Updated patterns!

I'm in the process of updating my old patterns, particularly the bibs, to include charts. I'm rewriting some of the directions to make the patterns even easier and including alternative methods for beginning the bibs and for making the ties. Look for these patterns in the sidebar to see which ones have been added. It's a slow process, but eventually, they'll all be there!



Sunday, February 23, 2014

The Trouble with Gradients

Have you tried any of those new gradient yarns yet?  I had been wanting to, but I was waiting for the perfect project.  I was a little put off by the price of most of them, but I decided to knit my daughter-in-law, Emily, a long cowl for Christmas.  If anyone deserves a special gift, I believe that she does.  I went to the New England Fiber Festival last November and the one item that I didn't want to go home without was a skein of gradient yarn.  I knew that the shop Wandering Wool was going to be there and I already had my eye on her colorway called "Great Barrier Reef".
Emily's favorite color is that grassy, lime green.  You'll note that the yarn is shown wound two different ways. I had decided to use the blue to begin the cowl and end with the green so it would be outside and more visible.  I chose the Biscuit Cowl pattern.  It was simple with just a slight bit of lace.  I thought it wouldn't take me too long and I'd be able to finish it in plenty of time.
 I used stitch markers every few repeats, so if I messed up the pattern, I'd be able to catch it quickly.  Things were going along nicely, but I soon realized that I was going to be finished with the cowl long before I got to the lime green!!  That's the whole reason I chose the yarn!  This left me with a dilemma.  I knew there was no way to get another one knit in time for Christmas.  In the end, I decided that the only thing I could do was to rip it out and start over from the other end.
After waiting so long to use the yarn and knowing how expensive it was, I knew I'd never be happy with it as it was. I'm glad I started over, because I was able to use every bit of the green.
I didn't even miss the blue at the end this time!
So the lesson here is to PLAN AHEAD! Don't repeat my mistake!

It did end up being a Happy New Year's gift rather than Christmas, but I knew that Emily would understand. Besides, I didn't even tell her that she had another gift coming!  I do plan for some things and I wasn't going to put pressure on myself, if I decided that I just couldn't knit one more row of the pattern!

My husband bought me another skein of gradient yarn for Christmas in shades of blue.  You can bet I'll study it a long time before I decide to start with either pale blue or royal!!

1 comment:

Dorothy said...

Beautiful !! I've just finished a scarf done in gradient wool and will be blogging about it later tonight. I received it in a blog give-away and love it. Your cowl is gorgeous. xox