Sunday, October 02, 2005

Opinions, please! To frog or not to frog?


I'm halfway through my increases already, but I'm having second thoughts about things. I'm using a merino wool from Uruguay (same as Malabrigo/handpaintedyarn.com, but different seller) that has a variegated coloring. I resisted the urge to knit with two balls at once out of sheer laziness and the lack of desire to do something so tedious as to keep up with two balls instead of just one. But I can plainly see where one ball ran out and the new one started. Is it visible to the average person who doesn't knit and who hasn't been told that the problem exists? Will it be visible when I wear it?? As I look at it in the photo, it looks worse than in person. I think it may be how others see it from a distance, though, so I think I may have my answer already. Sob... (BTW, in real life, it has more orange or terra cotta in it than the picture, which turned out kind of peachy. )

If I redo it anyway, should I do the hem slightly differently? I read in Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Without Tears (after I started this, of course.) that she recommended using fewer CO stitches for the underside of the hem or using a needle a size or two smaller so that there's not as much bulk in the hem. Thoughts?

Thanks for the help. I was so excited that I was almost ready for a sleeve, but I think I may be back to square one this afternoon. Oh, the agony of being a perfectionist! LOL

3 Comments:

Blogger amy said...

I agree with Rose; I would just suggest frogging back to when you're closer to being done with the first ball, add the new ball for a row, continue with the first ball, etc. Alternate between the two to "blend" the colors more and see how it looks. If you're still not feeling it, frog. Manos us such nice yarn, it'd be a waste to make the sweater and not feel 100% about it.

Mon Oct 03, 04:56:00 AM PDT  
Blogger binkwaffle (Holly) said...

Okay, I started over. Cringe.
And I went ahead and did the first 5 rows on a sz 6 needle so that it was just slightly smaller than the gauge of the rest of the sweater; less bulk when it's turned up. I did the t-shirt hem on it the first time, but I wasn't sure how that would work with a smaller hem, so I skipped it this time. I'll just sew it up once I get a few inches into the sweater. I'll report back with its success. If nothing else, I can frog it backwards and do it differently once I'm done with the rest of the sweater.
Thanks for the advice! As tragic as it is at the moment to have to start over, I know I'll be infinitely happier with the finished product now.

Tue Oct 04, 06:20:00 AM PDT  
Blogger jen said...

Ouch! Those color changes happened with a yarn I bought from sanfelipeysantiago, the ebay side of handpainted yarns. Bummer! I'd frog it, though. And as for the facings ... yeah, a size smaller needle is a good idea -- I did my Rogue that way.

Tue Oct 04, 04:13:00 PM PDT  

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