Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Stupid Yarn.

Never again I tell you. To keep my yarn stash in some semblance of control, I think I better make sure I have a good inkling what I'm going to do with the yarn before I give in and make a purchase!

I bought this pile of yarn (something like ten balls worth) back when I was just starting to knit. I bought it because 1) I love the color blue - and you probably can't tell from the photo, but the yarn has 2 colors of blue intertwined 2) the price couldn't be beat. The problem? Well...first off, I can't find a pattern to knit with this yarn. It says it's DK weight, but the recommended needle size is US4. I've tried swatching it on larger needles (to try to match gauge for some patterns I have), and quite frankly, the fabric looks too loose on any needles US6 and larger.

Also, if you look closely at the strand of yarn next to the swatch, you might notice how loosely woven it is (yee. knitting with splitty yarn. not fun). The swatch itself is on US5 needles (in st stitch), and is not unlike terrycloth. Well, not quite that nubby, but hopefully you get the picture. I can't use this yarn for lace work or pattern work because the yarn itself is too textured. *sigh* And unfortunately I can't make a pile of towels out of it because it's acrylic. Acrylic just doesn't sop up water the way good cotton will. I'm at a loss. Using this yarn to make cat toys is going to be SLOW going if that's what it comes to because I have to knit up cat toys on considerably smaller needles than recommended for the yarn so I don't get catnip leakage....

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you're worried about catnip leakage, why not try stichting up a quick liner pouch to hold the nip, then slip that inside the toy and stitch it up. -Ayla-

minijaxter said...

have you tried knitting a blanket - ?
you can knit those on bigger needles :)
and the yarn looks soft enough for a blanket.

you could also try a sweater...although that might take forever...
how about a shawl or poncho on really large needles and it could be summer weight?