how it begins

3 Comments

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?

Author: Jennifer Lori

Punny dork who makes stuff.

3 thoughts on “how it begins

  1. Wow, that is quite the yarn drama! I’m glad you finally found something that worked out though. My projects rarely have such dramatic origins.

    Like

  2. Pingback: wha? where’s green? « handmade by jennifer

  3. I definitely sometimes knit to get my mind off other things.

    Wow, what a day!

    Did the recent videos of Henri help the doctor any?

    Nice shade of Zauberball – it’s nice stuff, eh?

    Like

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