Stonesthrow Farm (they're in Vermont) 60% Cormo/40% young mohair, in a nice medium blue, exactly the blue I look good in and would wear a lot. I was knitting this at Jenny's and she commented that it was camouflaged against the Wisteria I was wearing. That blue.
So why am I not excited? Well, it's blue. Nice, medium, boring blue. I think I need to break out of the blue mold. Also, despite my Citron turning out a little larger than the pattern predicts, it's still not really big enough to go around and stay around my neck without being pinned. Hmm. Oh, well.
Having finished this, I said to myself: Not Blue. A quick rummage in the first stash bin came up with this.
Four balls of Woolbearers Kona Superwash Merino, in the colorway Chocolate-covered Cherries. Definitely Not Blue.
A quick rummage among my Rav favorites yielded a few prospects for 560 yards of yarn; I chose the lace shawl Gail (aka Nightsongs). A really nice shawl. I had no problems with the pattern, probably because I had the benefit of all the people who have dissected its quirks.
Three-and-some repeats in, I'm here.
And I've decided: Not.
Unfortunately, this yarn is too heavy for this pattern; I really need a thinner yarn. I also think the strong raspberry and brown variegation is too much for this lace. When I work up the courage, this will be frogged. I've just wound a ball of Schaefer Anne in dark blue/green/purple to try instead.
I wish I could say I was getting better at pairing yarn with pattern.
5 comments :
What your Citron needs is a funky, non-blue pin. What I like about this shawl is that its construction is interesting, but that it's enough of a blank canvas that it can be combined with different outfits. By itself... yeah, I'd get a funky pin to hold it closed.
I think you might have stopped too soon: shawls with heavier yarns are lovely to wear on a cold winter's day. Pattern/stitch definition be damned, sometimes it's just nice to have a warm wrap :).
Uh-oh: now I'm sounding like someone's grandma....!
I'm rooting for you on the Schaefer Anne - always loved that Gail shawl.... Good to know you're not having troubles with it.
Something to consider when knitting lace with a heavier yarn - use a larger needle than called for. Yes this will alter the gauge, but it's a lace shawl, not a sweater, so gauge is less of an issue. You'll either end up with a larger dimensioned shawl or, if you want to stay closer to the pattern's planned dimensions, caste on fewer stitches and/or do less repeats.
With this particular yarn, try Feather and Fan. The scalloping created by the stitch pattern, together with the garter ridges, seems to break up the varigation. And you can make it work for a triangle, rectangle or half-circle shawl easily enough, with a 3 or 4 stitch garter border to prevent rolling.
Trial-and-Error seems to be the only thing that works for matching pattern to yarn... I went through 4 different yarns before I was happy with a choice for Skew.
Frustrating, but necessary.
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