a few yarns in stash and see what I like. I’m sure it will be for the best!

These problems have been discouraging me a bit these past few days. My lush cardigan is also stalled – I am not happy with the sleeve cap I have finished, but I can’t seem to bring myself to rip it yet, since I can’t decide if I’m being too picky or not… besides, I think I need a break from following the (uncharted) lace pattern. I’ve been doing some swatching, trying to decide what I want to make next. We’re in that weird period where it’s too cold to wear spring clothes still, but you don’t want to start anything for winter, in case that encourages it to stick around. I’m thinking this might be a good time to go ahead and crochet another sweater – Joy and short and sweet are both ready to start, even if I won’t be able to wear them for a bit.

I’m thinking about starting this though… so pretty.

Unfortunately, the yarn isn’t going to work for the pattern.  I must have been blinded by the pretty, and didn’t notice that this yarn is DK… but isn’t it pretty?  I’ll find something else and hopefully start this pattern soon!

I sound so scattered, don’t I? Ah well… it’s the time of year I suppose. We’re approaching Easter, which is super busy for me. I have a little drama going on with work etc, and that stresses me out. I am very ready for spring, but instead we had an ice storm on Thursday (on the bright side, Marc got to leave work at 10 am, so we got to spend one of my days off together, which is rare.)

Now I will go watch Dr. Who and swatch… hopefully that will work its magic, and I’ll find something to work on that excites me!

One of the main reasons that I so often have extra yarn to sell is that I rarely use the yarn called for in a pattern. And since I refuse to force a yarn to work where it doesn’t want to, I often end up with yarn I bought as a substitution that just doesn’t work for some reason. Sometimes I end up using this yarn for another project, but more often I hold a grudge against it for not working the way I wanted.

My current yarn sub problem is for the printed silk cardigan in the new IK. I’m not buying the called for yarn, which is too expensive, and at any rate would pill in about 10 seconds. But I’m having some trouble finding a yarn to work. I bought silk from Colourmart, but I think it isn’t the right yarn for the pattern.

First of all, let me state that it’s lovely yarn, and really a great bargain at the price. However, in no way should this yarn be called DK weight. I’m not even sure it qualifies as a sport weight. The swatch above is 26 st/ 4 inches, and it’s a little on the loose side for my taste. I really think it should be knit to 28 st/in. This yarn is made up of many tiny strands of their laceweight silk twisted together. It’s a little splitty, but not excessively so, at least in the stockinette swatch above. However, I tried swatching the twisted stitch pattern, and oh my lord… I stared at my hands and still managed to snag plies of the yarn. I did learn, though, that the pattern is not as complicated as it looks, and it won’t be a problem with the right yarn, ie one that doesn’t split!

I think this yarn could work for the sweater, but overall I think it would irritate me. I’m also not so enamoured of the color, mostly because it’s too similar to the color of the comfi cardi I’m making right now, even though it is really pretty.

As for my yarn search, it continues. I know now that the stitch pattern will look best knitted tightly, which is why the gauge is so small even though la luz is a dk weight yarn. My problem is that I have trouble knitting tightly – I wanted to use Shine Sport, but I cannot get 25 st/ 4 in with that yarn no matter how hard I try, and it’s an actual sport weight! I may try a few swatches and see if I can ever manage that gauge with a dk weight yarn, although I have my doubts.

In happier news, my Comfi cardi is nearly finished! I tried to get a picture, but the cat had other ideas.

I’ve actually completed half the ribbing since I took the photo, and I expect to finish it tonight!

And also… I am ashamed to admit that I started another sweater. It’s the hexacomb cardigan from the new IK.

The yarn is Classic Elite 4 seasons, and this is an example of a yarn that subbed easily. It’s actually more yellow than it looks here, and it’s going to be great for spring!

I haven’t touched the lush cardigan, but as soon as I finish the comfi cardi I will go ahead and finish it up. I always feel sort of scattered when I have this many projects, so I want to focus on them one at a time to actually get them done.

I’m making slow but steady progress on both of my sweater WIPs, especially now that I’ve done away with all my other WIPs.  I’ve finished the back and half a sleeve of the lush cardigan.

It even looks pretty in pieces!  The sizing seems to be working out the way I wanted it to, so I’m happy that my dodgy maths are working out.  I’ve also completed the back of the comfy cardi, but it is not constructed the same way as the lush sweater.

This sweater is constructed all in one piece, to avoid any bulky shoulder seams.  In order to achieve this, I am adding chains onto the sleeves every row and then crocheting into the chains, resulting in a sweater that is now nearly 3x the width of the back by itself (I have done more since this photo was taken.)   This seems like it will make nice tapered sleeves, but it takes about 19 years to complete a row (ok, maybe 40 minutes, but it seems like ages.)  I don’t care though, because I’m still having a lot of fun with this one, even if it is disproving that whole “crochet is super fast” thing.  I’m debating whether I’m going to do crocheted or knitted ribbing, when I get to that point.  I’m leaning towards knitted, but it will depend on how the sweater fits.

Now I want to finish up the rest of the swatches I made this weekend.  I’m so glad to hear that many of you enjoy the swatch posts – I was a little afraid it was boring, but they’re very useful for me!  Even if I lose a swatch I can still dig up the pertinent information on the blog.

