Good and Bad

Bad:

This is the state of the Jess cardi that I’ve been making for Mum. It looks pretty good, really. But it’s a disaster. The pattern itself is great and well written — can’t find fault with it. The only cause for the disaster was that I was being stupid when doing the yarn substitution. I can’t get the recommended yarn (Elle Pure New Wool) anymore, so I substituted with a cotton yarn! Oh, and did I mention this pattern is worked with 2 strands of yarn held together? The result: An overly thick, heavy, and stiff cardigan. Well, it’s not quite stiff, it’s still drapey, but it’s not comfortable to wear. Gah! I should’ve paid more attention to the warning signs when I hesitated about the yarn in the beginning. Guess I had been in Denial. So I’ll be making something else for Mum, don’t know yet what.

Good:

It’s my version of the Shifting Sands scarf by Grumperina. Belinda gifted me with a very lovely skein of Malabrigo yarn on our first meet up. It is sooo nice and soft that I had been waiting for just the right pattern to use it with. Then inspired by this, I thought this scarf would be it.

I made the scarf narrower than in the pattern, as I like my scarves not too thick (that and the fact that I only had 1 skein, so I wanted to make it as long as possible). I only casted on 22 stitches (instead of 52), and just kept knitting until I run out of yarn. I only used 1 skein, which gave me about 150 cm (60 inches), not including the fringes. I love, love, love this scarf. I love the colour too, definitely the brightest thing I have ever worn.

Project Details:

Pattern: Shifting Sands scarf by Grumperina, with mods above
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted, 1 skein
Needles: 5.5mm straights