Stuck

How many times will/can I begin knitting the same sock before I find the right pattern for the yarn?

The yarn is a nylon and acrylic blend because the recipient can’t wear wool.  I figured that I could just substitute this for the usual wool yarns and end up with a similar item.  It is the same but it’s not and I’m having a hard time figuring out what to do.

One color is so different from the Berroco website.  Hari Hari 1811 looks a lot brighter and bluer than the Hari Hari 1811 I received.

Plus I’ve found two knots in the first several yards which might be the reason why it’s coming out more as a self-striping yarn than a patterned yarn.  The other color called Beach House is bright and I thought the two would play well with each other.

Source

My original plan was to knit the slipped-stitch sock pattern I’ve used seven other times only instead of using both colors in the ribbing, I was just going to knit with one and start the second color once I got to the leg of the sock.

I didn’t like it so I ripped it out and started again just with the dull grey yarn and tried another sock pattern with some textural stitches.

Too subtle and the slipped stitches melt into the surrounding stitches and are not noticeable enough to add any texture.

Perhaps I should go back to the beginning of my original plan and use both colors so the grey tones down the brighter one.

Maybe it’s the color.

Maybe it’s the yarn.

Maybe it’s the wrong pattern.

Maybe it’s me.

 

Which way now?

Mr. Aitch gifted me this beautiful yarn for Christmas.

The Which Way shawl pattern was written for this Wonderland Yarns Mad Hatter kit of five gradients plus one.  This is the Little Busy Bee and Lime to Turquoise kit.  I LOVE all the colors!

The shawl is finished.

I ran out of the main color and used the rest of the first color in the gradient to finish though I still ran out of yarn.  Others on Ravelry had the same issue with the quantity of yarn vs pattern.

Most of the ends are woven in but haven’t blocked the shawl.  I’m just not sure I like it.

 

Blocking wires

I’ve got another Spindrift Shawl completed.  Well, except for the blocking.

Why so knit another one so soon?  Well, I wasn’t all that pleased with the colors of first one.  One of the visiting twin granddaughters loves the rainbows and unicorns so I offered it to her at Thanksgiving.  Well, I can’t give one twin something without giving the other one so I had knit another Spindrift Shawl for her.  Only we’re calling them neck wraps instead of shawls.  Nine-year-olds don’t wear shawls.

I blocked the other Spindrift with pins.  Fun? Not.

I don’t have blocking wires to help with that process but understand how useful they are.  Blocking wires are thin wires threaded through an edge stitch and making it easier to keep the edges straight during blocking, and allowing for fewer pins to shape the item.  Here is an excellent article explaining how and why this is done.

I have another shawl in my queue that I’ll talk about another time.  I’m not sure if I’ll knit any others later but I decided that want a set of flexible wires as they would be easier to store.  And blocking wires can be used on other knitted items, too.

So, when you block your knitted or crocheted items do you use pins, straight blocking wires or flexible wires?

First knits

Well, these are not exactly the first knits of 2018 but close enough.

I knit a pair of mitts for a dear friend a few years ago and her children love them and sometimes wear them.

So I knit a pair of mitts for each of them.

Crossed Cables – Shirl’s Mittlets knit in Yarn Bee Snowflake wool blend

Honeycomb – adapted from Unisex Gloves knit in Araucania Natural Wool

Owl – Who’s Owl Mitts knit in Cleckheaton

Bumpy – my pattern knit in Lion Brand Wool-Ease

Ziggy -my pattern knit in Lion Brand Wool-Ease

I hope they don’t fight over them…