Yarn Shortage

 Dang!  I am definitely short of yarn for the little cardi to match my summer skirt.       

My favourite summer project this year is my Tinks Twirlyskirt.  I used a variety of yarns to knit it and I love it.  I wear it often.  I even managed to find a great little turquoise ‘tee’ that compliments it well.  A finishing touch, I thought, would be a little cardi to cover the ‘tee’.  Since the skirt is such a multi-coloured/yarn piece  it seemed, to my fashion sense,  that the cardi should be knit with one yarn.  One  plain, non tweedy, non variegated yarn.  

Both the plain colours used in the skirt– the cream and rust - were purchased at Spinrite in Listowel.   I purchased  6 balls of each colour at the deeply-discounted price of 6 balls for $1.     In each case I used only part of one ball in the skirt.  5 and a bit  balls of each the cream and the rust remain.  They are small balls – 70m each  - giving me about 370 m of leftover yarn.  Not much yarn, I admit. But, often I  finish a project with less than the stated, yarn required.  So I started my little cardi with an open mind and knit on in denial. 

The pattern I chose was Mieka, an in-house pattern from Linda’s Craftique

Store in Port Credit.  It calls for 750 m in my size.  But most patterns suggest way too much yarn  Right?  I thought I would knit half the sweater, take stock of the yardage used and take my course of action from there.  Now,  half-way though the yarn and nowhere near  half-way through the sweater  - several body rows and one sleeve short to be exact - I admit defeat.  

The open work pattern in Mieka is ‘cool’.  A three-row repeat with one row being a K2tog, YO row.  Quite simple.  The construction is  interesting.  Starting at the centre back with a provisional cast on, ( that is the turquoise you see in my photo)  two halves are knit, then the sleeves.   It is one of those designs that can be worn inside out or upside down for two different looks.  At this stage of completion though,  I would call it a ‘Surprise Sweater’.  

   I cannot for the life of me figure out how it should be worn. 

 How it is meant to be worn, is something I might never  figure  out.  It appears that the yardage stated in the pattern was more right  than I had hoped and certainly more right than my overly optimistic estimation.   My plan now is to search for some extra balls of  America’s Best 100% Cotton Cabled by Elmore Pisgah Inc, Colour 4 – Natural, Dye Lot 7493  - OK, OK, I will not be fussy about the dye lot.  If I  come across some, great.  If not, plan B.  Which I will develop soon.