The Scrap Project Paradox and The Law Of More Yarn Required

After finishing the lovely but long and complex shawl, I was trying to be good and go back to the stupid scrap project I've been working on for far too long (try two and a half years):

To remind everyone (though I've mentioned this project before), this is a simple log cabin squares put into a small blanket project that I started to get rid of all the Simply Soft I had laying around.  I've been working on it on and off, but during the Olympics I made a effort to get all the squares done and sewn up, which I accomplished.  I, however, only started the border before dropping it to do the shawl.  Priorities, priorities.

Anyway, this, of course, has gone the way of every scrap project, which is it fell for the Law of More Yarn Required.  The Law of More Yarn Required states that if you do something trying to use up random not full skeins of yarn, such as undertaking a scrap project, you will need more yarn to complete it than you have in your stash.  It isn't the worse thing in the world if you use all that extra yarn, but this goes hand-in-hand with the Scrap Project Paradox, which is any scrap project doesn't actually use up your scrap yarn.  It may change the dynamic or amount of such, but it never will use up all the scrap yarn.  You will always have some left.

Trying to avoid that for my scrap project, when I started the border I planned out the design so that I would use more of the yarn I had more of while still maintaining some semblance of a design.  I would not fall for this rule...and yeah:

I made the black sections way too big, and ran out of black yarn on the last side I had to do (I'm also log-cabining the border). Ten more rows of black I don't have the yarn for, nowhere, not even in my stash (for obvious reasons the half-skein of black wool I still have would not work, unfortunately).  So now I need more yarn for the scrap project I was doing to get rid of yarn. Sigh.

Not that I wasn't falling for this law even without the black yarn shortage (though, to be far, less yarn than I started with):

Best laid plans of mice and men and all that.  Next time I may do the whole thing properly; that is, weight the damn yarn and see how much area I can cover with it.  Maybe then I'll actually defeat the Law and the Paradox...or at least I can dream, right?

Crazy Cable Blanket Debrief (With a Bonus Border Pattern)

So, I finished Crazy Cable Blanket:

Yet I cannot make my bed well, or pick up the shoes I haven't worn in months.

It's all done.  Border, blocked, everything.  I can't believe I managed to finish it.  The label I sewed on it says it all:

I ordered them from KnitPicks, but other retailers may have these labels in stock as well

Anyway, since this took about a year and a month of my life (though if I had worked on it consistently, it would have been more around eight months), I figured I go into detailed 'debrief' of the pattern for anyone who's crazy enough to make one.

The Pattern
The pattern I used for the blanket itself was Alice Starmore's St. Ciaran (missing accents; sorry) from the reprinted version of the book Aran Knitting (it may be in the original as well.  I don't know and I can't vouch for that version).  Like all of Alice Starmore's cable work, it is interesting, creative, intricate, and absolutely crazy.  What made this more fascinating is the idea of having cables form Celtic patterns, which involves learning how to make the cable appear like it's making a bend when in fact that's where you started or ended the cable.  As I love cables, and I like Celtic designs, I loved this.  Hell, I bought Aran Knitting because I saw this pattern knitted up in a KnitPicks catalog.

However, the Celtic cabling is also what made the pattern challenging.  Now, honestly, the pattern and the charts that go with it are flawless.  I had no problem learning how to read the chart, setting it up, and following it.  I did have some issues the whole 'start and finish the cable in the middle of it' step in the beginning, though.  The first couple of times I screwed up and had to re-start the blanket.  But after that, all my mistakes were more due to my momentary lapses in paying attention more than anything (can you blame me? Knitting solid cables 200+ stitches across gets a bit tedious, no matter how much you like the pattern).

The other interesting thing about this pattern is that it's actually supposed to be a shawl.  However, it's a really big shawl...what most of us would call a small blanket.

