Disasters in Knitting

ReBelle Hand-Dyed
Originally uploaded by craftytails

After knitting almost daily for several years, I have become cocky and overconfident. The most recent trials have successfully put me in my place! Not only is the Durrow sweater giving me a run for my money, but my roommate's Gretel beret is now no more. I foolishly screwed up the sizing and tried to "fix" this by felting slightly. Huge mistake! I have done this in the past, but luck was truly not on my side. This pattern will be worked in a different yarn and gauge. Sometimes, the yarn is simply cursed and throwing the project in the trash is incredibly liberating.

Speaking of cursed yarn, I have a bad report on Plymouth Boku. I received this yarn as part of my birthday present and was determined to immediately de-stash it by making a simple scarf. The colors are absolutely gorgeous and the silk gives the yarn a more rustic look. I have often picked up a skein in the store, wondering if it would look similar to the love of my life, Noro Silk Garden. The Noro yarn has a much higher silk content, which gives the yarn some strength. Unfortunately, Boku is very weak and cannot withstand the normal wear and tear that comes with knitting. The yarn has broken seven times in 50 yards and I found four knots in one of the skeins. I have had trouble with other yarns in the past, but never to this extent. I know single-ply yarns are generally weaker, because they have very little twist. This project has been unusually trying on my patience and I am happy to say that my exercise in gingerly knitting is almost at an end. The scarf looks beautiful and I can call this near-disaster a triumph in the end.

In order to de-stash my ridiculous amount of single-skeins, I have decided to start working on the Poffertjes blanket. The process knitter inside of me is yearning to play with color and the lazy knitter in me wants a mindless project to occupy time while watching Lost. I have wanted a colorful blanket for my bedroom for quite some time and this pattern looks perfect! I can knit individual pieces to my heart's content and lay them out later to create just the right visual effect. It may end up looking like poop in the end, but that's half the fun.

What's better than anything? Receiving yarn from someone I love to stalk! The yarn pictured in this blog entry will make a killer set of fingerless gloves.