I had already known I wanted to make it, but I had thought I would bide my time. Suddenly, yesterday, it became "Now now NOW!" Oy vey.
I did not own the amount of sport weight yarn called for in this project, much less the amount of fancy-schmancy sport weight cotton yarn called for. So I made a deal with myself. After spending some time at last night's KUTI meeting (which was lovely, but I had to leave early 'cause I wasn't feeling well), I decided that, if I could find suitable yarn for the sweater at the Wal-Mart across the street for $10 or less, I could make the sweater.
Imagine my excitement when I found sport weight Red Heart "Baby Soft" yarn, and enough of it only cost me 7 bucks! Sweet, right?
Not really.
The yarn is crappy. I mean, maybe it's OK for certain other projects, but it is not soft (funny that), and of course it is not at all cotton-like (100% acrylic). I am making the sweater out of it anyway--it's my first sweater, so I may as well use a very affordable yarn because I may well screw it up. And if it turns out right, it will still look pretty, but it won't have anywhere near the same nice drape that the cotton would.
*sigh*
I am considering getting enough worsted weight cotton yarn for the sweater and just using a smaller hook, but I'll see what this one comes out like first.
Are there any affordable, easy-to-find sport weight cotton yarns out there? I haven't seen 'em, but that doesn't mean they're not there... ;)
5 comments:
Bron is working this up using Lion Brand Cotton Ease and gauge was dead on-however, she ran into other problems.
http://bronsfiberstuff.typepad.com/brons_blog_ii/2007/05/ive_got_too_muc.html
and
http://bronsfiberstuff.typepad.com/brons_blog_ii/2007/05/so_im_innocentl.html
Eeps. Thanks, Deneen. I'm a little worried about the armhole size...
But now I'm thinking it definitely wasn't a mistake to work on it in cheap acrylic yarn. ;) If it comes out nicely, I'll get some cotton yarn and make another; if not, I won't feel so bad about giving up on it!
I was just going to suggest visiting Bron's site also but I see that Deneen has already mentioned it. Bron is the best source for fixing & making pattern adjustments. She has a couple of tips to make the armholes a better fit.
The way the armhole is designed is because of the pattern stitch that's used. I'm thinking that there wasn't a way to make a half spiderweb. The armhole on mine was just a half smidge too tight...but enough that it would be uncomfortable. It's supposed to be a cardigan and not a tight sweater so I knew that it would bother me. I would have gone up a size but then that's when I noticed that all of the armholes were the same depth. (except for the largest size) I googled Spiderweb cardigan and someone else made the largest size and she didn't have any armhole problems.
I hope yours turns out fabulous. Let me know!
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
There was some good cotton at Michaels, I noticed recently. I think I have some at home. I'll have to email you with the brand name when I get home. Different colors than the peaches and cream, and I think it's more sport weight.
I think that sweater would be cool if you found an abstract kind of spider motif button...
I'm really interested to see how this comes out. I've been eyeing this particular pattern because I've seen many people (or, I should say, read about many people) who are making this. I was going to suggest Cotton Ease as well, but it would not fit your budgeting constraints just so I don't think.
I like the cardigan a lot. I would not personally make it as a first time wearable for myself, because honestly I think the amount of shaping involved would be far too over my head. But I'm terrified of making anything clothing-wise still, so who am I to say? lol. Hopefully the substitution will work out nicely and you can get the proper guage and it goes well for you. I'd have to say, I'd be willing to bet any non-fiber-enthusiasts in your life won't look at it and think, "Cotton would be better than acrylic." People will mostly just drool and be amazed that a person they know actually made something so lovely. That's what I keep telling myself anyway. ;)
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