For anyone who wants to attempt the pattern, the advice I'd give to you is:

1. Use a 60" circular needle.  Use a good quality one as well; you will put stress on the joins between the cord and needle with this pattern and you don't want them popping mid blanket.  However, you will not get far with straight needles unless you are so against circulars you insist on using them.  Your sanity and wrists will thank me later.
2.  I know it's a blanket, but for the love of the knitting goddess, SWATCH FIRST.  If you're too lazy to swatch one of the charts (which is recommended to learn how to do the cable from nothing trick before you start the blanket and then have to re-start it), at least swatch in stockinette.  Alice Starmore's patterns are notorious for tight gauge (I think I saw someone call it 'bullet-proof'; it's not too much of an exaggeration).  You may have an issue with it and have to go up a needle size or two, depending on the yarn used.
3. While I used an acrylic/nylon blend successfully, I would still recommend going will some sort of wool, wool blend, or some other flexible, springy yarn for this blanket.  You will enjoy knitting it more with a yarn that doesn't mind going through some gymnastics, because that's all this pattern is.  You may find a different fiber that will work, but tread carefully.  If you need machine washable like I did, you may have to compromise on ease-of-knitting a bit, however you must triple-check that your chosen yarn won't send you to the wrist doctor for pain either (Ravelry reviews of other knitters having done cables with said yarn are a godsend for this).  This is also why you need to swatch, hopefully before you commit yourself to buying all the skeins.
4. On the other hand, the yardage you will get by calculating it out of the pattern is a bit more than you need, unless you're knitting more loosely or putting the fringe on.  I used a little under 2100 yards on the blanket itself as written (minus the fringe), but bought 2730 yards based on the pattern.  With my border, I used about 2520 yards.
5. Put stitch markers where each chart ends/begins.  They don't really get in the way and they help you see where all the charts are.
6. Have separate row counters for each chart, along with one representing the whole blanket. You can use an app for this if you don't want five string-on counters on your needle cord.  The benefit of the app is that most of them will switch all the counters with one button push.  The downside is that you need your phone/tablet around and not dead whenever you knit.
7. It may be easier if you photocopy the charts so you're not flipping back and forth in the book. I insist on it if you're using a library copy or someone else's copy of Aran Knitting. I didn't do this, and  I broke the spine of my book and the pattern pages de-attached. I had to duct tape them back in. Twice.
8. Don't try to memorize the charts.  You may get the A chart down pat all right, as it's just a six-stitch braid (and it's the most common chart in the blanket), but you will make more mistakes than anything if you try to memorize the other three charts.  They are too long and complicated.  Save yourself some hair-ripping and just stick with reading the charts.

The Border
The border isn't part of the pattern.  I made it up on the fly.  The blanket just looked unfinished to me without one, and I had extra yarn anyway.  However, the thought of picking up stitches along it and knitting a border...no.  Just no.  So I crocheted it instead.  I love being bi-craftal.

For anyone who wants to go the extra mile of crazy, the border pattern is below:

Start in a stitch or two in front of a corner of the blanket.  It doesn't really matter which corner, but I started on the end of the blanket.

Use a US G/6 (4.25mm) or whatever is slightly smaller than the knitting needle size you're using (Go with the G if you're knitting with an US 7 (4.5mm)). Always end the round by slip stitching (sl st) into the top chain to end the round.  sc = single crochet, dc = double crochet, FPdc = front post double crochet, i = # of side you're on, loc = stitch you're at (the location).  This is a quick and dirty pattern, be warned.  The chart will be added later, as it will take more time to make (though it will be much clearer than my written instructions for many people, I think.  I said it was a bonus).

