Starting & Stopping

Note to self:
Get your hands on a scale before starting another Clapotis.

To the right there is how close to (and yet how far from) I came to being able to complete the Sunshine Shawl by eye-balling how much yarn I had left to complete.  ::sigh::

The plan for the next go:

• Weigh ball of yarn. (whole total)
• Knit until I get to the end of the beginning.
• Weigh ball of yarn. (whole total - end of beginning = that corner amount)
• Knit through the straight stretch, weighing ball of yarn as I go along.
• When weight of ball of yarn = that corner amount + 1 gram, start decreasing on both sides.

Idea being that in the end, I'll have one gram of yarn leftover for doodles after the fact or ass-covering in case my measurements are off.  Margins of error can be quite flexible.

Two skeins of Malabrigo sock yarn await this treatment for me, and I only have the single skeins, so there's no way to go back & buy another skein of yarn to complete like I did for the Sunshine Shawl above.  Because if I had two skeins of each, I'd want to make a two-skein Clapotis.

As it is, the Sunshine Yellow remainder sits balled, waiting for new instruction.  At this point, it may become flowers.  Or perhaps an infant wardrobe something.  No telling.  It lurks in quiet patience until called.

On the other side of the color wheel, a Summer Shiver Shelter begins in purple intensity.  I'm working the vest called Jane from Wendy Bernard's Custom Knits. 

After an hour or two of angsting over start-up, I went ahead & cast on.  "Why the angst?" you ask?  A number of reasons, involving gauge, yarn & fit.

For some reason, I can't seem to do projects in the recommended yarn, much less with the recommended gauge.  And just when I think I've got everything figured out, it turns out I've misjudged the fit.

Case in point: Prevailing Karma.  While I was able to manage the exact yarn recommended for that project (see the hot pink tank a few posts below), I didn't trust the recommended gauge.  Especially since the lighting in the book's photo showed a bit more see-through-edness than I liked.  So I went down a few needle sizes, measured my gauge, determined the size needed to fit my measurements, and started plugging along.  Only to find out three skeins in that I hadn't accounted for enough negative ease. -_-

Maybe it was because my math was off, but I don't think so.  That's actually a problem I've had with a few of the projects from this book: NEGATIVE EASE.  I make things to my measurements, when the author seems to think that everyone will work their project 2 or more sizes down from their measurements to get the fit shown in the book.  ::angst::  At least this time, she explained the inclusion of negative ease on the project. 

This time, instead of working the vest in the recommended worsted-weight wool on size 8 needles, I'm holding together two strands of laceweight over size 6 needles.  Which, depending on how the fabric is held comes out to either 26 stitches over 4 inches, or the recommended 18 stitches over 4 inches.  ::Angst::  At least this involves seed stitch instead of the ribbing involved in the Slinky Ribs debacle...

The yarns in question are JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk 2/18 (left skein) and laceweight Madelinetosh superwash wool in Wood Violet (right skein).  I'm working the largest size to get the smallest, which may end up either 3, 6 or 9 inches smaller than my measurements.  Which is OK? because it's supposed to hang open anyway?  ::ANGST::

Imma just go through & start working on it.  If it closes, it closes, if it doesn't, it doesn't.  But I'm not going to do the Chevron stitch.  Just so you know.  I'm going to try to sort out a good fractal square pattern bleeding out of the seed stitch.  We'll see.