A while ago I had an idea for a new pattern.  Actually, to be more specific, it’s a major modification using the basics of one of my existing patterns.

Before I could cast on, I needed yarn.  I need red, black, white, blue and cream yarn, in roughly a worsted weight.  I didn’t think I had anything, until I remembered some Berocco Comfort DK I’ve had for a while now.  Perfect! I printed out my chart, and last night while Yannick and I watched an episode of $h!t My Dad Says, I did a mini swatch.

Hmm.  The yarn calls for a 4mm, and I need a tighter gauge, so I swatched with 3.25s, but the fabric I got was still pretty open.  I couldn’t find a 3mm (actually, I could barely find any needles- where are they??) so I figured I’d just get thicker yarn.

I went to my LYS this morning a bit before they opened, so while I waited I went online on my phone and took another look through my Ravelry stash.  Ok- things were looking promising…I had the right shade of blue and white Cascade 220 in my stash, so I would only need a red, black and cream.  Great!  Except…

The LYS didn’t have the right shade of red.  😦  They had crimson, fuchsia, raspberry, red wine, almost every possible pinkish tone of red that exists.  But no RED, like a real, primary color red.

We started going through other possible options, and D, who works there, showed me the exact color red, in Berocco Comfort Worsted.  Yeah, but, I told her, I tried swatching with that last night, and didn’t get a tight enough fabric.  I stopped thinking about it, and kept looking around the store.  I’m ashamed to say it actually took about 5 more minutes of discussion before I realized that I’d swatched with the yarn I own, which is Comfort DK.  The yarn in the store was Comfort Worsted.  Thicker.  Duh.

Great!  Except…

The LYS didn’t have the right shade of blue.  😦  They had denim, cornflower, dusty blue, almost every possible greenish or grayish tone of blue that exists.  But no BLUE, like a real, primary color blue.

I was about to give up and head to Zellers for some Red Heart Super Saver, just to get a chance to knit up a sample, when I had the bright idea of knitting with the DK I own, but held doubled.  I had enough for my project, and it would obviously give me a thicker yarn…it just might work.

I felt really guilty, though, at having taken up their time and having D run around to the back to look for the right shades of yarn for me, so I might have bought a ball of sock yarn.

Look, Ma- it’s my very first Zauberball!

(And it’s Ravelry colors, just in time for Spring.  LOVE.)

–

I had to make a run out to the Children’s Hospital this afternoon to bring Henri’s doctor some recent videos, and when I finished there it was late enough that it didn’t make sense to head back to work, but early enough that I had about an hour to kill before picking up the kids.  I came home and sat down to start working on the project with the Comfort DK doubled.

I HAD an hour, but ended up with only about 20 minutes of knitting time.  When I turned the TV on it was at the party scene in Batman & Robin (the Val Kilmer/Chris O’Donnell one) and man- that movie is like a car wreck or something- I didn’t want to watch but just couldn’t tear my eyes away.  From Nicole Kidman’s non-moving face to Jim Carey and Tommy Lee Jones’ over the top villians…wow.  Just wow.

I started with the white, and a 3.5mm needle.  So far so good.  I moved on to the black; still working great.  Then I threw in some red and came to a screeching halt.  My red wasn’t red.  I thought it was red, but it wasn’t red.  It was very-dark-almost-red-but-just-a-little-too-pink-to-be-actual-red red.

That sucked.  Not sure how well the color came out via cell phone camera, but it’s like faux red.  It’s like almost, but not quite, entirely unlike red.

–

But there was a solution to be had, and I still had enough time to carry it out.  My LYS still had that ball of Comfort Worsted in The Right Red.

Or rather, they had had it.  I have it now.

Can you tell the difference?

–

So here’s where it begins.  You take the pattern, you take the yarn, you take the needles, and there you have…the facts of li- whoops.  Hehe.  Sorry.  It’s been a long day.

I’m going to go take the edge of by knitting.  Do you ever need to squeeze in a few rows just to get through a rough patch?