Balls!
I thought I'd take a nifty photo of the progress so far. This is about 1.4 skein's worth of the DIC Redhook vest I'm making in.
I have to say that I wasn't feeling it during the 5000 years of ribbing. I had to reference the pattern book 1000 times, and scoured the webs for hours looking for errata... but each time I came to the conclusion that the pattern was right and I was just crazy. CRAZY! At that point, I was beginning to wonder if I made a yarn mistake.
I finally broke through the ribbing and got into the stockinette, and things really picked up... such that I was barely able to puit it down for a while, except for distractions I'll mention in just a little bit. The color really works for me, and I simply can't wait until this is something I can wear.
There are, however, still some concerns.
1 - Buttons! Gah, I'll need buttons for this. I've been scouring both the real world and the webs for days, searching for the perfect button. I'd found a couple of possibilities online, but one I'm not completely crazy about, and the other appears to not have enough stock to support my need. I may contact them about that button, because I've been feeling pretty good about it. I think I may still troll around a couple of local places before making a final decision.
2 - I can't go around screaming Balls! for nothing, right? Well, one of my skeins, while close in color to the other 4, has always looked a little different color-wise to me (and I wasn't alone in this opinion). To reference what I'm talking about, in the photos above the left two balls are the ones I'm currently working with, and the two on the right are the ones from what I like to call "The Fifth Skein". In that lighting, I don't think the difference is terribly dramatic, but I did take a shot with just two of the balls below, where I think you can see what I mean a little better.
I think initially I was going to try to get away without using that skein at all... but, no, this would not be possible, as I bought just enough for the sweater and a swatch. I then read something online where this type of yarn it is best to break up the skeins and mix them all through due to the potential color variation. Thus, the bunches of baby balls of yarn I have about. The only thing that isn't worked this way is the 5000 years of ribbing; I wasn't about to break that up, as I was in a hateful mood when knitting it (which it totally did not deserve, not sure why I hated that so much).
The problem now is that I've had two switch-overs so far, and could not bring myself to pull in one of The Fifth Skein balls. I'd pulled it out (twice), poised it to continue the sweater (twice), and then backed out (twice).
I think my new plan is to go ahead and reserve those skeins after all. I'm hoping that I can knit up the majority of the vest with the four complimentary skeins (which I am mixing through, because it's not like their identical twin skeins), reserving The Fifth Skein for sleeve caps, collar and button band. If my gauge and calculations weren't off, I should be able to pull of this plan, and I think in that respect the skein will show off more complimentary than not. It's a pretty big risk, but if things do not work out, I can always try to get another skein and hope it matches better with the rest. I have a few things more I want to get from TLE anyways... Don't tell The Husband!
In any case, I'm very impatient to have this done. I will be proud and happy and very likely to be singing See My Vest.
Remember a time when The Simpsons were funny?
The only thing that has been distracting me lately is the desire to spin and dye. The Husband is foreseeing a future sheep farm, which is crazy. (Then he mentions that he'd rather raise Alpaca, which was out from left field, wth?!?!) I've taken some books out from the library and have been reading on both subjects online whenever I'm not actually out or knitting the sweater. Another friend heard about my recent obsessions and sent over a drop spindle and fiber to give it a whirl (ha! get it?!), and I also hooked up with The Yarn Lounge to take a drop spindle class... we'll see where that goes. Making yarn, to me, seems like it'd be pretty cool. Not that I don't already have enough yearn as it is!
Well, can't stay here yapping all day, I have a vest to knit!
I have to say that I wasn't feeling it during the 5000 years of ribbing. I had to reference the pattern book 1000 times, and scoured the webs for hours looking for errata... but each time I came to the conclusion that the pattern was right and I was just crazy. CRAZY! At that point, I was beginning to wonder if I made a yarn mistake.
I finally broke through the ribbing and got into the stockinette, and things really picked up... such that I was barely able to puit it down for a while, except for distractions I'll mention in just a little bit. The color really works for me, and I simply can't wait until this is something I can wear.
There are, however, still some concerns.
1 - Buttons! Gah, I'll need buttons for this. I've been scouring both the real world and the webs for days, searching for the perfect button. I'd found a couple of possibilities online, but one I'm not completely crazy about, and the other appears to not have enough stock to support my need. I may contact them about that button, because I've been feeling pretty good about it. I think I may still troll around a couple of local places before making a final decision.
2 - I can't go around screaming Balls! for nothing, right? Well, one of my skeins, while close in color to the other 4, has always looked a little different color-wise to me (and I wasn't alone in this opinion). To reference what I'm talking about, in the photos above the left two balls are the ones I'm currently working with, and the two on the right are the ones from what I like to call "The Fifth Skein". In that lighting, I don't think the difference is terribly dramatic, but I did take a shot with just two of the balls below, where I think you can see what I mean a little better.
I think initially I was going to try to get away without using that skein at all... but, no, this would not be possible, as I bought just enough for the sweater and a swatch. I then read something online where this type of yarn it is best to break up the skeins and mix them all through due to the potential color variation. Thus, the bunches of baby balls of yarn I have about. The only thing that isn't worked this way is the 5000 years of ribbing; I wasn't about to break that up, as I was in a hateful mood when knitting it (which it totally did not deserve, not sure why I hated that so much).
The problem now is that I've had two switch-overs so far, and could not bring myself to pull in one of The Fifth Skein balls. I'd pulled it out (twice), poised it to continue the sweater (twice), and then backed out (twice).
I think my new plan is to go ahead and reserve those skeins after all. I'm hoping that I can knit up the majority of the vest with the four complimentary skeins (which I am mixing through, because it's not like their identical twin skeins), reserving The Fifth Skein for sleeve caps, collar and button band. If my gauge and calculations weren't off, I should be able to pull of this plan, and I think in that respect the skein will show off more complimentary than not. It's a pretty big risk, but if things do not work out, I can always try to get another skein and hope it matches better with the rest. I have a few things more I want to get from TLE anyways... Don't tell The Husband!
In any case, I'm very impatient to have this done. I will be proud and happy and very likely to be singing See My Vest.
Remember a time when The Simpsons were funny?
The only thing that has been distracting me lately is the desire to spin and dye. The Husband is foreseeing a future sheep farm, which is crazy. (Then he mentions that he'd rather raise Alpaca, which was out from left field, wth?!?!) I've taken some books out from the library and have been reading on both subjects online whenever I'm not actually out or knitting the sweater. Another friend heard about my recent obsessions and sent over a drop spindle and fiber to give it a whirl (ha! get it?!), and I also hooked up with The Yarn Lounge to take a drop spindle class... we'll see where that goes. Making yarn, to me, seems like it'd be pretty cool. Not that I don't already have enough yearn as it is!
Well, can't stay here yapping all day, I have a vest to knit!