Round 1:  for(i=0; i < 4; i++){sl st to loc == corner st.  3 sl st.} sl st to loc = 0

Round 2:  Ch 3. for(i=0; i < 4; i++){dc to loc == corner st. 3 dc.} dc to loc = 0

Round 3: Ch 2.  for(i=0; i < 4; i++){sc to loc == corner st. 3 sc } sc to loc = 0

Round 4: Ch 2. for(i=0; i < 4; i++){while(loc != corner st ){sc. FPdc into below dc.} if(loc == corner st){sc, FPdc into corner dc stitch, sc.}}. do{sc. FPdc into below dc.}while(loc != 0)

Round 5-8:  Round 3

Round 9: Round 2

Round 10:  Round 4

Round11: Round 3

I can't tell you how many stitches I did on each side, because I was lazy and didn't count (and therefore had too many stitches and had to decrease. Then I had to learn how to property decrease in crochet, because I realized I've never had to decrease in a way that didn't involve just skipping the stitch.  The result was that I learned that decreasing in crochet is just a two stitch cluster, but I still had a few too many stitches on the ends).  I will tell you that you need to slip stitch into every knit stitch on the sides of the blanket, but you'll need to only do a percentage of them on the ends.

The Yarn
The yarn...what can I say? I used Berroco Comfort in color 9763 (it's a navy blue color, despite some of the photos I took). I knew everything about it from the reviews I read, and I pretty much had the same experience, minus one.  The good is that it's cushy and provides enough stitch definition for cables.  It's also machine washable and dryable, which is good for a blanket for a 13-year-old.  I haven't run it in the washer machine yet, but it's been in the dryer and it came out fine.  The steam blocking job I did created a bit of fuzzy, but that's because I wasn't being careful (it does say not to iron the yarn and while I was using a pillowcase between the iron and the blanket (wet pillowcase = steam without the steam setting), I was pressing too hard and had the iron up too hot).

The bad is that it does have a tendency to split into tiny threads, especially on the sharp tips of the metal needles I prefer.  I'm pretty used to this by now, as I can split yarns that almost never split when using said needles, but it's a bit of an issue with this yarn in particular. Also, you don't have the desired flexibility with the yarn that you may want with such a cabling job.  Sliding the stitches and twisting them are a bit tougher than one may like or expect with a good flexible yarn like wool.

The one thing I do disagree with from a review I read was that I found it easier to crochet with than to knit with.  Since the crochet hook was blunt, and my knitting needles were sharp, I had less of an issue with splitting when crocheting with it. It still split, don't get me wrong, but not as badly.  But maybe my experience is tainted with the fact that I was crocheting simpler stitches than I was knitting, so it just tolerated the less demanding stitchery better.

Conclusion
This was one of the most trying projects I've worked on, and there were many times I dropped it like a hot potato and let it cool for a couple of months. It got tedious some days, and I can't believe I spent so much time on it.

The next one I do is for me. In a nice wool.  I keep staring at it; I love the cables and I want one now.  Or maybe I'll adopt the cables in St. Brigid into a shawl like I wanted to do before I do another Crazy Cable Blanket.  Or actually get around to making Eala Bhan, which is the other pattern I bought this book for.

Don't worry, it won't happen any time soon.  I have enough yarn for other projects already that it'll be awhile before I get around to buying yarn for another one of these....

Deadlines and Stupid Mistakes

Bad things happen when you actually start to think about deadlines.  Sure, we've all had them, for knitting or otherwise.  Sure, they're sometimes a good thing.  But it's nice when you can take your time with a project as well.

The latter was my first approch to Crazy Cable Blanket.  You know, this one:

This was mostly to preserve my sanity.  Imagine setting a deadline on that sucker...at best, it would have been so far into the future it'd been useless.  Anyway, a week or so ago, I sat down and calculated around how much I needed to knit if I wanted to get it done by next Hanukkah (which is in the middle of December this year).  A rough estimate concluded that if I knit 4 rows a day, I can get it done by November (which would maybe give me time to smack a border on it.  Because all this time-sink of a blanket needs is more work done to it).

Four rows a day?  How hard is that?

