Periodic table progress (31/240)

Although I've not said much about it, the Periodic Blanket is in full swing!

I finally found the right yarn for the project: Sirdar Snuggly DK. Although it is missing a couple of colours (that should not be hard to substitute), it fills all the requirements: good colour range, soft, not too expensive, and available at my LYS. I have now purchased the yarn for all the element squares, and have done the right hand size block.


I have now 31 squares made (out of a total of 240). I've been averaging 1 square a day, which is my target. However, because I am now knitting a lot after a year-long very quiet period, my hands and arms are complaining a little. They don't get sore if I knit very slowly, but it is very difficult to do that. And yet I must try, because I really don't want to screw up my hands. The blanket would never get finished otherwise (plus, I also need my hands for a living).

Sewing!

The last couple of days, I finally took my new-ish sewing machine for a spin. And look what I made! I'm so proud!



Pattern: Gathered Clutch, by Noodlehead.
The main and accent fabrics were purchased a while back as remnants from a little Bath quilting shop, which name I can't remember. The lining is repurposed from an old shirt.




The only thing I'm not terribly happy with are the zip tabs. I didn't manage to get them small enough and hidden enough, so they look a bit ragged, but if I don't pull them out too much, they don't show a lot.



Detail shot!


I made this myself! It even looks like it's supposed too! There is the tab problem, and the dividers gather a little inside, but it looks good. I'm so proud of myself!

I also have fabric for a handbag and a dress. Because starting slow and easy is for wimps. My sewing machine and I are going places, baby!

Choices, choices

1. Red squares, 2. Yellow squares, 3. Blue squares

I have finally swatched, washed, and lightly blocked my testing yarns. Only three of them, in the end: I think I got carried away when I picked the bamboo and cotton yarn, they really won't be suitable for the blanket.

I have worked with 4 different types of squares, two crochet, and two knitting. From the top:

1st row: plain stockinette squares
2nd row: plain garter stitch square
3rd row: square granny square, from Eskimimi
4rd row: circle to square granny square, from the Circles to Squares afhan

Each type of square has its own advantages and disadvantages, of course. The stockinette square is very soft on the one side, but doesn't look nice on the wrong size. The garter stitch square is very square and looks smooth, but takes forever to knit. The square granny square is very quick, but doesn't look as smooth (the circlese square is just simply inferior, but I did that one before I found Eskimimi's guidelines).

As for softness, they all definitely softened in the wash (standard wash -although at reduced spin- and drying). The red yarn is still the softest, but all of them are much softer now.

Currently, my line-up for yarn is Red, Blue, Yellow, but red and blue are very close (you see, red is missing one colour!).
My line-up for the pattern is garter stitch, then Eskimimi's square. Neither of them is perfect, but I suspect that "perfect" may not even be knitted, so this are pretty damn good anyway.

However, I still need to do a quick test on embroidering/duplicating the elements on them. I'm not too sure how the garter will like the added embellishment.

Late contender!

As I thought we had our line-up closed, a late contender arrives!

Yesterday I went to Bath, to check out their new LYS, Wool. It took me a bit to find it, because I forgot the paper in which I had written the address. Thankfully, I had looked on the map where it was, so I just wandered around the area until I finally found it. Wool is a nice cozy little shop, although sadly it has too much sheep for me, and not enough sheepless yarn (which I'm aware is a problem with me, not the shop!).

However, they had a yarn that looks like it could be a strong contender for the Periodic Blanket! I bought a ball, and I will try it soon.

Late contender!

Patons Fab! DK (rav)
100& acrylic, dk weight, 274 m/ball
Pros: has all the colours, immense yardage
Cons: only available in Bath, yarn a little thinner than wanted

I also found today a new square pattern that looks really good, so I need to go back and rework with some of the other yarns. I've never put so much effort into the prep of a pattern!

Periodic Yarn

Most of the time, when I make a project, I go down to my LYS, and just pick up some yarn. A couple of times, I have bought "a sweater's worth of yarn" online, and then found a project. But that is not something I can do now. I need to think, and plan, and then my loads of yarn appropriately. Welcome to the Yarn-Offs!

Requisites for the yarn:

- no animal hair.

Ideally acrylic, or an acrylic blend, for durability and ease and care.

- wide range of colours.

With my current colour-scheme, I would need: red, a more different red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, dark blue, purple, pink, black (outlines and names) and grey (most likely background colour).

- easily available.

Ideally with some certainty that it's not going to disappear of the market (I haven decided yet whether to buy it all at once or in stages).

- not ridiculously expensive.

While my brother has both his kidneys if I need one in the future, I shouldn't just throw away mine.

I had a perfect yarn picked for it, Rowan All Seasons Cotton. I love this yarn. However, while the 2009 colours will fit my blanket just perfectly, the 2010 colours are very few, and not in the right ranges. I could wait until next year to see if they change them again, but I won't hold my breath for them. I shall play a sad tune, and move on to current yarns.

I scouted the local yarn shops, and brought home 4 candidates for my yarn. In the order I selected them, I bring you my candidates. All the yarns are satisfactory, but have extra pros and cons.

Candidate number 1

Rico Kids Classic Aran
50-50 acrylic poliamide, aran weight, 115 m/ball
Pros: has most of the colours I need, acrylic blend, machine wash & dry, preferred thickness
Cons: doesn't have all the colours

Candidate number 2

Rowan Handknit Cotton (rav)
100 cotton, worsted weight, 85 m/ball
Pros: has all the colours
Cons: I'm a bit weary or using pure cotton for a blanket, not a lot of yardage per ball

Candidate number 3

King Cole Bamboo Cotton (rav)
50-50 bamboo cotton, dk weight, 230 m/ball
Pros: has most of the colours I need, it's a blend
Cons: a bit too splitty and thin, doesn't have all the colours, delicate machine wash

Candidate number 4

Hayfield/Sidar Bonus DK (rav)
100 acrylic, dk weight, 280 m/ball
Pros: has all the colours, immense yardage
Cons: some of the colorus I need are so bright as to be radioactive, a bit thinner than wanted


Over the next couple of weeks/months, I shall be swatching with each of the yarns. Testing the yarn for such a big project is important. This will also allow me to decide which pattern to use for the squares, as well as know how much yarn I will need for each one, helping me determine how much yarn to buy. My initial preferences are towards Rico and Hayfield, but I won't really know until I work with and wash all the yarns.

Will keep you posted with some swatches soon!