Live Stitch @ Little Knits

I have fallen in love with a new yarn, a rustic looking raw silk with a tiny bit of viscose (90-10% split), Ella Rae’s Shibu.  I have been trying to find the right project for this lovely yarn, a pattern that would allow me to knit up something that would show its character and depth.  I wanted something very feminine yet not too frou-frou.

And then I saw Tangled Yoke and thought, this is it!  There was a small problem, the gauge was not quite right but I really did not want to use any other yarn, Shibu was it and I was going to make it work.  This lovely raw silk was going to be my yarn for Tangled Yoke.

So, I swatched, swatched and swatched, with English Rose.    Shibu calls for a needle size of US 7, so I kept dropping the needle size first to 6 then to 5 and then to some odd in-between sizes.  Finally, I got my gauge.   My swatched looked really nice too, raw, not wooly but still substantial and very Voguesque (can I say that?), with viscose shining through my stitches.

Then I cast on, proud and happy, having made it work.  I cast on 250+ stitches and knitted and knitted.  Fighting the yarn, which was trying to tell me “I am not meant for this pattern.”  I got into the pattern by at least 70 or so rows and I knew I was defeated.  Shibu hated to be forced into a gauge that it was not meant to be and wanted a different pattern.  So I admitted defeat and my folly and frogged.

 I still love Shibu and I am looking for the right pattern for this stunning yarn.  I still want to knit Tangled Yoke, a project just for me, and I am looking for the right yarn. 

It is a beautiful day in Seattle, crisp, sunny and smells like Fall.  I love Fall, my favorite season of all – makes me want to knit knit knit.  I think it is the perfect day for a bowl of soup and some careful stash perusal.

Hope you are well and knitting with a smile.