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Cutting It Close

I haven't felt well for the last week or so, so I've taken the opportunity to finish up some knitting that's been waiting. Two projects seemed to be falling into a theme, one I don't think I like too much. What is it, you ask? Ending the project with the tiniest bit of yarn left.

I finished my Hemlock Ring Blanket the other day and I'm really happy with it. I like the color and the Cascade Eco wool was easy to work with and very economical.




Based on the amount of yarn I had left when I got to where Jared finished, I thought I could make the blanket larger. I kept an eye on my diminishing ball, but thought I could make it through row 116, which meant that there were 568 stitches on the needles. The bind off takes a lot of yarn and I knew that, but I still thought my supply would be sufficient.

Here's what I had left.

There was 101". That's 2.8 yards left of the 956 that I had begun with. Not much. I was lucky.

I figured I was due a break, though, since the cables on the circular needles I used had broken not once, but twice during the project. The blanket was so heavy that the cable pulled out of the metal part on the end of it. The first time I seemed to lose a bunch of stitches and had to go back a few rows before I had the right number. The second time, during the bind off, I succeeded in keeping the stitches corralled and fudging with another needle and cable.

Whew! Glad to be done and able to curl up on my little loveseat under my new blanket and drink my tea.

I got some Knit Picks Swish superwash as knitalong yarn on the train trip I went on to Portland. I decided not to use it for the hat pattern that came with it, so instead started some children's mittens for the current campaign for afghans for Afghans. I made small mittens out of the green yarn

and larger ones out of the bronze color.


Partway through the second large mitten, my inner voice started asking, "Are you sure you'll have enough yarn?" The ball seemed to be rather small at this point. So off to the scale I went with the first mitten. It weighed about 24 grams. The skein is 50 grams. I should have enough.

I did, just barely.



I must say that I really enjoyed working with this yarn. It's soft and has good stitch definition and made great mittens. The pattern I use is Elizabeth Durand's Basic Pattern for Children's Mittens.

In other knitting news, I started and finished a pair of Mona socks. I've been participating in each month's knitalong with the Spring Fling group and it's a great way to get things done. These socks are made with All Things Heather superwash merino yarn in the Dragon colorway. I think I got it from The Loopy Ewe. It was scheduled to be a pair of Embossed Leaves socks, but somehow that wasn't a match made in heaven.



I think I'll go curl up again and start on the mate to the Casbah sock I made for Village Yarn and Tea last March. The first sock was returned to me and has been patiently waiting for its partner so they can be worn.

Stay well, everyone.

Comments

Cathy-Cate said…
The theme, while harrowing, is better than the theme of "2 yards short so you have to frog the last rows and reknit...." Done both, prefer the former!

Love the Hemlock Ring, and you know I like the Monas already!

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