To Frog or Not to Frog? Finding Something to Knit Even Better

This was my knitting dilemma for completing Shawl Number 9. I rarely ever frog because I spend so much time up front finding the perfect pattern to match the yarn I picked.

I had this particular yarn, Cascade Yarns Eco+ Merlot 7098, I purchased years ago for a particular shawl wrap pattern I had in my Ravelry project queue that I've never found the time to knit. I thought this would be perfect to knit for my 9th shawl to help me attain my 12Shawls2014 goal and to finally get this off my project queue.  

One of my very first yarn purchases few years back.
Cascade Yarns Eco+ Merlot 7098, 100% Wool
Photo: Knitted Candy Diva, August 2014

Well, as I was knitting this last month, I didn't like what I saw and was getting extremely bored at the same time.  This is not a good situation to be in when the pattern I was trying to knit requires over 450+ yards of bulky yarn and I was quickly losing motivation as I was knitting the first 50 yards! 

So back to Raverly Patterns tab and a very fortuitous thing happened last month. Kate Atherley was offering her half Pi-shaped Sick Day Shawl as a free pattern for a limited time only and suggested Cascade Yarns Eco as one of the yarns. I quickly frogged what I was knitting and started to knit Sick Day even though I wasn't sick or taking any meds – I love Kate's pattern name – and never looked back!

My Review

Shawl #9 of 2014:
My HUGE I'm Not Sick "Sick Day Shawl"
Size: 76 in (w) x 27 in (h)
Pattern: Sick Day Shawl by Kate Atherley
Photo and Hand Knitted: Knitted Candy Diva
October 2014

Knitting my Shawl #9:  I’m Not Sick “Sick Day Shawl" was a very quick, fun knit and definitely would knit this half Pi-shaped shawl again. I am so glad I frogged my other project for this because I also found another great gift knit project idea to keep in mind.  And to put the “icing on the cake,” finishing this shawl kicked off my Christmas gift knitting!

I pretty much followed the pattern instructions, except for the following:

My Modifications

1. Used a US11 (8.0 mm) needle, instead of US9 - 10 (5.55 - 6.0 mm) because I chose to knit bulky Cascade Eco+
2. Not part of my original plan - I ran out of the Eco+ as I finished knitting Row 6 before binding off.  So went digging through my leftover yarn stash and found this Lion Brand Thick & Quick, Charcoal Grey to bind off.
3. Used my favorite shawl bind-off because of its surprisingly stretchy bind off (no pun intended LOL) – Planet Purl’s Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off – with a US13 needle. Going up a needle size made the transition from knitting with bulky to super bulky yarn seamless.

I'm Not Sick "Sick Day Shawl," Front view
Photo and Hand Knitted: Knitted Candy Diva
October 2014

I'm Not Sick "Sick Day Shawl," Back view
Photo and Hand Knitted: Knitted Candy Diva
October 2014

I loved that you get a lot of 100% wool yarn in the Eco+ so I did not have very many ends to weave in, unlike my last shawl requiring two colors.

I'm Not Sick "Sick Day Shawl," Close-up
Photo and Hand Knitted: Knitted Candy Diva
October 2014

Future Knitting Ideas:  Sick Day Shawl #2, 3, etc.

How about knitting the last 6 rows with another color (CC) or knit the last 6 rows (Rows  1 -2: CC, Rows 3 – 4: MC, Rows  5-6: CC) to give the shawl’s border a little more pizzazz or pop?! Or about knitting this pattern using self-striping yarn or soft, squishy alpaca?! 

Wanna learn more about my details knitting this pattern, please visit my Ravelry project page.

Love to hear from you:  Do you frog a knitting project because you don’t like what you see? Or when you stop being motivated or inspired by what you’re knitting because you know the project will just sit and you know you’ll never finish it? Ultimately, are you happy that you frogged and the final, completed project is better than what you started with? 

Deciding on My Next Knitting Project

Couple of my 2014 knitting goals

Knit a shawl a month

Do you plan out your future knitting projects in advance? To the point of having a project queue? I wish I was you. It takes me a while to decide on my next project. Part of me, I think, enjoys the "hunting and gathering" deliberation process, the perfect pattern that will highlight the yarn I knit with.

What I have knitted so far in 2014
Photo and Hand Knitted by:
Knitted Candy Diva, June 2014

Part of my 2014 goals is to knit 1 shawl per month as part of a Ravelry group, 12 Shawls Forever, which I am a member of.  I started in March and so far I have knitted 5 shawls, the last one was also for me to participate in my first MMKAL(Madelinetosh May Knit-A-Long).  For the 12 shawls, each has to be more than 274 yards, with 2 of the 12 shawl needing to be over 550 yards/each. So, I look for patterns that interest me by improving my knitting skills.

