Offerings to the swatch goddess
The week since my last post can adequately described as a penance. A propitiation of the gauge gods, who continue to frown on my door. This post is a desperate offering, the equivalent of 108 pradakshinas or perambulations around the temple. I wish I could say I fasted as well, but that would be a big lie.
Highland Silk Ogee
So voila my diligent and faithful swatching for the Ogee tunic. In keeping with the enabling good advice I got, I junked the Creskeld orange and decided on some Elann Peruvian Highland Silk. I first swatched with size 4s (look at the size of it, people!), and then when it was 21 st to 4 inches, I went down to 3 (both Bates) and knit another one. This one is on the spot - 23 st to 4 inches:
I love the feel of the second swatch and the sheen of the yarn, and so Elann Highland Silk it is to be. See the 3 little knots on the leftover end? That’s to remind me it was a size 3 needle. Comes in *very* handy when you want to use a yarn again and don’t want to swatch a second time. People use punch-cards, stickies.. this is less work. If you want it to tell you what kind of needle, though, you’re on your own.
The colour above is Oxblood, but that’s not what I’m using. I just had a skein handy and swatched with it. I ordered a shade card from Elann, thinking it would make it easier to choose the shade I wanted, but now I can’t decide between the Raspberry, the Tapestry blue and the Purple:
I am sorry about the night-time photography, but I can’t seem to find the time to photograph the yarn during the day. But the shades are all exciting and not really off - I wish I could decide! I love the yarn, though, and the price.
Provincial Waistcoat gauge rant alert:
I also ordered some Elsebeth Lavold Angora from Elann in Turquoise (on heavy discount), and swatched for the Provincial Waistcoat:
I dislike working with chunky yarn (the recommended Karabella Superyak is 3.5 spi!), so I bought the worsted Lavold, planning to work my way through the maths. (Those of you who know me, please do not laugh hysterically as you read this). As it turned out, I did work it out such that a larger size + thinner yarn = my desired dimensions. But like I said above, the gauge gods are pissed off, and they did smirk and cackle.
First of all, it’s fucking difficult to figure out how exactly to swatch for the body pattern. No chart and there are so many increases and decreases per row that I couldn’t figure it out. How difficult is it to just write out two rows? After wading through line after line of the pattern, I finally found it here where a helpful soul had typed it out. The swatch was 22 st to the inch in body patt on size 6 Bates.
Second of all, I looked closely at the model, and realised that this vest seems to have a ton of negative ease, and it is stretched quite a lot against the model’s body - a quick email to a couple of others who’ve made it confirmed that. Of course, the pattern says NOTHING about this, other than the recommended yarn being stretchy. My swatch varied wildly when I measured it plain and when I measured it stretched - plus the angora being what it is, it didn’t stretch like merino would. Instead of the 40" size to fit loosely, therefore, I’m thinking of the 35" size so it will fit snugly, more like it’s shown in the pattern.
Of course, I also realised that the angora wasn’t for me - all that fuzz, no way. It obscures the delicate stitch pattern, and somehow, I didn’t take to the yarn. It’s soft, but strangely lifeless. It’s going back.
I might just get some Cascade 220 for this, or double the new Elann Superwash Merino that I got a sample of. It looks springy and clean. Maybe then the deities will stop playing hard to get and smile on me a little. About time, too.