Thoughts on a Shimmer 5 Sweater
Is the Right Front Blushing?
This weekend was all about knitting and shopping and X-box games. John and I made progress in our trek through Baldur's Gate, Dark Alliance II, Julie and I did some damage at Oak Brook Mall, and I made some reasonable progress on Margot. Now all the pieces are knit up and all that remains is to get this bad girl seamed up.
I have to admit, though, I am feeling a little hesitant. I was more or less comfortable with the differences between the back and the left front, but the jury is still out on the differences between the left front and the right front. The right front skein definitely had more pink in it.
After knitting the better part of this project, I still have one whole skein of Shimmer 5 left (shown at the top of the picture). And knitting the front pieces really isn't that time consuming. So now I am trying to decide whether I should rip back on the front right to where I started a new ball (just above the waist shaping) and re-knit with the yarn from the remaining skein, or just roll with it the way it is, knowing that there is really no way to make the color look more even without knitting this sweater from alternating skeins (which I opted not to do because of the bulk of the yarn).
Once I've figured that out, I'll have one more decision left to make: to crochet around the front edges of the garmet or not. I was actually able to find a 15 mm crochet hook (Lion Brand mondo plastic thing) to do the job with, but I have no idea whether that's the right size to choose or not. Should one usually match needle and crochet hook sizes when both fabric construction methods are used?
So many questions. Who would have thought that a bulky sweater could be so thought provoking!
I am having the same dilemma with a Noro sweater that I am currently knitting. I am doing it in the round so the issue isn't the body, but rather the sleeves. I am growing less and less comfortable with the variation in the width of the stripes between the body and the sleeves. I've decided to roll with it and see how it goes. Good Luck!
I'm not familiar with american crotchet hook sizes, but I usually go down a little with the metric sizes. But as I don't have to many hooks (and don't want to invest a lot in tools I seldom use), I have found out, that it's far easier to get around with a too small hook, than as it is with knitting needles. With a little trying I can control tension and tightness much better than with knitting. Give it a try on the swatch and you'll find out.
Beate
Hmmm, Theresa, your dilemma is a thorny one. I usually guage my hook to needle size by my crochet tension for the activity. I tend to crochet tightly so I often go up in hook size from what is normally recommended.
I would do a sample of the edging and see if the guage is acceptable.
usually when you pick up and knit you use a smaller needle, so would that mean a smaller crochet hook? just try something out and whatever works best, go with!
For the crochet hook question: sample, sample, sample. Let's face it, you KNOW you will be doing that edging more than once anyways.
For the too pink front issue: I'd try the reknit. That way, you know you did everything possible to make the sweater perfect...if the reknit version is also too pink (or too something) I would accept it easier than if I hadn't tried.
I really like your sweater! I love the Point 5 yarn, and am really keen to see some Shimmer 5 in real life. It seems to glow. :) Good luck deciding what to do with the front. It seems that it didn't take you long to knit this up, so perhaps you can just start knitting with the remaining skein to see if it's any more similar before you rip out the front you have done. That way you won't lose any work till you know how the other skein turns out. Good luck!
Shimmer is going to be so cool. Very pretty yarn! Can't wait to see you modeling her!
Oh my, it's always SOMETHING, isn't it? That is a great-shaped sweater. I know you'll make it work out nicely. Good luck on that "blushing pink" problem!
I like both fronts the way they are, but if you really think you won't wear it as much, go ahead and reknit it. Good luck on all fronts! (no pun intended)