redeemed..... somewhat (?)

i figured i'd give this SWS yarn another chance, so to show off its self-stripeyness i've been working it up into a multidirectional scarf. scarves are things i like knitting because they're easy, quick, and relatively mindless... kind of a zen thing for me, i guess. maybe i'm thinking too much into it. or maybe i just need a rational explanation for the twelve scarves i already have (i live in new orleans! why do i need so many!). i'm enjoying the yarn a lot more this go around.... it hasn't split on me once with this scarf which already makes this project better than the shrug.

this is what i've got so far, nevermind the clashing bedsheets/fussed up blankets:

you can't really see it but ichi the killer has the other knitting needle captive. you can sort of notice the needle to the left of the picture, trying to escape her deadly grasp. the scarf is almost the width of my bed, which is a queen. i'm thinking of adding maybe two more triangles and then ending it. the scarf is maybe six inches wide, but i haven't blocked anything yet so it may end up being a little wider. i've noticed that knitting with this yarn makes it fuzzier. haven't quite figured out if that is a good or a bad thing just yet.

here's a closeup of the pattern:

don't quote me on it but i think i'm using size 6 needles. the fabric is pretty dense, but slightly stretchy at the same time. my issues with this scarf are that it seems like every ten or so short rows (so basically twenty 'real' rows as you're basically knitting up to a point and then turning around and knitting back to the end, only to repeat it) i'll get this weird bump where the wrap is. this is probably something i'm doing but i can't really figure out how i'm accomplishing it or how to stop doing it. it's not super noticeable and i'm hoping it will go away once i block it but i still get annoyed by it.




next post: a bit of a cheat.

SWS update

alright, so i know it's been like a month since my last post but i've been busy. so sue me. i started working on a cowl-neck shrug with the SWS yarn i purchased for hella cheap. i've got one sleeve almost finished but i have a bit of an issue. take a gander:



here's my dilemma: i did a swatch (that's a first for me!) and got my gauge spot-on for this project. however, when i discovered while knitting this that these sleeves are so damned..... bulky. the cuff actually starts at my wrist, maybe about two inches down from where it's currently resting which makes it look even bulkier. i mean, i may have thick arms but that's almost too much. the sleeves don't look that bulky in the picture of the pattern, so what the hell is my problem.

also, i'm not entirely sure that the colorway of this yarn is something that i'm necessarily comfortable wearing. so basically right now i have no idea why i even started this. welcome to the perpetual catch-22 of pretty much every knitting project i take on. i'll see a pattern and be like, "awesome! this will be fun to make!" then i'll get halfway finished and positively hate it.

here's another issue i have with this project. though it's less the projects' fault and more the yarns':



this is the wrong side of the sleeve. do you see all those ties? there's five of them. only one of them (second from right) is the start a new skein of yarn. i've found that while knitting the sws would just split in my hands. i don't knit particularly tight so i'm really not too sure of the reasons for this.

i'm working on a scarf with another skein of this just to see if this yarn is all-around shite. more to come on that.

sweet yarn score!

i went to michael's last weekend to pick up some homespun yarn to make an irish hiking scarf for my best friends' upcoming trip to the UK. while perusing the yarn aisles (something i always have to do, regardless of how little i need to buy yarn or how ugly the yarn may actually be) i walked past the clearance section and what to my wondering eyes should i see?

guess how much it was on sale for? just guess. it's ridiculous.








TWO DOLLARS A SKEIN!!!




mah che cazzo!

that's the cheapest i've ever seen it as michael's usually sells it for at least six dollars. this isn't my favorite colorway but i just had to have all of them. so i bought all six skeins for twelve dollars and merrily made my way home. i'm making it into a shrug and i can't wait til i'm finished with it. i have some issues with the yarn but i'll write about that in my post on the shrug. which will hopefully be coming in a few days after i take pictures of the shrug-in-progress.


back to the daily grind. sometimes the yarny powers-that-be smile upon me.