Liesl/why I love Ravelry

So, with a week to go before my 10-day tour of the US (New York, San Francisco - yay! although I hasten to add it is business and I won't get a lot of free time...) I decided that I really should have a larger project to take with me as well as the usual travelling sock project.

There followed some browsing and looking at online yarn suppliers and humming and hahhiing and then I decided that I probably should do something like either Liesl or Hey Teach - a lacey summer cardi that would probably be finished just in time for the autumn... :-/

I started thinking about what kind of yarn to get, and of course it's always good to look on Ravelry and see what everyone else has used, especially when the recommended yarn is expensive, difficult to get hold of and/or you don't have much time to think about it.

I came across a bit of a problem - my usual online supplier was on hols, and getting yarn from them in time would be a push.



And then the revelation came - I saw that someone had used Jaeger Extra Fine Merino for one of these and I thought 'WOW! Don't I have about 15 balls of that in my stash that I have been trying to use for something for ever?!!'

It's one of those sale purchases that was made on the basis of the colour but without any particular project in mind. It's been the start of a jumper (frogged), a shrug that I don't really like and a scarf that I gave away. And I still have about 15 balls left! I'm pretty sure that the tightly-spun yarn will show off the pattern nicely, and that its weight will give it the right drape when finished. Plus I am knitting from stash. How smug do I feel?!



Of course the real proof will come in the wearing, so if you never hear of this project again, assume the worst....!

This photo was taken before the first frogging (and the second). I am now some way further on, and have learned that special attention should be paid if you follow the instructions for the buttonholes. Make sure you do the yarn over BEFORE you start the buttonhole instructions otherwise you will be one stitch short and your pattern will be all over the place. If you have tried this pattern before, you may have been there already...!

I'm off tomorrow - sadly I have little time for shopping in NY, although I may succumb in San Fran. But I'm going to try and keep travelling in the same direction with stash reduction, so might just hire a bike for the day and go out to Soselito and beyond, far away from yarn temptation.

See you in a while!