Lest you think this is going to become a quilting blog, it hasn’t been all quilting, all the time here lately - there has been some knitting too.

You see that? That’s a swatch. A swatch of Noro Cash Iroha, which is quite a lovely yarn. But. (yeah, there’s always a but…) I really, really wanted to use this yarn for Sahara. It’s not 100% silk, but it has enough silk in it to be drapey when knit up. Here’s the thing - I got gauge on size 6 needles (the top 1/4 of the swatch). The fabric was really tight though. I didn’t like it at all. So, I went up to size 7 needles. Ah, a much better fabric. Except my gauge is completely off now. Completely off.

So, what do I do? Recalculate the pattern for my gauge? This wouldn’t be too difficult, although I’ve never done it before. I’m hoping it might be as simple as knitting one size smaller than I’d typically knit, but it probably won’t be that easy. Or, should I save this yarn for something else? I don’t really want to do that, because I have no idea what I’d use it for. I don’t have enough to make an hourglass sweater. And I really want to make a cute short sleeve sweater or tank for spring. Also, I love the sequins that I bought to string along with the yarn for the trim.

Sigh. This is my least favorite part of knitting - trying to substitute yarn in patterns that I like without spending a bizillion dollars on fancy expensive yarns called for by the pattern. It’s especially frustrating when I buy yarn with a pattern in mind and it doesn’t end up working out. Like this Noro. And the Malabrigo. (In case you’re wondering what ever happened to SKB - it still looks like it did in that last picture. I haven’t the heart to rip it and I’m not sure it’s fixable)