Use up my stash

One of my other 2014 goals is to use up my stash. So far, I have been sticking to it. Of the 5 shawls I have knitted, I've used yarn that has been in my stash for at least 2 years.  I can't show you how large my stash has become. I'm embarrassed and shocked at the same time. Didn't realize the size until I recently was cleaning, putting the last 8 months of purchases into Ziploc bags and then storing them in cloth grocery size bags.  These bags are beginning to take up a corner of my bedroom besides the 5 plastic storage containers I have in my closet. Even DH made a comment - he normally doesn't notice, or says anything.

Then there was more

One of my knitting friends spent her Mother's Day weekend in Reno, NV, specifically to go to Jimmy Beans Wool because they have one of the largest selections of Madelinetosh to choose from.  She also normally goes to the Ben Franklin to check out what yarn they have. Well, Ben Franklin closed and now it has become a Tuesday Morning.  She was sending our knitting group Facebook private messages (PMs) as she was yarn shopping her way through Reno. On Mother's Day Sunday, it become even more funny when she started including photos and asking if we, our group, wanted to buy what we saw from her photos while she was at TM. 

The Deal was going down

Sample of what DH and I were eating
when my "yarn" dealer was rapidly PMing
Photo: Knitted Candy Diva, Mother's Day 2014

Gotta love social media! My friend, the "yarn" dealer, was sending rapid PMs around lunch time. Well, before I knew it, I discreetly PM her my "ok" while I was eating my Mother's Day dim sum with DH to buy 2 of the skeins because I really like the color although I didn't need any more yarn.  Funny, how we don't communicate by phone anymore and it really felt like a "yarn" deal was going down, without DH knowing what I was doing. ; - )

Yarn, yarn and what to knit next

The yarn deal that when down.
2 skeins: Araucania Yarns, Rinihue
Hand-dyed 80/20 wool silk worsted weight.
Photo: Knitted Candy Diva, June 2014

So, I have this yarn and I wanted find a pattern to match with it. I am in the middle of a botanical theme kick. First thing that came to mind was to knit Sylvia Bo Bilvia's The Elder Tree Shawl.  In April, I knitted Budding Shawlette. Last month, it was Sea Leaves.  For some reason, I really enjoy knitting leaves and have been searching for patterns that have them.

But then as I was cleaning up and storing my recent purchases, I came across this. 

California-raised alpaca
Macedo's Mini Acre Alpaca Yarn
220 yards/each, hand-dyed alpaca worsted-weight
Photo: Knitted Candy Diva, June 2014

And for a moment I was thinking this would make a nice summery Elder Tree Shawl.

How Golden are thee?

But then I saw Kourtney Robinson's His Golden Lair; I started to become conflicted.  I have 2 - worsted weight skeins, total 400+ yards. What to do?! Since the Araunacia yarn is a fiery blend of reds, oranges and magentas, it would make the Elder Tree leaves pop and scream "Autumn". But I am also thinking this would be true if I used this yarn for His Golden Lair. Besides the leaves, it has more texture - cables and lace.  Also it would be a more challenging knit.

Oh Ashton!

Then I saw Dee O'Keefe's Ashton Shawlette. My hand-dyed, natural dye pastel colored yarn is girly and would be a better match for this pattern because, IMHO, Ashton is very feminine. It made sense to knit this first because it's more summery looking than knitting His Golden Lair.  I also polled and received confirmation from members of Knitting, a closed Facebook group I am a member of, to get their feedback on which to start first.

Ashton has been in my Raverly queue since it first came out. One of the reasons I have it in my queue is because it has a great step-by-step tutorial on how to read charts. I have to admit it -- I've never learned how to read charts formally. Until now, I've purposely look for patterns that either have written and charts or just written.  Ashton is forcing me to learn how to read because this pattern only has charts.  I spent part of a Saturday reading and writing out the charts.

The start of my Summery "Ashton Shawlette"
Hand knitted & photo by Knitted Candy Diva

So, Elder Tree Shawl is now back in my Ravelry library with no future plans to knit this pattern. And after completing Ashton I plan to knit His Golden Lair with the 2 skeins of Araucania.

Love to hear from you:  Do you plan your knitting projects in advance? How big is your stash and is one of your 2014 goals to reduce it this year?  And do you change your mind, thinking you are going to knit with a particular yarn with a particular pattern, but then change at the last minute and go in a different direction?