Well, pretty hard, actually.  For starters, there are some days I'm just not really home until late, and I have to go to work the next morning, so forget about staying up to work on it.  Despite what I did yesterday, it's not really a good project to bring to a bar, nor to travel with in general.  Some days, I just have other crap to do, or I just don't want to sit down for an hour and a half and knit, or I get distracted by other things (like now).  Despite this, I'm sticking to my goal of four rows a day, even if in reality it's more like 14 to 16 rows a week (about 2.29 rows a day)  This is because this is the most I've worked on it, and even if I don't quite make my deadline of Hanukkah, I'm at least making visible progress.  Also, I really don't want to be talking about it a year from now. 

Of course, attempting to speed things up a bit has it drawbacks.  Like noticing almost 75 rows later that you did this:

...and, even worse, this:

It figures.  Not only did I mis-cross the easiest cable in the blanket, I noticed it way after I did it.  Not like I'm going to frog half the blanket to fix it, so I'm pretty much stuck with this visible emblem of my stupidity.  Well...I did search for a way to fix it, and there happens to be another way.  However, I'm not so sure I want to try cutting just the right piece of yarn to re-cross the cables. Knowing me, I'll cut the wrong piece and ruin a year's worth of work.  A pre-teen won't care about a stupid mis-crossed cable and I'm just being anal, right?

P.S.: By the way, there should be no more interruptions in my life of the unplanned, life-taking-over, variety...at least for now.  That doesn't exclude laziness in posting, so I'll ask you to forgive me now for infrequent updates.

In Which I Learn the Importance of Researching Before Pattern Writing, and Get Addicted to Garter Stitch

So, my plans once again get made, and the fall into the dust.  I should be working on either the baby sweater to be made with my new yarn, or the crazy cable blanket, but I'm not.  Actually, I've managed to start another project in the meantime:

This is from a pattern in 60 Quick Baby Knits called "Log Cabin Afghan", except that I'm altering it.  The square is actually supposed to have two more blocks of color going around it, but I decided I didn't want to do that and stopped early (yes, I know that means more squares will have to be done.  But it also balances out color usage).  That, and since I'm using whatever yarn I have right now, which is mainly Caron Simply Soft with some Berocco Vintage for the middle square, the squares aren't all going to be the same color (though I haven't decided what to repeat or not yet, still thinking about it.  Also, I do not kid myself that at some point, more yarn will have to be bought to finish this).  As well, despite the pattern source, I doubt it's going to any baby.  My color scheme of worsted weight yarn in my stash isn't exactly baby friendly.  Thirdly, I really should learn to read patterns carefully before starting them.  You see the pile of center squares?  That's because I didn't realize that you didn't bind off on the first square, but kept knitting, and then turned.  I'm having to undo the bind off and then continue for all those squares because someone didn't follow instructions.

You would think I would have been driven mad by all the garter stitch done in those squares (and hell, I'm not even a big fan of garter stitch as a look), but I'm oddly addicted to it right now.  I guess my mind just needs something not complicated.  I've had better weeks.  At least it'll be a better project to work on during the Super Bowl.

In other news, I was pretty much done with the baby hat pattern I posted just now last week, except that then I actually bothered Googling 'Mistake Rib'.  You see, I learned a 1x1 version of mistake rib that wasn't reversible, leading me to decide to make a 'brim up' and a 'brim down' version of the pattern.  Then I found out that proper mistake rib is a reversible pattern.  Oops.  I could have saved my ass from having to do two hats (though doing the second hat reveled some other math-related mistakes in my pattern, so it still wasn't a waste of time).  However, changing it now would dictate a completely different pattern, as the math doesn't work out with my current stitch count.  So I apologize for that.  I could have made it easier, and I didn't.  I really should do my research before embarking on pattern writing wild goose chases.  It's because of this that I almost didn't post the pattern, thinking that it shows that I'm a bit of an idiot.  But I put a descent amount of work into it, so I decided to post it anyway.

However, between the pattern below, the squares, and some idea sketching for the baby sweater (which I'm most likely not going to use, but anyway), I haven't had time to do much else.  It's odd. I've gotten a lot done, yet it seems like I haven't done anything.  Oye.

Depressing post is depressing.  Will have to post later when I'm in a better mood.