Friday, January 13, 2012

Fiber Arts Friday: Peaceful Knitting?

This was supposed to be a small bit of peaceful knitting to get me through the end-of-the-year-crazy-ness.

I was using a much smaller yarn and needles than the pattern recommended.  I did a swatch and made some adjustments to the pattern.


I'm not entirely sure when I started to think that something wasn't right. But I kept knitting, trusting in the edits I had made.

Finally on Saturday I decided I had to try it on. I moved the cowl from the needles to waste yarn. I used a crochet hook because I was traveling and am certain that tapestry needles are not allowed in the carry-on luggage.  For the record a crochet hook works, but it's much easier and faster to do this with a tapestry needle.

My suspicion was confirmed... my cowl was huge. :-/  The finished cowl is supposed to be about 12 inches long from the top to the point. At the time of this photo it was about 18 inches and 75% complete. So frogged, it has been. :-(

The Bandana Cowl is a lovely pattern.  It is exactly what I wanted...  very simple but with enough short-rows to keep it interesting.  I enjoyed working it and am sad that I did not do this pattern justice.

I will make a few more adjustments next time.  Or perhaps, I will just use the recommended yarn and needle size.  ;-)

Please be certain to head over to Wisdom Begins in Wonder to see the wonderful-ness that everyone else has been up to for Fiber Arts Friday.

15 comments:

AC said...

I'm starting to think there is no such thing as peaceful knitting. Huge cowls are totally in style right now, though, so you could probably still rock it!

Kathryn Ray said...

LOL. Perhaps, but it's absolutely not my thing.

Melissa Plank said...

Awe, that's too bad, it looks like it has promise, is there anything to be done?

Kathryn Ray said...

At this point only starting over since I have already ripped it out.

Voie de Vie said...

Well, I'm sorry to hear it was frogged, but you've got to like it or it just won't work.

On to more peaceful knitting? :)

Vivian said...

Think of it as spending extra quality time with the lovely yarn, works especially well if you are a process knitter and would enjoy the learning process more than the finished product.

Kathryn Ray said...

@dV - yes, I have started a different very simple project. :-)

@Vivian - I like the way you think. It's a nice alpaca yarn that I really enjoy working with.

I do enjoy the process, but there comes a point to where I "need" to have things finished... hence the bummed-out-ness about the result. :-/

Melissa said...

:(....the same thing happened with my last cowl.

WonderWhyGal said...

That darn gauge gets us every time. Argh!

Via Verde Farm said...

I hate when that happens!!! And I agree..there is no peaceful knitting. Sorry it didn't work out.

Spinster Beth said...

Welcome to the frog pond!

I sorta thought your cowl was a cornucopia .... :/

Carol said...

Would like to try the Banana Cowl, perhaps with some handpainted yarn?

Alittlebitsheepish said...

Good luck with the restart. I try to think of it as learning when stuff goes wrong. In truth I usually think of it as an unprintable stream of rude words :D

Kathryn Ray said...

@Spinster Beth - I thought the same. ;-)

@Carol - I think the bandana cowl lends itself to a painted yarn. You should give it a try.

@ALittleBitSheepish - I will definately take your advice. LOL!

Keri said...

My friend had the same problem with a cowl. Her gauge was a little off and the FO stretched all the way to her knees. It keeps her very warm as she can wrap it around her neck so many times.