*Where swatching means casting on the required number of stitches, losing interest a few rows in, measuring it anyhow and going "eh, close enough" when it comes up a quarter of an inch short.
Now, I bought only one skein of Shamrock yarn in Beckett, and when it got here I thought to myself, Gee, self, this looks awfully small. But I shrugged and assumed that I would have been smart enough when ordering to check the amount of yarn the pattern called for and ordered accordingly. After all, I'm the one that always orders on the side of caution and picks up an extra skein so if I thought one was enough, well dagnabit, then one's enough.
Turns out I was only half-smart when ordering yarn. I ordered the recommended 50g of yarn, but the yarn used in the pattern is 93yd. Mine is only 82. Fuck fuck and doublefuck. Ah well, I thought. I knit a little tighter than the average knitter, and my gauge "swatch" came out a little short. Should be fine. So I knit. And by the time I got to here:
and the ball had decreased by a somewhat disturbing amount, I was forced to admit that, yes, I do not in fact have enough yarn. *sigh* Note the lovely, lovely way the colors of the contrasting strand are knitting up. Focus on that and not the
The way I see it, I've got a few options. I can:
- A - Keep knitting and pray that I've got enough.
- B - Frog what I've got so far, cast on less stitches, do fewer repeats in the middle and pray that I'll have enough.
- C - Buy more yarn and pray for the same or a matching dyelot.
Option B is less silly, but could quite conceivably have the same end result.
Option C makes the most sense, but will inevitably end up in me buying more yarn I really don't need. Plus I've had my eye on those oh-so-lovely Harmony straights, and my mother just gave me check for my birthday and it really would make more sense to do that because then I'd get the free shipping and - no no no! Bad brain! Do not need!
So what am I sitting here doing now? Well, obviously I'm blogging. But why am I blogging? To avoid starting yet another project. See, when the calorimetry failed, I eyed the lovely stack of Swish DK and thought perhaps I should swatch it for my Sesame sweater. But I've fallen into that trap before. Swatching is only fun for the first few rows. Then the novelty of playing with a new yarn wears off, and I wind up starting the project. And I certainly do not need to start any more projects, as clearly evidenced by my Ravelry page.
See, Ravelry shows that I have five WIPs. Nine if you count my hibernating projects, most of which are hibernating just because I don't want a billion WIPs listed. Then throw in the other three smaller projects (amigurumi and a granny square) that I felt were too small and would be finished too quickly to warrent calling them WIPs, and of course the calorimetry I just started. And we might as well add to that the bag that I haven't woven the ends into and lined so I can't actually use yet (aka: it's not done, aka: WIP!), and the beret that's too big to fit a human head and I still need to try to salvage with a few rounds of decreases but I went ahead and listed it as completed anyhow because it was mostly finished and that's close enough, right? And what do we have? A grand total of fifteen. I have over a dozen projects I've started and not yet completed, and I'm wanting to start ANOTHER one?? What is wrong with me???
Even now, that seductive little voice in the corner of my mind is whispering, go ahead, just swatch it! that doesn't really count as starting...
Except I know where it would go! Bad brain, stop trying to lead me into knitting temptation!
I'm going to go keep working on my socks. Maybe if I finish another project in the next few days, I'll reward myself with just one little eensy swatch. That can't hurt, right?
One thing to note about Calorimetry is that if you knit it as written, it turns out VERY large. Lots of people on Rav have made mods to the pattern, generally starting by casting on far fewer stitches. This may save you on the yardage :)
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