18 June 2006
One of Those Crazy Knitters
One of the things I learned in Italy is that the Italians shudder to think of the way we throw any bottle/can of sauce onto any pasta, without regard for what type of pasta it is and what kind of sauce it should have. There are apparently strong rules about this that all Italians learn growing up (and that I never quite cottoned on to) , and if you have a pasta and the wrong kind of sauce, you make or buy another. Some pastas call for heavy, meaty sauces; some call for a wine-based sauce; and some call for a very light sauce with a base of olive oil.
I always quietly scoffed at "those crazy Italians" and their pickiness. Surely it all tasted the same, and (to use the excuse my parents gave to my brother when he didn't want to eat something that had mixed on his plate) it would all end up together in your stomach anyway. So why bother?
Well, I'm one of "those crazy knitters," as it turns out. That is, I was given six skeins of gorgeous Zen Colors yarn in Hako Mix (color 8167). (THANKS MOM!!!) This is yarn that I love to death, but I am usually limited to Michael's yarn (*gasp*) or at best, some of the cheapest yarn on sale at the LYS. Not this gorgeous ribbon yarn! And I instantly knew that I could not just knit anything with this yarn, even if I could get the gauge right. It has to be that perfect pattern.
Turns out, there's a pattern that's perfect in more ways than one--not only is it a cardigan that ties shut (the shape I wanted) and stylish to boot (why are there so many horrible patterns out there?), but it also is meant to be knitted with MY YARN! That's right, Lucy Lu was definitely the pattern meant for this yarn (and me).
As soon as I had my most recent project off the needles (pictures of that forthcoming), I ran to the other room to grab my yarn and knit a gauge swatch. I'm a crazy knitter in more ways than one; part of me *really* likes knitting the gauge swatch. There's something wonderful about getting to start to see what the whole thing may look like, while still having the more nearly instant gratification of starting to knit immediately, rather than the endless casting on that occurs when you *actually* start.
Of course, in this case, the gauge swatch turned out not to work very well.. it looked like I was right on, and then I had to go down needle sizes TWICE after casting on the entire 62 stitches and knitting for several inches each time, to actually get the gauge. Even that, however, cannot take away my love for this yarn, and pattern.
Tonight, much picture taking will occur, including however many inches I end up with by then of Lucy!
I always quietly scoffed at "those crazy Italians" and their pickiness. Surely it all tasted the same, and (to use the excuse my parents gave to my brother when he didn't want to eat something that had mixed on his plate) it would all end up together in your stomach anyway. So why bother?
Well, I'm one of "those crazy knitters," as it turns out. That is, I was given six skeins of gorgeous Zen Colors yarn in Hako Mix (color 8167). (THANKS MOM!!!) This is yarn that I love to death, but I am usually limited to Michael's yarn (*gasp*) or at best, some of the cheapest yarn on sale at the LYS. Not this gorgeous ribbon yarn! And I instantly knew that I could not just knit anything with this yarn, even if I could get the gauge right. It has to be that perfect pattern.
Turns out, there's a pattern that's perfect in more ways than one--not only is it a cardigan that ties shut (the shape I wanted) and stylish to boot (why are there so many horrible patterns out there?), but it also is meant to be knitted with MY YARN! That's right, Lucy Lu was definitely the pattern meant for this yarn (and me).
As soon as I had my most recent project off the needles (pictures of that forthcoming), I ran to the other room to grab my yarn and knit a gauge swatch. I'm a crazy knitter in more ways than one; part of me *really* likes knitting the gauge swatch. There's something wonderful about getting to start to see what the whole thing may look like, while still having the more nearly instant gratification of starting to knit immediately, rather than the endless casting on that occurs when you *actually* start.
Of course, in this case, the gauge swatch turned out not to work very well.. it looked like I was right on, and then I had to go down needle sizes TWICE after casting on the entire 62 stitches and knitting for several inches each time, to actually get the gauge. Even that, however, cannot take away my love for this yarn, and pattern.
Tonight, much picture taking will occur, including however many inches I end up with by then of Lucy!
