I'm making slow progress on my mom's jacket. You know, the one Kate Gilbert designed in Interweave Knits mag. I had to use a substitute yarn because my LYS didn't carry the designated yarn and - at the time - I hadn't ordered from the web and was leary (leery?) of it.
Well, I've knit maybe 5" of the back and I'm just not liking the yarn. It's Ritratto S. Charles: 28% Mohair, 53% Viscose (Rayon?), 10% Polyamid, and 9% Polyester (in fact the picture is the exact color I'm using). I really dislike it. I really dislike Mohair, but this is for my mom, right, not me. So I thought this yarn would work. It's generally the color mom wants, and it's the weight the pattern calls for. But I'm not liking the stitches, fabric, and general shape and feel of the knitted yarn. It's fuzzy, uneven, and doesn't hold shape well. When I look at the picture of the jacket, it looks like a very nice fabric - not stiff but certainly holding its shape and laying nicely.
So last night I looked up the yarn on the web to see if I could order it. Come to find out, it's 100% silk - Fiesta La Luz. I couldn't find the exact color i wanted, but I started to get close. Until I looked at the price. $28.00/skein. 5-6 skeins needed. That's roughly $150-$180 for the jacket.
I love my mom. The cost has nothing to do with her. But, I'm not that good of a knitter.
Repeat: I'm just not that good of a knitter to shell out that kind of money for yarn that *I* will turn into a mediocre garment.
So, I think I'll make mom some nice socks using STR! I've been on a big sock kick. Mom wears a lot of socks during the winter. I can buy a nice jacket for her and still have money for the socks.
2 comments:
I agree, that's a lot of money, even for a mom who I'm sure deserves it!
Oh, honey... eventually the temptation of wanting to actually TOUCH that yarn will make you hope you will rise to the occassion... I haven't yet, but you seem to be a much better person than I am.
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