A cowl and a scarf have gone to a lovely knitter in the US mid-west, and another cowl is on its way to Germany. Both have been fun knits and using yarn that I hadn't been exposed to prior to this experience. That's what's been great about this exchange -- the new patterns, yarn and people! You certainly discover quite a bit about all three....
Not all patterns are created equally. I understand the need for brevity, and an expectation (based on the level of complexity of a pattern) that not everything has to appear in print, but I found it interesting what different people view as "necessary". Viewed through a positive lens, this has made me appreciate the skill set I have, and inspired me to learn some new things. And discovering knitters are a group of compassionate and enthusiastic people is no surprise, but it is a delight every time that comes to light!! Yarns. Well, that's been interesting. These are some upscale names that lead you to believe the quality is synonymous with the brand you've heard about....so imagine my surprise when one of the yarns bled -- during blocking.
That was an eye opener for me... no issue with running when soaking pre-blocking, but the cowl (which was to be opened up to a single layer while blocking), had the burgundy yarn run/bleed into the cream coloured yarn while waiting to be blocked. Hmmmpffff! Inconvenient? Yes. Unexpected? Yes. And I refer back to my earlier comment about knitters being understanding and compassionate. I soaked as much as I could from the 'bleed', and it is faint but still there... and frustrating because this is not how I like to present my work. Sigh.
The next project was using an alpaca blend and it was delightful! This is the first opportunity I've had to use a "chained" yarn... like a little tube of knit stitches creating a yarn that is sproingy.... (there is no other word that describes it as aptly!). The pattern... fun! But there were some stitches that could have been described a little more clearly. For instance, one of the architectural features has what appears to be a slipped stitch running up through the cowl. It's created by moving the yarn in front and then slipping purl-wise the next stitch. Clear enough. But what wasn't made clear was how to handle these two loops when you are on the return row... an important piece of the puzzle if you're a beginning knitter. I figured it out, and here's the result....So in addition to feeling rather chuffed about paying it forward, I'm also rather happy to have had a productive few weeks with these things flying off my needles in pretty quick order. I have a few more small projects coming my way, and one larger shawl (DK weight yarn). The shawl is about a quarter of the way done, so it's next on my to do list. I'll share that experience too...
