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February 11, 2006
Olympia Day 2
Gonna back track a bit~ it all started with a phone call. 'We are gonna send you some pink cotton yarn to work with OK?' Of course I am gonna work when I can so I ignored the olympic challenge, the four sweater kits on their way, the mountain of yarn that makes up le stash. Now what happened when I opened the box was an ugh I am colorblind moment:
Its violet OK not pink. Now when you walk into a yarn store what is the first thing you notice? I mean if you aren't looking for X yarn in Y color to knit Z. Color, irregardless of how I feel about color skills, often times determines what we pick up at the LYS and sometimes what we knit with a given yarn. The pink yarn called to mind something feminine and flirty maybe a little dressy. This color called to mind something youthful and fun and casual. Of course I know the knitter is going to knit a sweater in yarn color of choice but if you design a business suit in day glo orange chances are the color and pattern are so disparate that a knitter might overlook your work. At least I know there are things in magazines and books that I was just ho hum over and then I saw a picture or real live item in a different color and was all ooo la la. So after looking at the color and thinking will look good with a tan~ maybe a oversized pullover to throw on at beach? Ok not too sloppy but not dressy either... comfy enough for beach in shape but a little texture so that it could be worn out. I know the beach is out but you know what I mean So I started swatching thinking casual comfy pullover but not plain st st with a border~ something interesting but not too difficult. I mean if you wanted to knit this sweater in this yarn in this color you wanted to be done before the color became totally yesterday My swatch proved, as mentioned yesterday, that the st st part looked a bit corded and the reverse st st side showed texture well. Good to go. Armed with 8 different st pattern books I CO a pattern that I thought would look good during the st st swatching bit. Ewwwwwwww horrible. Why was it horrible? Too complicated~ pattern lost in yarn so I needed something simpler. Another pattern chosen. Ewwwwwwww no way. Why? Boring. And on it went. I would like to show you pictures of my swatches because normally I make huge swatches 8-12" wide and at least 6" high and hang them up on a board so that I can see them from various angles. While swatching I actually keep going until one has me going yes yes yes but I still hang it up there and oogle. This time, since I have challenged myself to getting it done quickly and efficiently, I found a pattern that spoke to me, measured, and promptly CO. It's neither too simple~ I have to keep track of my rows and have actually made mistakes both during swatching and in garment~ nor too difficult being a small pattern repeat. It should hold enough interest for a garment without being so challenging that months are required for the knitting. From a really bad angle:
I've actually taken 4 pictures of the fabric and am cursing my photography skills cause it looks nicer than in photo. Way nicer. Will try again tomorrow under non florescent lights.... OK thats it for today. Yarny days and knitterly evenings
Posted by Elka at February 11, 2006 11:26 PM
Comments
What's the yarn? Growing up in the deep South, I never got the 'pullover at the beach' thing, but now I definitely do.
Posted by: Lauren at February 12, 2006 12:06 AM