I have found out that surprise boxes can come on other days as well, like my fresh farm veggie and fruit box that comes every other Friday except yesterday when it did not come. I was so sad. Just veggies, mind you, but I was entirely let down because my box of possibilities didn't show up...don't worry, they will send a replacement next Friday.
But today was really red letter. Today the YARNBOX came. Every other month a smallish box comes and when I open it, first thing I see is bright tissue paper with a wrapped candy stick on top. As if that were not enough, I gently pulled the tissue aside and there were two hundred gram hanks of hand spun, hand dyed 100 percent Merino from Montana. It's in my favorite shades of blues.
I didn't undo the hank for a long time because I was savoring the surprise. The endless possibilities of what I might make out of this yarn made the wait to get going scintillating. After dinner, I asked my DH to hold the hank while I hand rolled a ball.
Because I never know whether the yarn will be thick or thin, I don't pre-plan anything. But this yarn is a good size 5 bulky with variations in thickness because of its handspun quality. I'm a size 3 weight knitter and I knew I had some big needles somewhere because I have the whole Addi-click set but since it wasn't in my case, I had to go hunting and found the size I needed in an abandoned scarf project.
The pattern I chose was an internet freebie that called for bulky yarn and size 9 needles. I found some 10s that weren't in a project and followed the pattern. About 5 inches into it, I could see that the drape of the yarn wasn't there. This brings up an actual lesson and that is, you can't just go by what the pattern suggests, you actually have to make a swatch. Then you know what to expect and how to knit accordingly.
I carefully replaced these needles in the project from which I had robbed them and hunted down my thickest size 15s. Believe me, once I did a few stitches, I could see that this was a far better choice. This yarn is really thick and I know how I knit, so it was just about perfect.
Now, back at the pattern, I knew it was a scarf thus width and length aren't awfully important. It said I needed to knit a "Goofed Up" rib over 27 stitches. I just had to take them at their word because the picture wasn't enough to show me how this would look, and now, some 4 or 5 inches into the project I can see that the rib, chunky as it is, makes a thick, stretchy rib that pulls in the width of the scarf. This is a good thing because 27 stitches on a size 9 needle is nothing like 27 stitches on a size 15.
I don't recommend fooling around with a pattern if you are a new knitter. It's better to stay with something that is going to work. If the pattern recommends a brand, then try to find that. At least then you have a far better than average chance of your work ending up to look like what you saw in the picture.
However, if you don't mind experimenting, then make the yarn you have work with the pattern you like. Simply take the swatch and count the number of stitches in an inch, ditto the number of rows in the inch. Then cast on to match the dimensions given in the pattern. In my case, the pattern splits into about four strips that are interwoven and I knew I needed enough stitches to do that, but banked on the odd rib to pull in my width. It worked, and if it hadn't I guess I would have looked for something different to do with my new yarn.
So today's great big surprise was the box of yarn and that made the whole evening challenging to adapt it to a pattern I've been thinking about. And, like an icecream cone, I've got to keep at it until I've finished. Never mind going to bed this evening - I'm knitting!
Come back soon and see how this turned out. Hugs to you and your projects too, Pat.
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