Roadblock

I ran into a roadblock when I started knitting the Falling Leaves Shell by Rosemary Drysdale for Tahki Yarns. The pattern is totally screwed up. First, it calls for a gauge of 20 sts to 4" in Rev StSt on 6s. I get that. But then it calls for only 74 sts to be cast on for the front piece, but 86 sts for the back. So, I work through the first 7 rows of the 24 row pattern (Candleflame), and find the front piece is only just over 12" wide. Even if I was getting the same 20s=4" as she calls for for the back, it would only be 14" wide for the small, but the back would be @17". So, either the whole thing would be 31" or, more likely 29" around, for a supposed 32" bust. The picture doesn't show any negative ease, nor does the pattern make any mention of ease. Oh, and I should probably mention that I virtually always get gauge when I knit. I always have, for some strange reason. I guess I don't knit tightly or too loosely, or something.

I went to Ravelry to check the pattern, and found dozens of complaints about it, but not about this. About the difficulty of the neck decreases. Tahki put out a new chart to show the decreases needed , but apparently, many people found that the pattern wasn't centered, and the neck decreases made it look weird. I commented on the pattern page, but no one has responded yet, and probably won't, since it doesn't list Drysdale in the pattern.

And then there's the problem with this being a cropped top, not mentioned anywhere, and the fact that the yo's create a fairly large hole in the fabric which means this would have to be worn over something else, or be indecent. Not really what I think of when I think of a basic little shell. Oh, and everyone was complaining about how boxy it was, since there's no shaping in it whatsoever, not even binding off for the armholes, which looks sloppy on, especially since the pattern produces a wavy line, . And someone noted that the picture obscures this fact because the model's hair covers her shoulders and you can't see clearly that the armhole is waving, or falling in an unflattering position on the arm.

So, that pattern is in timeout. I will probably find a way to work around the weirdnesses, but not right now. I just want to knit, not do pattern surgery. And I wanted to use my Simplicity(by HiKoo), which I am in love with. I don't really use a lot of DK yarns, but this one is so round and bouncy and fun. I watched all the Fiber Factor shows, which introduced this yarn and a couple of other ones, and so many of the participants raved about it. When I found in on Ebay, I decided to see what all the raves meant. And I did. Now I have to go through all the patterns I have to see what other patterns I have that I can use it for. I only have 6 skeins, or just over 700 yards, so I have to look for something short, sleeveless or short sleeved, or.... Well, just something else. I am really disappointed, though. I loved the look of this Falling Leaves Shell, and I loved the way the yarn looked when working it. I guess I may have to just  design my own shell/tank top. Find a lace or other pattern I like from Up, Down, All-Around, and work out the math for the whole thing. But, then, I just wanted to sit and knit, not sit and plot out a pattern.

I have also been exploring yarns made by Lion Brand, Red Heart, and Loops and Threads. All tend to use a lot of acrylic, but some are just cotton, or wool & acrylic. I do tend to prefer natural yarns, but I don't really have a problem with acrylic. I think if I lived somewhere it got really cold, I wouldn't use acrylic, but here in SoCal it never really gets cold enough to need the warmth of wool. I still knit with it, and with alpaca, too, because I love the look and feel of wool. But there have been great strides in acrylics used in yarns, so I've been checking them out, 2 skeins at a time.

I first picked up a Loops and Threads DK yarn, Elegance. I really like it. It feels silky, and I like the tonal colorways it comes in. It's put up in 50g skeins, with 160 yards. And it's only $3.99! After I tried it out, working on circular 6s, I liked it so much I went back and got another 5 of the Smoky Plum I already had, and 2 more of a different pinkish one, Pink Lily. Definitely a cowl for the Pink Lily, but some kind of sweater for the Smoky Plum. When I was trying out the first Smoky Plum, I cast on to a 16" circular size 6, and I must have zoned out while casting on, because when I looked, I'd already cast on 125 sts. Like a 100 more than I generally cast on to swatch with. And then, even though circulars are fairly new to me (my former Scottish neighbor's mother taught me how to knit way, way back, and she put one long needle under her arm, and did everything else with the needle in her right hand. Now, so do I), I couldn't put it down. I knit about 10 inches of the stuff before I decided I should just measure the gauge and then decide what I would make with it. I know, I could have made a cowl out of it at that point, but I'd just done a amalgam of different stitches ~ garter, St. st, ribbing, a cable or two, and it wasn't really cowl-worthy. So, I bound it off, then measured each section for gauge, wrote it all down in my Planning book, and then frogged the whole thing.  Now I have 1120 yards of plummy goodness to use in something.

I also picked up a couple of skeins of LB's Amazing, but I haven't worked with it yet. I have to say, it feels a bit scratchy in the skein, but I'll knit a swatch with it and see how it feels then. I also picked up 2 other 2-skeins of Red Heart yarn, in their "Boutique" line, Treasure and Unforgettable. Haven't  knit with any of them, but I will have enough for cowls out of all of them. If the Amazing doesn't soften enough when knit, I can make a cover for my Kindle out of it, or a small notebook cover. Maybe both. And since I am not going to be busy knitting up the little shell I so liked, I guess I'll have time to do all the swatching on these that I could want. Oh, well. (During the day it's so bloody hot, it's hard to get excited about anything (91 degrees at 7:30 pm. Ugh!) and narrowly focusing on rewriting a pattern, or writing one up, is just hard to do in this heat.

So, that's all for now. May your knitting always be perfect, both in product and process.