a short History of b.Lime…
One of the best things about fiber blogging as the years go by, is that one can realize just how much this journal can be a History of Hair as well as a history of knitting!
Setting up shop with WordPress has forged a look at categories from the past (some showing up well, others, hmm…) and I realized I had knit nothing Personally Green for months and months. Yup, a little green CeCe snuck in (see right sidebar) and a sage green shrug, but March, my traditional time to plunge into the verde went by all alone. Now if the City of Chicago loves Green well enough to dye the entire Chicago River as such in the month of March, why am I dragging my feet???
Now, even though I’ve become very very fond of Kelly Green, my first and always love is the b.Lime…
Mining the stash came up with a couple of candidates but the most interesting is what you see below: Adrienne Vittadini *Bettina*. It is viscose, nylon and linen—a kind of papery chartruese ribbon wrapped in taupe linen and it is stone cold neon CHARTRUESE!
The first thing I thought of that would be perfect for this yarn was This…
Trouble was, the gauge was really really different: 14 sts & 21 rows. *Standard* gauge for a Bulky yarn is, hmm, 14/18? So this yarn was what I politely term: Row Gauge Challenged…
Now, I believe we’ve ALL had this pop up from time-to-time. The Ballband gives just a stitch count and leaves off any row info. I always perk up when I see this because I know I might be in for a surprise down the line if I don’t pay attention. Some of the alpaca yarns have standard stitch gauges and non-standard row gauges and the bottom line is: Respect your Knitting and Swatch!
So it was back to the drawing board for the shell pattern I wanted to use and I tinkered it and cast-on…
Ooh, I love your boxes in the bottom photo. The swirly motif is just wonderful.
It’s funny. I’ve taken to figuring out what my gauge is with a yarn and then looking for a project that fits my gauge and yardage. It’s kind of like putting the painful annoying parts of the project all up front so hopefully you don’t find out down the road that the sweater is really knitting up to fit a sumo wrestler or a Barbie.
Your green sweaters are beautiful. Any chance you will offer the pattern for the cardigan????
I just finished your Eyelet Cardi, and want to thank you for such a well written, well designed, and fun pattern!
Thanks so much! I can’t wait to see it :)
And Patty, I’m thinking about that as a pattern—but too much Stockinette st? I like the 2028 gauge…
I <3 green too. In fact I’ve got some GGH Bali in, what else, why Kelly Green that has Cece written all over it.
I don’t know if my yarn is row gauge challenged, all I know is that I’m getting 5.5 stitches per inch on both of my sweater fronts, yet, inexplicably, my right front is wonky. As in, the shoulder strap is fatter somehow, even though I’m getting the same gauge, and it’s 16 stitches wide like the other…
Gah. I’m hating on everyone today whose knitting is going well. Thank goodness to find someone else with problems!