M-Space: The Blog

I haven't started, so I needn't finish

My recently deceased namesake Magnus Magnusson used to have the catchphrase "I've started, so I'll finish", which he'd use when presenting Mastermind. I doubt it's anything to do with the fact that we shared a name, but I usually like to finish something I've started, wherever possible. On the other hand if I don't start something I feel no compulsion to finish it.

Apply that fact to knitting and it's obviously better to abandon a project idea before the yarn hits the needles. A case in point is my alpaca hat, which I mentioned a few weeks ago as an intended project. Actually, "abandon" is too strong a word as I fully intend to knit the hat and to use my alpaca yarn, but not together.

As I previously said, I found a nice looking pattern for a cabled hat and I had intended to knit it using alpaca yarn. The alpaca is a South American animal related to, but much smaller than, the llama and its fur makes a yarn (it would probably be inaccurate to call it wool, as it's not from a sheep) that is reputed to be very soft and warm. I got as far as getting myself a couple of skeins of alpaca yarn in a nice mid-grey colour. Being a conscientious knitter, and not having a clear idea of the weight of yarn the pattern was intended for (it was from an American book and named a specific yarn rather than giving a general weight guideline), I decided to knit up a quick gauge swatch before I started the hat for real (NB, I think British knitters usually talk about tension, but I've got used to using the American term "gauge" for it). I think my yarn is probably a fair bit finer than the pattern calls for, as I needed to go up to at least 5mm needles to hit the desired gauge and by that point the fabric was beginning to get fairly loose (or whatever the opposite of dense should be) and I wasn't convinced that it would make a very good hat. An alternative would be to knit it on smaller needles to get a denser fabric and to add in an extra cable or two to achieve the desired width. I'm not averse to altering patterns when necessary to achieve my desired goals; however, in this case I wasn't sure if I had quite enough yarn in the first place and so I didn't want to add in more cables and be even more likely to run out halfway through the hat.

I have therefore decided, as I said, not to knit this hat using this yarn. I'll see if I can get some slightly thicker yarn (maybe alpaca, maybe not) to have a go at the hat sometime soon and will use this yarn for something different - perhaps another pair of socks, if I get a contrasting colour to stripe it with. If so, I'd probably want to reinforce the heels and toes, as I imagine alpaca isn't the hardest wearing yarn.

Speaking of socks, my second pair are coming along fairly well. I'm still on the leg of the first sock and only about 5" into it (the leg will be 8" before I start on the heel) but it now has several stripes and I've worked in a few decreases to give it some shape for the leg (as my calves are much thicker than my ankles and it's going to be long enough to get up there). I'm pleased with my decision to start with 1x1 rib, as it blends fairly well into the stocking stitch when viewed from a distance but produces a nice, snug elastic fit for the top of the sock. My mittens are coming on well, too, and I'm making slow progress on the second half of my tea cosy as well.

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