theraineysisters knitting and so much more

April 15, 2008

From Susan — Back to Normal (?!)

Filed under: Susan's Mitered Cardigan — lv2knit @ 12:08 am

Whatever that means !  My knitting immersion therapy is over and it’s back to the daily grind (yes, Marie, I did go to work today, dragging my sorry behind behind me!).  I could have a “booster shot” by attending tomorrow evening’s MKG meeting, recapping the success of Yarnover and listening to Joan Schrouder’s knitting wisdom.  We’ll see if family obligations allow me off my leash for another night.

I must admit to amour propre after reading the Yarn Harlot’s description of our meeting the other evening.  Wow!  Thanks for the kind words!!  And I keep thinking back to all of the knitters we met — wonderful memories of a fun evening!

Now on to some knitting content.  I have some complaining to do.  I am a little peeved by the yarn I am using for my current project — the Mitered Cardigan.  I am knitting with Rowan Tapestry in the Lakeland colorway.  The yarn is not my favorite and I am praying that it doesn’t turn into one giant pill immediately upon cast off, BUT that is not what is bugging me today. 

I finished the left front a while back:

The shaping worked as planned, I knit the bottom square of the right front, and had made some headway into the top section.  Motoring along at a ‘slow-but-sure’ clip.  Then I looked at it.  The top section was about ten shades darker than the bottom section.  I had grabbed a ball of yarn from the same bag, with the same dye lot and it looked completely different!  Ugh!   It was way too obvious being right on the front!  I ripped and restarted with a new ball, but should I have to?  Isn’t that why they created dye lots?  I know handpainted yarnie la la’s can vary a lot, but this is standard Rowan issue.  (It doesn’t say anywhere that it’s handpainted). 

I am now concerned about the rest of the project and how I can scrounge enough yarn for the sleeves.  I know my Kauni sleeves were very different in color, but that was a design element ;)!  I don’t think having one pale sleeve and one dark sleeve will look quite right.  It’s a little frustrating…

12 Comments »

  1. I personally feel the quality of Rowan yarn has decreased over the past few years…………and I think Tapestry is one of the examples

    Comment by Marilyn — April 15, 2008 @ 8:03 am

  2. I totally understand your predicament. I was doing the Diagonal Jacket from Taos and had the same thing happen. I was down to knitting a sleeve and kept looking at my backs, hoping that it was just my eyes. When, I took it to my knitting group, the consensus was that I was never going to like it.

    So, it is in timeout for now, but I believe that it will figure out that it was meant to be something else later.

    Comment by pjknits — April 15, 2008 @ 8:21 am

  3. Susan- Rowan used the be the Gold Standard for high quality yarns- but now, price doesn’t always
    guarantee quality.

    I hope it works out for you.

    Comment by Lorraine — April 15, 2008 @ 8:39 am

  4. The jacket looks gorgeous on my monitor. I am hoping you will tell us how you did the neck shaping. I am not a fan of stand-up-at-the back-neck collars, as shown on the original design.
    I stopped being a Rowan fan, after Kim H left.

    Comment by Judith — April 15, 2008 @ 3:28 pm

  5. Funny, I had the same issue with the Mountain Colors Mountain goat I was using for the same pattern (now frogged and on hold). Granted, the yarn came from mixed dye lots. Older versions of the Ruby River colorway had glints of yellow that were barely present in the more recently purchased hanks. I had to alternate 2 rows of one, 2 of another, not a big deal but a major pain once I had to frog!

    Comment by Laura — April 15, 2008 @ 6:40 pm

  6. I made a scarf with the tapestry & the same thing happened to me. My YLS ladies thought Rowan had made a mistake and gave me another ball free. It matched better. The odd ball (same lot#)even felt different! And instead of gray, there was black! We thought it was just a fluke- MP

    Comment by Mary Pat — April 15, 2008 @ 6:48 pm

  7. Aaarrrgghhhh – that sort of thing drives me insane!

    Good luck!

    Comment by Soo — April 16, 2008 @ 4:27 am

  8. Future-son-in-law bought me two skeins of tapestry for Christmas (trying to get on my good side)so I went in search for one more for a project. I found all different colors in the same dye lot and had a heck of a time matching. But your sweater is amazing!!!

    Comment by Gina — April 16, 2008 @ 8:05 am

  9. A little frustrating? I’d be stringing a whole bunch of not-so-nice words together.

    Comment by Pam/2muchfun — April 16, 2008 @ 8:19 am

  10. I know what you mean about knitting immersion and also about the Rowan yarn. On the first, I felt saturated between the YH event and Yarnover, but so happy. BTW I loved Sally’s Bohus (have already ordered a kit for myself and am almost done with the wristlets from the class). I didn’t make it to the guild last night as I must have been coming down too hard from the high of all that fiber and simply collapsed yesterday.

    As for the Rowan – a couple years back I hit a ball of Calmer with about 5 knots in it. Ridiculous for the price, and I let Rowan know it. They sent me one of their pattern books as consolation. Not that it will solve your color problem, but it might be worthwhile to make them aware of the situation.

    Next time I see you at a yarn event I will introduce myself.

    Comment by twinsetellen — April 16, 2008 @ 8:22 pm

  11. Totally agree and feel your pain. These yarn companies have an obligation to “get it right” for crying out loud. Isn’t that why we pay the big $$$ and stay away from acrylic (eek) at AC Moore and Michaels?
    BTW ~ you girls are like royalty!! I read your write-up on stehanie’s blog and woohoo i’m thinkin’ like yup them’s rainey girls are right up there ~ way beyond any pope visit 🙂
    happy day ladies !!!

    Comment by Michelle — April 16, 2008 @ 8:47 pm

  12. Oh, I hear you about Tapestry. I knit an Argosy scarf from it, and while I didn’t have any problems with dye lots, it was a very tiresome knit. The yarn stuck to itself like crazy, and when I needed to tink, long strips of fibre would be pulled off. It doesn’t wear too badly, though.

    Comment by Expat knits — April 17, 2008 @ 4:43 am

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