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March 5, 2008
limpid pools of blue
Last year at Stitches, I got two skeins of Brooks Farm Acero. The green skein immediately got knitted up into socks for Nathan. He wears them around the house all the time, and they've held up beautifully. They haven't shrunk or stretched or faded, and I've never had to pick a pill off of them. They're some of the best socks I've ever made.
Since I got two new skeins of this magical yarn THIS year at Stitches, I figured I ought to use the blue stuff I got last year. I cast on and immediately remembered that I *loved* knitting this yarn. There's not a lot of bounce to it due to the silk content, but it is so damned plush and luxurious.
Anyway, check it out:
No, that is not a crappy photograph, the yarn is actually pooling like that. This is the second start of this sock. I knitted about three inches last night and frogged the pooled mess in disgust, cast on at a new place in the yarn, and it's STILL pooling. All of the beautiful light blue is clumped together. I complained about it to Nathan this morning, and he said that maybe I should start at the other end of the skein of yarn, so I did. Now I have a sock going at each end of this ball of yarn, and they're BOTH pooling in the exact same way. Grrrrrrr.
Oh, well, at least they're going to match.
Comments
What if you run out of yarn before you finish the socks, and your needles meet in the middle of the skein, like Lady and the Tramp kissing when they're sucking up the same spaghetti strand?
Can I ask a stupid question? What is the purpose of yarn balls? That is, why roll a skein of yarn into a ball before you knit with it? (Yes, I am getting interested in all this in spite of myself, dammit.)
Posted by: cirocco at March 5, 2008 4:44 PM
It's not a stupid question. :) A nice neat ball prevents the yarn from being tangled as you use it. Trying to knit from an unwound skein is like trying to knit cooked spaghetti, without the cute dogs.
Posted by: Kate at March 5, 2008 5:05 PM
What about trying toe up instead of top down? That might stop the pooling.
Posted by: grace at March 6, 2008 6:33 AM
That's a swell idea, Grace, and one I'd try immediately if, in addition to the colors being wonkly, my gauge wasn't off. WAY off. I don't get it. I KNOW I used #2s last time I used this yarn with this pattern, and my gauge was spot on. It's gigantic now. Grrrrrrrr.
Going down a needle size now.
Posted by: Kate at March 6, 2008 10:09 AM