lessons learned
Thank you all for your positive comments about the bear. I've grown quite attatched to the little guy!
Today I bring you the saga of one of my long-negelcted projects, which sadly, will be seeing some ripping.
This is the "Go with the Flow" shell/tank top from Inspired Cable Knits. The yarn for this top has some history. Last summer I was living with friends in a rather remote suburb of Calgary, away from home and my yarn stash. Within a couple of weeks, I grew tired of the sock yarn I had brought with me, and was itching for a new project. With limited public transit options and very few places to buy yarn I decided to finally try out mail-order with Elann.com.
I found a free pattern on the Elann site that I liked; a short-sleeve cotton t-shirt with a textured diamond pattern. The pattern was created by Schachenmayr, for it's cotton-blend yarn Piazza. I downloaded the pattern and ordered the required number of skeins for my size. I was delighted with the fast service, but when I started knitting, it became evident pretty quickly that 6 skeins was not going to be nearly enough. And the yarn was no longer available. I used up three and didn't quite have the back done. Lesson 1: always order one or two extra skeins. You never know.
Then when I was in California in August, I picked up a copy of Inspired Cable Knits, and fell in love with several of the patterns. I thought this little shell would work with the amount of Piazza yarn I had on hand, because, hey, there aren't even any sleeves to knit. The yardage seemed about right. I knit away on it for a while, and began to get a sinking feeling when I realized once again how quickly the yarn was disappearing. I decided to put it away and ignore it for a while.
I took it out yesterday while re-evaluating the pile of UFO's in my basket, and knit a little further on it. And now it's time to face the fact that it's just not going to make it. This is where the front is at after three skeins:
I haven't even made it to the shoulder shaping on the first side yet. It appears from my exhaustive search over several months of local shops and on-line retailers that there is no more of this yarn on the face of the earth. (except a few brown and fuschia skeins on eBay). Lesson 2: know when to cut your losses.
When I actually stopped to really look at this, I wondered why I was making the large size, when the medium would probably have been more than big enough to fit me. Oh, right. I started this before I learned that pesky little lesson about measuring yourself and actually believing the measurements and not choosing the larger size "just to be safe"! So, I think this is bound to be ripped out. It's going to be hard though. I really liked those little cables.
Eventually, I may try this pattern again. With an overly-cautious yarn supply. And in the right size. And maybe I'll even add a little waist-shaping to it. I can't believe how much I've learned just since last September!
Oh, and the yarn? I'm going to tuck it away for a future baby project. If I can't get a baby sweater out of it, then I'll know that it's completely cursed!
Labels: tops