Yarn Decisions

Yarn decisions can be hard, even when they should be easy. The original yarn that I picked out for Gretel violated two rules that are very important to me, and I was stupid to go with it. It was Prairie Silk, by Brown Sheep.

1. It was scratchy, because of some mohair. I'm not down on mohair, just this paticular yarn. It just had this subtle itch that was almost worse than an outright very scratchy yarn. And the yarn that I am almost always attracted to and find easy to knit with is always soft yarn.

2. I don't like the color green very much, and I chose this color just because it matched my jacket.

Even then, when I couldn't get gauge, I hesistated about returning it. Because it made me feel stupid that I had chosen a nasty yarn for the project. But I realized that I really loved this hat, and it really deserved decent yarn. So I returned my unused skeins, and when I searched for another yarn, I was VERY strict with myself. I picked out something that was meltingly soft (Cashmerino Chunky) and in a soft, silky pink color that appealed to me, although I usually don't 'do' pink.

The moment I started knitting with this yarn, it was love. True love, and I knew it. THIS is how knitting should be.

Right now, I am facing what is less of a yarn decision than a knitting decision. Hemlock is kicking my (censored) seven ways to Sunday, and I'm on row 35. I realized I was using an uncorrected version of Hemlock, so I tinked back the entire row, and reknit it, using the corrected pattern. Still didn't work. I figured that since I did it late at night, I must have made a mistake. So I tinked back, reknit, and still it didn't come out correctly. Then, I tinked back once more, counted the stitches, and found out that 10 stitches were missing. I had blithely assumed that I had 136 stitches when I did not.

AGH!

[As a slight aside, the knowledge that your older sister might be reading your knitting blog means that many creative ways of expressing frustration have been cut off. Long sigh.]

I also, blithely, did not put in any life lines, and frogging lace isn't exactly easy. I'd rather just frog the whole thing and reknit it. This would be my 5th or 6th time that I have had to frog this blanket. What I really 'want' to do is to frog it, and knit an Irish Hiking scarf from it, and just knit the blanket after I've done that. Which is entirely possible since two skeins of Eco add up to 956 yards. 600 for the blanket and 350 for the scarf would leave me with an enormous six yards left. And it would make a very handsome scarf, as it will a blanket, because the color is just so perfect. I love it.

However, I am a stubborn person. Casting on for Irish would probably mean that Hemlock would end up not being knitted. Because that's just me. And, although I'm usually not so persistent, I hate giving up on my knitting projects. I don't mean abandoning them because I'm bored, I hate giving them up because I couldn't figure them out. But...I need a neutral colored scarf...and...and it would be way easier...and, and, you wouldn't have to worry about buying those expensive circular needles when it gets too big for double-points, and it would be a much more portable project, and, and...

Updates later.