I did have a question about how I swatch, so I thought I would mention that.  I keep 2 or so rows of garter stitch and the beginning and end of the swatch, and I also keep the outer 2 stitches on each side in garter stitch while I knit.  This keeps the swatch from curling when I go to measure it.  I also tie knots in the waste yarn to indicate the needle size used – ie 7 knots for a size 7 needle.  This has really saved me a few times.  My swatches are usually wide enough (around 4 inches) but I rarely knit a 4″ tall swatch, since I don’t usually need that accurate of a row gauge.  This has never bitten me, so I feel ok about it.  Any swatch is better than no swatch, so don’t feel compelled to knit a giant swatch if you don’t want to.   I wash everything, because I often find that I get a change in gauge after the yarn has been wet.

Yarn: Berroco Naturlin in Cinnamon

Notes: I get 6.25 st/in on US 2 needles using this yarn.  It may have shrunk a tiny, tiny bit during washing.  This yarn is a blend of linen and rayon, and I really think it’s a lovely a successful blending.  It has the crispness of linen, but the shine and drape of rayon.  It’s easier on the hands than knitting with 100% linen, which was my aim here.  I’m going to knit the tuxedo top from last summer’s IK.  I was not initially attracted to the pattern because of the icky putty color it was knit in, but I’ve since seen some really lovely ones.  The color palette this yarn comes in isn’t too exciting, although there is a nice indigo, but it does come in some nice warm neutrals.

Yarn: Valley Yarns Southwick in Iguana

Notes: I have now sampled all the Valley Yarns cotton blends, and this is my favorite.  It’s a cotton/bamboo blend with a lovely drape.  It is knitted here to 5 st/in on US 5 needles – it grew during blocking, so this would need to be accounted for.  It feels cool and lovely to knit with, and it is only slightly splitty, unlike some bamboo yarns (RYC bamboo soft… I’m looking at you!)  This color is extremely green, but I think I like it… maybe.  My kitchen is this color, and I feel the same way about it.   I’m considering using this to make one of the crocheted cardigans from Everyday Crochet.  One of them is crocheted in bamboo, and it has a lovely drape, plus I think this yarn would give me the smaller size I need.

Yarn: Valley Yarns longmeadow in Seafoam

Notes: I’ve swatched this yarn before, but this is a better color for me.  It’s an ok cotton blend, not too stiff and with a slight sheen from the non-cotton fiber (I think it’s modal?)  This is knitted to a little over 5 st/in on US 5 needles, and it could be knitted a little tighter I think.  It did not change size during blocking.  It isn’t my favorite, but it’s perfectly serviceable, and the price is excellent.

Yarn: Valley Yarns Goshen in Peach

Notes: I’ve always heard that redheads can wear peach, but I never have.  I’m testing that theory out with this yarn, but I’m unconvinced that I can wear it.   I’m just never sure about pastels… It’s a lovely blend, soft and easy to knit, with a pretty sheen from the silk.   It knits to 4.5 st/in on US 7 needles, and it remained utterly unaffected by wet blocking.  I’m not sure what I will make with this yarn, but I am looking forward to using it!

Yarn: Cotton Ease in Ice Blue

Notes: I have knit a sweater from Cotton Ease before (the drops cardigan I mentioned yesterday under the 4 seasons cotton) but it was a total disaster.  The stitches were uneven and weird, and the whole thing turned out ginormous.  I was puzzled, since everyone loved cotton ease so much – why was my experience so awful?  Well, as it turns out… cotton ease grows when you wash it, and I knit the swatch for that sweater in my pre swatch washing days.  I got 4.5 st/in before washing, on US 7, and after washing it’s 4.25 st/in.  The sweater I made before, which watched at 17 st/4 in before washing, became 16 st/4 in after.  Oops.  I also think cotton ease looks better knit more tightly than the ball band recommends.  I will go down to US 6 needles when I use this.  I’m thinking of Manon from Norah Gaughan vol 1 – there are several pretty ones knit of cotton ease, and it has great stitch definition.

Yarn: Classic Elite Premiere

Notes: Is it possible for a yarn to be too soft?  This yarn is causing me to question that.  It’s so soft that it’s hard to keep even tension, although it appears to have all evened out in blocking.  It did not change size – I got 5.5 st/in on US 5 needles with no effort.  This is easily the softest yarn I have ever used, no joke – if you’re looking for an ultra soft cotton blend, this is your yarn!  I want to use this for the dayflower top – I’m sure it will have a lovely drape, as you can see in the pattern photos.  My last comment is to be careful winding this – I really question the wisdom of selling it the way that it is wound, because it doesn’t hold its shape in a centerpull ball even a little.

Yarn: Ella Rae Silkience

Notes: Blame the superbowl sunday sale at the Knit Nook… I somehow came away with 10 balls of this yarn in a lovely brown.  It knits to a little over 20 st/in on size 5 needles, before blocking the gauge was 21 st/4 inches.   It’s nice and soft to work with – in fact, I’m surprised to see it on clearance at so many stores, since it is a reasonably priced blend.  I got it for 30% off, which I was happy about.  I want to make a nice neutral cardigan, and I am thinking of several that use reverse stockinette stitch.  Reverse stockinette, in my opinion, almost always looks best in a dark color, and in a drapey yarn.  Some people say wool, but my wool sweaters are crazy uneven on the inside.  What does this one look like?

Looks fine to me – the ridge at the top is from the garter stitch.  This yarn does have a little haze from the silk, as you can see, but it isn’t as apparent in real life as in these photos.

And… that’s all.   Except for the naturlin (which isn’t too awful, but still) these are all budget friendly yarns, proving once again that it’s possible to use lovely yarns without going bankrupt!