Free Inquiry Projects: Starting over

While I made quite a bit of progress last week, I decided that I needed to start over. It was hard to tell at first because the fabric was being supported by the needles and the wires, but as I got further along and the fabric was able to hang loose off of the needles I realised that the fabric I was creating was too loose. The pattern specified that the shawl should be made of a firm fabric and I agree. A tighter firmer fabric will be warmer, keep its shape better, and when it’s finished will look closer to what I envisioned.

There are two possibilities for why my fabric was too loose: tension and needle size. I was pretty sure that my tension wasn’t the issue because my knitting tends to be quite tight. I thought that the issue was likely the needles I was using.

While I was using the needle size the pattern suggested, I forgot to take into account the fact that I had substituted the yarn. I had assumed that the yarns would be similar enough since they were both the same weight but it seems that there was enough of a difference to show up in the tightness of my fabric. I ended up going back to the store to buy smaller pair of needles. Working with thinner yarn and smaller needles might mean I need more yarn than the pattern calls for. Luckily the worker at the shop told me about their program where if you buy yarn and don’t end up using it in your project you can return it up to 4 months later. I bought an extra ball because I was scared up running out. Since the yarn is dyed in lots, it is possible that the same yarn bought at different times will have slightly colour.

Once I bought the new needles I had to undo everything and start over. It was hard to undo all of my work but after redoing it and seeing the results of the new needles I think it was for the best. Here is a photo with the old needles on the top and the new needles on the bottom. It’s a bit hard to see the difference in the photo but when you see it in person or touch it the difference is pretty clear. The fabric is still a bit looser than I would like but I think I will stick with this.