Back to Normal

Aah... what a lovely day I'm having!

I didn't have anywhere to go this weekend, so things are feeling pretty normal again.

I went up to The Only for a couple of drinks last night, and then was actually able to sleep in this morning... nice.

After making a big breakfast and catching up on some Corrie, I wandered over to the Naked Sheep to buy some yarn for the Tulip sweater. I spent the afternoon sitting in the living room, watching season 1 of Laguna Beach on my computer, with the World Cup game on the TV in the background, swatching away with my new yarn.

This is the way Sundays should be.

I know you're going to ask...... what yarn did you buy Dianna?
Well, the pattern calls for Katia Jamaica, which Lisa says is pretty wicked to knit with, but vertical stripes aren't my thing, so I was looking for a solid. It's supposed to have a gauge of 20/28, but the only cotton yarn in that size at the Sheep was Rowan Handknit Cotton. There weren't any colours that jumped out at me, and it would have been pretty pricey. But on the next shelf with all the Aran Weight yarns was the Mission Falls Cotton. I LOVE the Mission Falls Cotton, but it had been out of production for awhile, so I had forgotten all about it. The colours they have are awesome. But the gauge? 18/24. Hmmm.

Screw it, I've been knitting for long enough that I should be able to figure this out and make it work!
So, home I came with ten balls of this awesome pink colour (peony 206). I did my first swatch with the called for 4.5 needles, and I got 18 sts/4".
According to my math, I could knit the small size in this gauge, and it should work.

I also knit a swatch up on 3mm needles, which gets me the correct 20 sts gauge, but it seems a little dense. Although now I look back at the first swatch, and it's pretty loose, and might end up being a little see through.

I'm currently knitting a swatch in the 4x2 ribbing stitch, with the 3mm needles,to see if it will turn out ok.

But alas, I'll have to put it down to go play some soccer.

I hope you're all having a great day, and all the France fans aren't too sad.