![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ittakesballstoknit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/IMG_0087.jpg\" "\\"IMG_0087\\"")
<\/a>The first ball almost finished ...<\/p><\/div>\n
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So now that the hoopla that surrounds the holidays has finally died down, it’s time to get back to the knitting. I have a whole bunch of projects to complete and new ones to start (see last post), so there’s going to be a lot of stitches being made. This will help me keep up with the goal of knitting 100m per day (average) over the year. In keeping with that, the first new project of 2012 is a scarf – surprise, surprise. I seem to have a thing for scarves lately, well, ever since the calendar anyway. I’ve always liked making scarves, as they give me a great launching pad for a particular pattern or texture for when I’m designing a sweater.<\/p>\n
Last year when I was in Shan’s Needleworks, I picked up a ball of Merisoft Hand Paint – a 100g ball of pure merino wool yarn from Punta Yarns. I got the shade number HP74 (blues and greens) and a ball of the same yarn but just in white. I knew I would like the yarn just from the feel of it, and picked up two more balls of the same color at The Beehive Yarn Shop in Victoria. I knew there was a good chance the dye lots would be different, which is okay since it’s a hand painted yarn – more on that later. I used the white to make a couple swatches to see what needle size I liked for it. I settled in on the 5mm and started a scarf yesterday.<\/p>\n
When I’m using a yarn that already has a lot going on because of the color, I tend to make simple textures, so as to not take away from that. So for this scarf I decided to go with a diagonal rib pattern. I chose the diagonal rib because it doesn’t suck in on the width the way a regular rib would. It’s still stretchy and lies flat, and shows off the color of the yarn well. The problem I had was with the different dye lots – let’s call them A and B. I had three balls in total – 2 of A, and 1 of B. So I decided to knit the scarf with one half of a ball of A, then introduce the singular dye lot ball (B) and alternate every two rows, then eventually finish with the second half of the second ball with dye lot A. This was a great plan (well, I thought so), and you couldn’t tell where I had introduced the second dye lot. Unfortunately, as I was gong along I noticed an error I had made quite a few rows below.<\/p>\n
So change of plans, I ripped back to the introduction of B and just kept knitting with A. Now the plan is to knit all of the first ball of A, then the one ball of B, then the second ball of A. Of course, if the change is too drastic I will rip back (again) and introduce B the way I had originally. I think this will work fine since the yarn is hand painted and even within the same dye lots there is a variance. It actually adds a bit of depth to the overall finished item. So I guess the lesson I’m trying to impart with this post is that even though you plan something, and even start doing it, the fun in knitting lies in the fact that you can always change your mind (or have it changed for you) and try something different. You never quite know how something is going to look until you actually start doing it and see it on\/off the needles. So don’t be afraid to experiment when you’re knitting – or to change your mind! Here’s what the scarf looks like so far …<\/p>\n