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D'vorahDavida
Yetzirah

You Gotta Start Somewhere
Thu May 03 2007


I ventured forth yesterday with my neighbor D. in search of some inexpensive yarn to make my first practice sweater. I have been putting this off far too long, as Bilbo Baggins once said.

I thought I knew what I wanted but when I got to the store became very conflicted. Experimenting with 25 dollars worth of anything gives me the willies. Sweaters require alarmingly huge quantities of yarn I have discovered. After looking at EVERYTHING they had, I chose 5 skeins of 100% acrylic yarn.

Since I have been working with wool for some time now, and have been hanging out with the grand knitters of the guild, I came to the lowering realization that I have become a yarn snob. Who wants to knit with that stuff? Well, I guess I do. And its purchase brought on a short but intense bout of cognitive dissonance. It has since calmed down however, because when I knit up my gauge swatch, I decided that I had made the right decision.

Here it be:


[album 65561 Swatch1.JPG]

Good old Red Heart "Fiesta" yarn.

No, it won't be an heirloom sweater. But it will be worth its weight in gold if it turns out to be the proper size for a young elephant when I finish, or some other equally disastrous outcome that I haven't even dreamed of yet. [Sleeves that drag on the floor?] Gasp!

Wish me good luck.

I think I should have put in for a visit from the Sweater Knitting Fairy some time ago.

I hope her schedule isn't too booked to squeeze in a little sprinkle of Sweater Knitting Fairy dust. . . just for me.

7 Comments
  • From:
    Pragmatist (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu May 03 2007
    Now, that's going to make up nicely.

    As for the sleeves dragging on the floor, just read the instructions verrry carefully. Twice or thrice. You know how that goes.

    I keep telling myself that I'm going to pick up the crochet hook one of these days. Or maybe the pastel chalk.

    Right now I'm trying to hange some shelves on my pantry door, and that's not going too well. *sigh*

    I love tackling jobs that are beyond my expertise. I must love jobs that are beyond my expertise because I keep taking on jobs that are beyond my expertise.

    Did I make a point there?

    Shalom
  • From:
    Mamallama (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu May 03 2007
    Oh, that is looking nice!

    I know you and gorilla arm sleeves are just not in the picture.

    You will do fine. Trust me.
    Hugs, Tiggs
  • From:
    404Error (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu May 03 2007
    As one who is allergic to wool, I really love acrylic sweaters. They are soft and very easy to care for. Cotton is nice, until you have to launder it. It's not really the washing that bugs me, it's the &$*@^#% blocking afterward that I could do without. I really hope you enjoy working with it because I know you will enjoy wearing it, if for no other reasons than you made it and you don't have to protect it with your life.

    BTW, the green Fiesta yarn knits up beautifully!
  • From:
    InStitches (Legacy)
    On:
    Fri May 04 2007
    In the swirl of a wand and the sprinkling of dust the Fairies declare sweater knitting a must. May your needles be swift and your yarn never tangle. Let the magic begin and never unravel.

    The Sweater Knitting Fairy

    P.S. Do tell the hen that this is special dust and not to be disturbed. She is a tad obsessive compulsive about tidiness.
  • From:
    404Error (Legacy)
    On:
    Fri May 04 2007
    RYC: Oh yay!!!
    :-D
    *happy dance*
  • From:
    Parett (Legacy)
    On:
    Sat May 05 2007
    What about an OLD elephant? ;o]
  • From:
    ImNotLisa (Legacy)
    On:
    Sat May 05 2007
    Ah, but it's lovely yarn. My first sweater was out of Caron Simply Soft and it was a good choice. I didn't do a good job with it at all. If I was smart I'd use it again for another sweater but suspect I'll fall under the spell of wool - or cotton which is equally not as cheap. Don't forget knitpicks.com for affordable wool. ;o)