Give Me the Big Stuff

I'm ready for chunky yarn, aran-weight yarn , heavy worsted, bulky, super-bulky, 17-ply yarn. No more of this dainty DK weight. Last night I was dutifully trying to pick up 78 stitches around the neck of the magenta baby sweater. I had sewn the shoulder seams and one of the sleeve-to-body seams, and I thought I'd take a break and pick up for the neck ribbing before I moved on to the second sleeve. Mind you, I had already worked up about a third of the back of the olive-green baby sweater in the past few days, so I have indeed been a Good Girl in terms of my knitting goals.

I hate picking up and knitting stitches, especially in itsy-bitsy dark yarn. I tried picking up each stitch, knitting it, and sliding it along the working circular. No dice. I tried picking up stitches with the needle, and then knitting each one. This usually works for me, but this time the yarn kept splitting and I couldn't see what ply belonged to which stitch. After several more tries and various methods, I said screw it and read a book.

So tonight I wanna play with adult yarn. I want to cast on for something new. I want to do MY knitting, not all the knitting I think I SHOULD be doing for everyone else. [Remind me of this, will ya?] [About once a week should do it.]

So, I'm thinking about the Minimalist Cardigan from the latest IK. 20 stitches to 4 inches, good basic worsted weight yarn. 1308 yards for the size I want. Let us now consult the Holy, if Slightly Out-of-Date, Table of SABLE.

The choices:

• Malabrigo, 1512 yards in the color verdeazul;
• Classic Elite's Waterspun, 1380 yards in gray heather;
• Dale's Sisik, 1480 yards of navy tweed (I had started a mindless sweater of this some time ago, you may remember, but I didn't like the fabric that was resulting from knitting it at the stated gauge; it was too limp. Which means it will probably be too thin a yarn for this pattern, come to think of it); and
• Plymouth Indiecita Alpaca, 1400 yards of purple.

If I can find it in the bins, I'm going for the Malabrigo. Wish me luck!