Hello everyone, how’s your week going? I have been very busy lately with the blog, my new design and my upcoming classes in Edinburgh Yarn Festival. Did I mention I am teaching three classes this year? I couldn’t be more excited!
I also need to sort out my shopping list for the festival, which let’s be honest: it should be nothing considering the size of my stash but we all know that the yarny fumes at festivals are unavoidable so I might as well be prepared. Any of you going to EYF? Would love to meet up if you are around!
The last few days I have mostly worked on my Owls jumper, the pattern is by Kate Davies and it is sooo cute. I am using a yarn my sister got for me when she was on holiday in the south of Chile last year, it is a very rustic blend of wool and alpaca and I love the colour with browns, greens and pinks showing through. It is very unfortunate that after reaching the underarms I had to rip it all out though… 😦 I realised I was making the wrong size (two times bigger) after forgetting my bust measurements (we all have our days) and getting my gauge wrong. I considered leaving it but decided to rip out and start over and I must admit to being a bit proud of myself for doing this.
It takes so little to undo all that knitting, quite scary indeed to see all those stitches come undone: it’s probably the definition of a horror movie for knitters. It is a quick project though so I am already at the waist with the new size, and now of course I am worried it is a little too small… ain’t that always the case? That is the problem with bottom up sweaters, you can’t really try them on easily. I don’t particularly like fitted jumpers but the pattern calls for a bit of negative ease and it seems to look nice on everyone else on Ravelry so fingers crossed! I don’t think I could rip it out again to be honest so it will just have to fit.
What is YOUR criteria for ripping out and starting over?
Let me know in the comments!
xx
Sol
a crochet journey 
Don’t worry, the knitted fabric will expand when you block your sweater. I’d recommend you leave it soaking for a few hours if you intend to give it a thorough shaping. You should know this by now, blocking fixes everything! Well, almost…
hahaha I guess I should, but I am using a less heavy yarn than the one in the pattern so it is not a very dense fabric as it is… but I’m sure it will be fine!! Positive thinking 🙂
xxxxxx
Get thee behind me, Satan! 🙂 I am trying to tell myself that I won’t be going to EYF this year, because I could stock the whole of it myself with my own stash….. I haven’t even finished knitting up the lovely yarn I bought at the last EYF!!! But who I am trying to kid…. 🙂 🙂 Having it just around the corner from me may well be too much to resist. x
Hi Liz,
My stash is sooooo big at the moment! Mostly with yarn bought in Chile but there are definitely some EYF purchases there that I still haven’t used. I remember waking up on the second day of the marketplace and wondering why my arm was hurting as if I had done exercise… it was because of the huge bag of yarn I carried around all day!!!
I think the key is to go prepared, with patterns, amounts and weights all ready so that you are not tempted TOO much…
Hope to see you there!
x
Sol
Good tips, thanks Sol. 😀 You might be amused by my latest post today… https://leapinglife.wordpress.com/2016/02/11/more-knitting-love/ 😀😀😀
I’ d be proud too, if I had the courage to rip out and start all over again. So well done! I’m looking forward to see the result.
My criteria are the same: the size isn’t right, or sometimes I don’t like the stitch I chose.
But more often I don’t rip out and look for someone who does fit in 🙂
Hi Sigrid,
Thanks for stopping by! I think it is braver to give it to someone else! hahaha I am in a very selfish mood when it comes to my crochet and knitting lately, and can’t bare to part from my projects! Hope that if it is something you really love that you will be able to rip out and enjoy you beautiful projects yourself 🙂
xxx
Sol