of seduction and regret

There was laceweight, and School Products. And then there was the yarn I didn't blog about at all.

Its funny sometimes, because I really don't walk around thinking "this is bloggable", often until days after the fact when I need something to say and I dredge my memory for something to work into a post. Which is, by the way, one of the reasons I never seem to pull out my camera when I should.

There was some laceweight Italian merino that came home with me from School Products last week. I got it home, and I hated the color, so I never mentioned it. Why is it that when I make a mistake, I often feel like I don't want to say anything about it? So the other day, I blogged the mohair/cashmere and the silk laceweights I bought. But didn't take a picture of the merino [it was a washed out, grayed teal, in case you want to know] because I figured right away that I'd exchange it for a different color.

There's a little bit of a funny story in the buying of that merino. In School Products with two yarn crazed friends, I saw the merino and picked up a skein. Then I turned around and saw cones of the same merino. I said "Ohhhh [imagine low moan] I need a cone of that." And one of my yarn-crazy friends said - and I kid you not, I really should have been worried - "No, you don't need a cone. That's too much."

Of course I collapsed into fits of giggles and asked if she remembered the name of my blog. But I was being all sheeplike that day and so thought that maybe "too much" was the voice of reason, so I settled for two (measly) skeins.

Okay, so this knitter walks into a bar School Products the other day to exchange the merino for a different color. Knowing full well that she's going to get a cone, because dammitalltohell there's no one there to stop her this time. You have to understand, that Not-Kerry Not-blue shawl totally warped my mind. Big, square, a gazillion stitches with not one iota of information on yarn requirements to be found, and a coned yarn gave me the freedom to knit blissfully unworried that I'd run out. I love coned yarn.

So, I found the ochre-y color of the merino I knew I wanted. In a cone (nyah nyah) and was happy. And then I started looking around. Who walks into a yarn store and doesn't look around, even if they were there last week? So of course something else walked home with me.

The merino laceweight is on the right, the other yarn is on the left. The other yarn (if yarn it can be called) is a 50/50 silk and linen blend. Its the thickness of thread - thinner than some threads I've seen. In fact, I'm sitting here thinking that there may be a point at which something sold in a "yarn" store really is thread and not yarn. Its fine. Super, super fine. And considering the fiber content, there probably is no chance at all that it will bloom, fluff, or otherwise change its nature. I think its about the thickness of the thread in the middle of Kidsilk Haze.

So, I get this ersatz yarn home and wonder (yet again) what in the world I was thinking.
But as we all know, the cure for all indecision and regret is swatching. Its a make or break sort of solution, but it works.

So, I kind of have ..... knitted thread. Actually, I love it. It drapes, its soft, it has a very subtle and seductive sheen. I swatched it on size 8/5mm needles to give it some openness because I know this baby ain't gonna block for nothin'. I think that somewhere in the back of my mind, I was wondering if it would be possible to substitute this for cobweb weight wool. I know you can steam and iron linen and silk, which might substitute for the effects of blocking wool. Any opinions?

And in sock pattern news -

Its going. I'm knitting the second sock now. I realized that if this was just something I was knitting and was going to show you finished, I'd blow through it much faster. But this is something that someone else might conceivably want to knit. Which means that there are no secrets. If I'm not thrilled with something, I need to work it out. Normally, I'd just bury any glitches in silence, and no one would ever know the difference. But this figuring out and writing down and thinking of all the ways it could be better is slow. Patience, please.

Comments

[Chris]

Oh, I love the idea of silk-linen yarn!

[Emy]

Coned yarn! Lovely!

Could I ask what needles you use for the lace knitting?

[naomi]

Any estimates on wpi for your thread? (I've been debating about how to use some merino thread/cobweb weight that I picked up last Saturday...)

[Vicki Roy]

Never regret yarn purchases they always end up being knit when the right project comes along. Then you can't believe your absolute genius in purchasing the yarn, and you realise you were obviously ahead of your time. Love the lace. I always love lace but generally don't like it so open, not in this instance it is perfect. Lace makes me happy too.

[vanessa]

i am having serious cone envy.

[Kimberly]

Thanks for the post! I have a number of laceweight cones of silk and have been wondering what size needles I should be using and what sort of pattern could be done with them.
=:8

[claudia]

I blog about my mistakes all the time. People love it.

;-)

[Heather]

Enjoy your cone! It looks quite nice.

[Beth S.]

Did you just get away with showing us an ethereal little scrap of shawl and not telling us what it was? ;-) Yes, I think you did!

I still feel badly about not buying any laceweight cashmere, merino, etc at School Products last month. Total failure of the imagination there. I know I'll end up radically overcompensating for that the next time I make it to New York.

[Amy]

How many wpi is the yarn/thread that you got?

[susan]

I have a (*cough* *cough*) huge cone of 2/48 cream-colored Zegna Bafuffa cashwool but never worked up the nerve to swatch it. Any idea of the weight of your linen/blend.