I'm not sure what comes into play in my present situation: Murphy's Law, poetic justice, simple arrogance, or something else? But I have a confession to make.
It would have been easier if I hadn't spilt all on my blog. I could have just hidden the evidence and no one would have been any the wiser. But no, I had to boast about my latest project on a recent post (Blogger won't let me link tonight so if you actually care you'll have to scroll back down the page) and now that I can't carry it out, I have to 'fess up or be accused of misrepresentation or something equally odious.
Despite doing a tension/gauge square (well, rectangle really since I didn't knit enough rows to get a square) which is something I rarely do, and despite having to go down several needle sizes (which I never do either, I usually have to go up a size or two) to get the correct number of stitches to the inch, I was having awful problems with my Laar cardigan.
I don't profess to have perfect tension/gauge (I've already mentioned that I usually have to go up a size) but I do tend to have a neat tension (if that's how you can describe it). My rows of purl stitch tend to be as even as my rows of knit stitch and vice versa. I usually produce what I consider a very pleasant looking fabric with no unseemly gaps, holes or runs or loose looking stitches. Everything is usually as it should be.
Not so with Laar. Using what appeared to be the right needles to give me the desired gauge, it looked as if I had runs in my knitted fabric just like those unsightly runs in stockings (the ones you somehow manage to get in your last pair when you need to look your absolute best). At first I thought I had dropped a stitch but this proved to be incorrect. No, it was just the way the fabric was knitting up. So I undid it and tried again.
And then undid it again for the same reasons and made a brave decision: I would try and sell it. The yarn wasn't going to work for me but it could be perfect for someone else. I looked at similar listings online and discovered that the world of selling unwanted yarn wasn't exactly the most lucrative. Not that I was after a profit. But a nice little sum to buy a skein or two as replacement would be nice. But yarn didn't appear to be exactly where the action was.
Still, it was worth a go. So I took some photos, listed it, set a price, and prayed. I didn't hold out much hope and I didn't know what I was going to do with ten unused skeins of 2ply/lace yarn if it didn't sell. My course of action included the possibility of relisting it twice if it didn't sell.
It sold within twelve hours. Not expecting it to go so quickly it was another twelve hours before I even saw the email! Payment was prompt, Son#4 did the shipping for me, and already it's gone to a good home before I've even had a chance to miss it. Since then I've been searching online for a waif or two to replace it. I still like the idea of a lightweight cardigan or top but in 4ply/fingering rather than the 2ply/lace. I have a pattern or two in mind that I could adjust and hopefully won't give me the headache that the beautiful Laar did (perhaps if the yarn used in Laar was available in New Zealand it might have been a different story - but then, maybe not. Whoever uses 3.5mm needles these days? I thought they had become obsolete. I digress.)
Sadly, I'm having some difficulty finding a replacement. So far most of the hand dyed yarns I have fallen in love with are unavailable or there's only one skein available. Perhaps when the rest of the country gets the nasty weather we've had to endure the first week of autumn (autumn not winter, so it would be nice if it felt like it) those dye pots will come out and I'll be able to replace the 2ply/lace with something more suited to my tastes, tension/gauge, wrists, needles, patterns, needs (really Jules, do you need another knitted garment?) and desires.
Meanwhile, I have my other projects to go on with including the yarn for The Most Adorable Granddaughter#4 (and perhaps dream up something for The Most Adorable Granddaughter#5) and the last instalment of the Vintage Rouge quilt (which will not be as quick as earlier instalments). Certainly enough to keep me busy if these cold nights are to continue.
It would have been easier if I hadn't spilt all on my blog. I could have just hidden the evidence and no one would have been any the wiser. But no, I had to boast about my latest project on a recent post (Blogger won't let me link tonight so if you actually care you'll have to scroll back down the page) and now that I can't carry it out, I have to 'fess up or be accused of misrepresentation or something equally odious.
Despite doing a tension/gauge square (well, rectangle really since I didn't knit enough rows to get a square) which is something I rarely do, and despite having to go down several needle sizes (which I never do either, I usually have to go up a size or two) to get the correct number of stitches to the inch, I was having awful problems with my Laar cardigan.
I don't profess to have perfect tension/gauge (I've already mentioned that I usually have to go up a size) but I do tend to have a neat tension (if that's how you can describe it). My rows of purl stitch tend to be as even as my rows of knit stitch and vice versa. I usually produce what I consider a very pleasant looking fabric with no unseemly gaps, holes or runs or loose looking stitches. Everything is usually as it should be.
Not so with Laar. Using what appeared to be the right needles to give me the desired gauge, it looked as if I had runs in my knitted fabric just like those unsightly runs in stockings (the ones you somehow manage to get in your last pair when you need to look your absolute best). At first I thought I had dropped a stitch but this proved to be incorrect. No, it was just the way the fabric was knitting up. So I undid it and tried again.
And then undid it again for the same reasons and made a brave decision: I would try and sell it. The yarn wasn't going to work for me but it could be perfect for someone else. I looked at similar listings online and discovered that the world of selling unwanted yarn wasn't exactly the most lucrative. Not that I was after a profit. But a nice little sum to buy a skein or two as replacement would be nice. But yarn didn't appear to be exactly where the action was.
Still, it was worth a go. So I took some photos, listed it, set a price, and prayed. I didn't hold out much hope and I didn't know what I was going to do with ten unused skeins of 2ply/lace yarn if it didn't sell. My course of action included the possibility of relisting it twice if it didn't sell.
It sold within twelve hours. Not expecting it to go so quickly it was another twelve hours before I even saw the email! Payment was prompt, Son#4 did the shipping for me, and already it's gone to a good home before I've even had a chance to miss it. Since then I've been searching online for a waif or two to replace it. I still like the idea of a lightweight cardigan or top but in 4ply/fingering rather than the 2ply/lace. I have a pattern or two in mind that I could adjust and hopefully won't give me the headache that the beautiful Laar did (perhaps if the yarn used in Laar was available in New Zealand it might have been a different story - but then, maybe not. Whoever uses 3.5mm needles these days? I thought they had become obsolete. I digress.)
Sadly, I'm having some difficulty finding a replacement. So far most of the hand dyed yarns I have fallen in love with are unavailable or there's only one skein available. Perhaps when the rest of the country gets the nasty weather we've had to endure the first week of autumn (autumn not winter, so it would be nice if it felt like it) those dye pots will come out and I'll be able to replace the 2ply/lace with something more suited to my tastes, tension/gauge, wrists, needles, patterns, needs (really Jules, do you need another knitted garment?) and desires.
Meanwhile, I have my other projects to go on with including the yarn for The Most Adorable Granddaughter#4 (and perhaps dream up something for The Most Adorable Granddaughter#5) and the last instalment of the Vintage Rouge quilt (which will not be as quick as earlier instalments). Certainly enough to keep me busy if these cold nights are to continue.
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