On the Fence
When I mentioned last week that I intended to cast on for Ariann, Shannon suggested:
Black Cotton Ease.
Thanks, Shannon. A good idea. When I see a gauge of 19sts/4" and am thinking "next to the skin soft", Cotton Ease is something that automatically comes to my mind too.
The only problem is that my black CE is earmarked for one/or/both of these two sweaters:
The one on the left is Charley from Rowan 37 and the right is #2 from Vogue Fall 04.
If you are wondering "does she really have enough black CE for both?" The answer is: Um, yes.
Here are my requirements for yarn for Ariann:
1/ Soft next to skin
2/ First choice color: claret, or at least something nice to wear with both jeans and a black skirt.
3/ First choice: free from stash, or at least under $50
Knowing I have specialized in worsted weight wool over the years, I went stash diving. Here are the potentials.
They are all close, but not really perfect. The dark green Rowan Magpie on the top would be nice, but I don't see it going so well with black. And I am pretty sure I don't have enough.
The navy Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran is earmarked for a old Vogue '02 pattern (Double Twist, for anyone who has a Master's degree in old Vogue patterns) and if I used it for Ariann, I'd have too much left over. Can't deal with 5 balls leftover.
The pink is maybe too bright, plus I'd have to frog this sweater:
For which I was intending to re-do the bands.
Then I came across a new yarn on my LYS blog, Nashua Creative Focus. On sale, the price met my criteria. The color was perfect. It also met the softness test. Bingo.
But after doing a swatch (that's my sleeve-as-swatch method), I'm concerned that the fuzziness (there's mohair content) of the yarn is obscuring the nice eyelet pattern.
So I stewed about it all day yesterday, and went stash diving again, and came up with the original idea, but different color:
Cotton Ease in Sugar Plum. Thought about it all morning. Very pretty color. Smooth yarn would show off the pattern nicely. Soft against skin. Free from Emily's yarn store. But...not as warm-cozy-fall-looking as the dark red. More of a spring sweater?
And I just finished dyeing the yarn for another sweater I want to make this fall: Serrano.
Almost the same color, although it looks more blue in this picture.
How many holey periwinkle sweaters does a girl need? (Don't answer that.)
So this afternoon I took a new look at the dark red and I'm liking it again. I really do like the color. And, yes, it has occured to me to be very grateful that this is my biggest problem in life today!!
So, any comments? Suggestions? Should I just shut up and get to the contest I promised you already?
Stay tuned.
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Black Cotton Ease.
Thanks, Shannon. A good idea. When I see a gauge of 19sts/4" and am thinking "next to the skin soft", Cotton Ease is something that automatically comes to my mind too.
The only problem is that my black CE is earmarked for one/or/both of these two sweaters:
.jpg)
The one on the left is Charley from Rowan 37 and the right is #2 from Vogue Fall 04.
If you are wondering "does she really have enough black CE for both?" The answer is: Um, yes.
Here are my requirements for yarn for Ariann:
1/ Soft next to skin
2/ First choice color: claret, or at least something nice to wear with both jeans and a black skirt.
3/ First choice: free from stash, or at least under $50
Knowing I have specialized in worsted weight wool over the years, I went stash diving. Here are the potentials.
.jpg)
They are all close, but not really perfect. The dark green Rowan Magpie on the top would be nice, but I don't see it going so well with black. And I am pretty sure I don't have enough.
The navy Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran is earmarked for a old Vogue '02 pattern (Double Twist, for anyone who has a Master's degree in old Vogue patterns) and if I used it for Ariann, I'd have too much left over. Can't deal with 5 balls leftover.
The pink is maybe too bright, plus I'd have to frog this sweater:
.jpg)
For which I was intending to re-do the bands.
Then I came across a new yarn on my LYS blog, Nashua Creative Focus. On sale, the price met my criteria. The color was perfect. It also met the softness test. Bingo.
.jpg)
But after doing a swatch (that's my sleeve-as-swatch method), I'm concerned that the fuzziness (there's mohair content) of the yarn is obscuring the nice eyelet pattern.
So I stewed about it all day yesterday, and went stash diving again, and came up with the original idea, but different color:
.jpg)
Cotton Ease in Sugar Plum. Thought about it all morning. Very pretty color. Smooth yarn would show off the pattern nicely. Soft against skin. Free from Emily's yarn store. But...not as warm-cozy-fall-looking as the dark red. More of a spring sweater?
And I just finished dyeing the yarn for another sweater I want to make this fall: Serrano.
.jpg)
Almost the same color, although it looks more blue in this picture.
How many holey periwinkle sweaters does a girl need? (Don't answer that.)
So this afternoon I took a new look at the dark red and I'm liking it again. I really do like the color. And, yes, it has occured to me to be very grateful that this is my biggest problem in life today!!
So, any comments? Suggestions? Should I just shut up and get to the contest I promised you already?
Stay tuned.
posted by Emily at 4:09 PM
5 Comments:
I'm with you on the color....the Claret is much better for the fall. Altho I do disagree that the green wouldn't look good with black....
Sock yarn arrived today....I HAVE to finish the 2 sweaters I have started before I do any more socks...having said that, I have to ask again, what happened to the one yarn in the picture that is the second one going left from the bottom right-hand corner? The pale orange, with green, etc....I LOVE it.
teri
I like the red...I'm in a red mood this month.
And if you chose that, you could join the Red Sweater KAL that is just starting!
http://knitspot.com/?p=277
Hmmm, cottony softness desired, dyeing skills apparent....
You could try dyeing the cotton ease. I'm crazy enough to do something like that, but then again I'm crazy :) I like the sugar plum and it is a good winter/spring color. The garnet color is also very warm and comforting.
Not sure I would do that much cable work in black. Cables need a medium to light color to show up well. Just a thought.
I just finished Adriann in a wool, linen blend and maybe I'm biased but I like the crispness of the non-mohair yarn better. I love the cardy by the way it has quickly become a staple. I'm thinking about knitting it again (I never knit the same pattern twice) but in a smaller gauge...I'm dreaming of a sport weight linen for a summery cardy.
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