When The Yarn Doesn’t Work!

When I first saw Veronika Cardigan by Very Shannon on Ravelry a couple of weeks ago, I grabbed the pattern. It looks like the kind of cardigan I could wear so much, whether here in Texas or back in Missouri. Those who have made it rave about the ease of knitting, the unique way in which it’s knit, how well it fits, how comfy it is . . everyone seems to be in love with Veronika.

I can see this being a cardi that I wear when dressed up, or with jeans and a T-shirt. On Shannon’s blog, when I saw that she mentioned wearing it around the house with her pajamas .. I was ready to cast on! Due to the position of my chair in the family room, I am cold all winter. It isn’t like the house is cold (it’s Texas!), but there’s a chilly draft and I cannot seem to figure out where it’s coming from. I don’t know if it has to do with the hallway just past my chair, the fireplace draft, the a/c return vent in the little hallway . . whatever the reason, I get cold enough that we’ve started using a small electric heater by my chair. A shawl around my shoulders helps. A sweater bugs me because, for the most part, I don’t like long sleeves. I do believe Veronika is going to be my dream cardi and I can see myself making several of them.

The designer (Shannon) recommends Yoth Yarns Daughter, which I should have just ordered but I’m trying to use ESK yarn so this can count for my third quarter project. I figured any worsted weight yarn would do so I ordered Malabrigo Rios in Sand Bank. I thought the tonal brown would be so pretty.

Last night Vince went to bed early. I grabbed my 5 mm needles, wound a couple of skeins of the brown Rios and I was going to swatch for Veronika but first I needed to finish the row I was working on for the shawl I’m close to finishing. The swatch has to soak and block/dry before I can get started knitting so . . knit the swatch, soak it, block it and work on the shawl some more, then go to bed, sleep, dream of knitting, wake up this morning, the swatch would be dry, my gauge would be perfect and I would start knitting this sweater that I cannot wait to finish!

Wrong . . I’m sad that I ran into a snag but I’m happy I ran into a snag!

When I started back to finishing the row on the shawl, before swatching the Rios, I began watching The Grocery Girls podcast #42. What were they talking about? VERONIKA!  Kinda weird but very helpful. Then they started talking about different yarns. I was halfway knitting, halfway paying attention to the podcast but then I heard something about superwash not being the best choice. Oops! Rios is superwash. It made sense. Due to the construction of Veronika, a yarn with more “body” or structure is better. 

I was so ready to get started but wanting this cardi to be totally perfect, I’m not going to start with the wrong yarn for the project.

With a little math, I had my comparison chart done as far as weight/gauge for a few yarns I already have here. The gauge I should be getting is 17 stitches/4″ using 5 mm needles.

Yoth Daughter – 330 yards = 150 grams. Gauge: 18 to 22 stitches/4″ on size 3.75 to 5 mm needles.

Queensland Kathmandu Aran – 312 yards = 150 grams. Gauge: 16 to 18 stitches/4″ on 5 to 5.5 mm needles.

Blue Sky Fibers Woolstok – 369 yards = 150 grams. Gauge: 20 to 24 stitches/4″ on 4 – 8 mm needles.

Malabrigo Rios – 315 yards = 150 grams. Gauge: 18 – 22 sttiches/4″ on 4 – 5 mm needles.

Honestly, any of those yarns would work as far as gauge. For Woolstok, the gauge is a little tight but since I’m a loose knitter, it might work. I’d have to swatch it to see. 

For my first Veronika, I’m going to go with Kathmandu. I have never used it and it may be a great choice for this project. My only concern, and it’s a very tiny concern, is the silk content in Kathmandu. With Veronika’s construction, the silk content may cause it to grow quite a bit. A swatch should give me all my answers!

For Size 2, which is what I’m going to make, I need 1562 yards. 

I’m trying to train myself to go to the stash first but it’s so much more fun to order new yarn!

My trusty spreadsheet tells me that I have sufficient quantities of Kathmandu in Magenta, Navy Blue and Smoky Gray. For Kathmandu, I would need 7.5 skeins. I went to the stash diving, figuring the first yarn I came upon would be what I would use .. hoping it wasn’t going to be Magenta because I would rather Navy or Gray.

Holy Smoke! Why did I order Smoky Gray twice? No idea!

All the Kathmandu was in the same bin. Weird but nice. Until I figure out why I ordered Smoky Gray twice, I decided to leave it alone.

After seeing the magenta, I think I like it best. See  . . I can never trust my thoughts! I’m going to swatch magenta.

Now I’m even more excited to get started but I’m going to spend the rest of today working on the shawl; this evening I will swatch, soak and leave blocking overnight and tomorrow I can get started knitting on Veronika if the swatch is right.

I know what you’re all thinking . . I could have been done with the shawl if I had not taken 2 hours to write this LONG blog post!  But you love me and you love that it takes me three chapters when someone else could say the same thing in three sentences!