Rethinking: Ribbon Yarn

Last week I wandered into the local big box craft store.  They were selling ribbon and novelty yarns for $2 a ball (normally priced $5.50-$6).

I figured this was too good a deal to pass up, so I picked out three patterns and bought some yarn.  All in all, I spent less than $50 on yarn.

Project 1: X-back tank

The Ribbon X-back tank.  Seemed so easy from the pattern...

I'm using Lion Brand Incredible, the Carnival colorway.  It's my first time working with ribbon yarn, which is more annoying that anything I've dealt with so far.

First, it has a tendency to fold in half, which when you're using large needles, means it's not covering very well.  This tendency also occurred when they wrapped the yarn into balls, which means trying to press creases out with my fingers.

Second, my normal method of wrapping the yarn around my working hand twists the yarn, so I have to hold the yarn in a different way than I'm used to.  I think this is making me knit more loosely than normal.

Third, between the ribbon yarn and the seed stitch, I have a hard time figuring out where I'm making mistakes in my knitting, and I can only estimate gauge since I can't count rows or columns very well.

I made it almost to the end of my first ball: (click to enlarge)

Isn't it pretty!  Unfortunately, I knew that if this was as long as my shirt was so far, I didn't have enough yarn to make the it long enough to wear comfortably.  So I pulled it off the needles to frog it and tried it on for size...

Um.  A little too big... (I'm not stretching it very much in this picture)

I'm going to take the pattern size down a notch, and use needles that are two sizes smaller.  Then I'll do a real swatch and check gauge before I get this far again...

Project 2: Bolero Jacket

The Four Seasons Bolero.

I worked up a swatch (see... I can learn!). (click to enlarge)

Pretty pretty pretty.  Unfortunately, this yarn is a railroad/ladder yarn, with two parallel threads connected by wider ribbony ties/rungs.  This means that it's quite easy to stick your crochet hook through the ribbon, which doesn't make for great stitches.

It's also pretty hard to figure out what threads belong to which strand, and where the tops of my stitches are.

Current plan is to purchase some black fingering weight yarn and work with a strand of each so I can see what I'm doing.

Project 3: Lace Leaf Top

The Lace Leaf Top.

I can't start this until I finish up the project that's currently on my 6.5 mm circulars.  I'll be using the Lion Brand Incredible in a variagated blue.  Hopefully, this pattern will adapt more easily as it's written for a 100% nylon ribbon yarn, like Incredible is.  I'll also be less worried about holes and gaps, so if I end up working with the ribbon folded it should look fine.

In Progress: Grey Shawl

Started: April 2007

Knit Elann.com's "Adara Rainbow Shawl"

Yarn: Lion Brand Jiffy, 100% acrylic mohair

Size 6.5 mm needles

I found the yarn at the dollar store and couldn't pass it up.  It's not the most exciting color (a dove grey), so I wanted a pattern that had some strong texture to it, that would stand out through the mohair fuzz.

Although the pattern was designed for multiple colors of a finer yarn, I like the way it's working up.  I increased the needle size, and I'll have to do an edging since the stepped increases tend to curl.

Detail of the pattern: (click to enlarge)

I think it looks like feathers on wings.

I figure I'm about 2/3 done.  I'll be plugging away at this since I want to use these needles to start another project.  I'll have extra yarn as well, so I'll be planning a cabled vest to finish up the yarn.

Finished: Turkish String Bags

Finished: April/May 2007

Knit Turkish Stitch String bags for my trip to Hawaii.

 

White bag: knit in Bernat Handicrafter Cotton yarn, size 11 needles, using the round bottom and double-knit shoulder strap from a free knit hobo bag pattern off the web, and the turkish stich body from the above pattern.

 

Blue & Green bag: knit in Lily Sugar & Cream (3 balls) cotton yarn, size 11 needles, to the exact Turkish Stitch pattern with square bottom & garter stitch strap.  (Please excuse my not-yet-worked-in ends.)

Turkish stitch is very easy and quick to work, but when I made mistakes I found it very difficult to un-knit what I had done previously.  Thus, the white bag has a few strange-looking areas, although the blue and green bag is pretty much exactly to pattern.

I figure I spent less than $10 for the yarn for all three string bags (hobo bag yet to be posted).

Finished: Frog Bath Mitt

Finished: April 2007

Crochet baby bath mitt from Lily booklet.

Yarn: Lily Sugar & Cream (100% cotton)

My local big-box craft store was having a sale on their Sugar & Cream cotton yarn, so I stocked up for projects.

I haven't washed it yet, but from past experience, this yarn tends to get nice and soft and absorbant after washing...

This will go into my stash of baby gifts, as it seems that many of my friends are hitting that stage of their lives... 

Finished: Blue Baby Blanket

Finished: March 2007

Crochet baby blanket, "Shells & Clusters" pattern.  Finished with a 5-DC shell edging.

Yarn: JoAnn Sensations "Rainbow Classic" acrylic mohair, Lion Brand "Jiffy" acrylic mohair

Size E crochet hook

Blanket given as a belated baby present to Art's friends Tim and Megan.

Detail of the stitch pattern:

The pattern was very easy to work, although the few times I had to rip out some stitches it was difficult because of the stickiness of the mohair fuzz.

I'd crocheted about a foot when I realized I wasn't going to have enough yarn to make a decent looking blanket.  I reread the pattern and realized that it was written for a sport weight yarn, and I had a worsted or heavier weight.  I went back to the store and found one more large ball, still on sale, so the blanket is almost square, but still a little shorter than it is wide.

I didn't have enough blue for the edging, so I went back again and found a skein of white "Jiffy" for the shell border.

This blanket is on the large side, but the baby was several months old by the time we got it to her, and I figure it'll make a good "sit-on" blanket, since it's washable.