Friday, February 11, 2011

Tangled Up In Blue or how to mess up the most popular pattern on Ravelry!!

So about mid-January I coveted (with the rest of the knitting world) Purl Soho's Big Herringbone Cowl designed by Whitney van Es. I wanted to use some stash that I had, a cotton wool, Cascade Sierra in light purple, because I knew by the time I finished it Spring would be here (although cowls will still be hot I'm sure).

My first attempt came out a wild mess ... the 17 needle was a bit too big and my stitches were ugly and uneven.  So I frogged (note this is frog #1 for whoever wants to keep count).  I went down to a 13 needle and after knitting about 10 rows the stitches looked great but the gauge was WAY too tight.  Stitches were supposed to be about 4 an inch and I had almost 5 and a half.  So I frogged again (#2) and cast on 290 stitches.  I was sailing along and then MY CABLE BROKE ON MY NEEDLE.  Cheap plastic crap!!!



 I was so frustrated at this point I put it down and made a pair of slippers.  It is freakin cold in Ithaca!!!


So I was telling my daughter about how much I loved this Big Herringbone Cowl pattern and I asked her if she would like me to make her one. "Yes," she said, "my favorite color is Cerulean Blue, like the crayon."  So I just got paid, so I went to my favorite LYS, Homespun Boutique, and as soon as I walked in I saw two beautiful skeins of Malabrigo worsted in what I think is pretty close to Cerulean Blue.

So I also bought size 15 needles and started my daughter's Big Herringbone Cowl.  The yarn was luscious and the color was amazing.  I got to about 4 inches.

It was coming out lovely.  Then the yarn started twisting around the cowl and while I was trying to untangle it I realized OH NO I TWISTED THE STITCHES ON THE CAST ON!!!!!  FROG #3 on Cowl #2!!!! And here is what it looked like after a frustrated frog - TANGLED UP IN BLUE ...
What a mess.  Well, this catastrophe waits for me on my kitchen table until I have a spare 72 hours to untangle it.  I'm sure there is a Frog #4 in my future.  God Bless all the lucky ravelers who are wearing their trendy Big Herringbone Cowls down a frigid 5th Avenue. I'm sure you look awesome. grrr.

Stay tuned. Sue