Lemongrass Hat and Cowl (Bluprint Class)

The Hat was a project I sort of randomly came across on Ravelry as I was pondering getting back to knitting. (Actually what spawned the renewed interest was cleaning out the fabric closet and realizing I had a lot of yarn I needed to get rid of.) I had purchased a lot of this Wool Ease Thick and Quick, imagining I might someday make these little cardigans, but with that fantasy over, I had to figure out something else to do with them. 

Enter the Lemongrass hat. 

Now to be fair, the color of this yarn alternates between being a rather stylish off-green, like a lightly grilled spear of asparagus, to a true baby-shit green that nobody looks good in. Under store lighting, it's pretty. At home .... yeah, baby poop. 

So I found the pattern and thought why not. The instructions for the decreases are very confusing, and I should have been alerted to the weirdness by the fact that other people were commenting with questions, but I pushed on, thinking I'd figure it out. The main fabric is I think seed stitch, which gives this yarn a great texture, but the decreases at the top look weird and the color is just ... blech. 

So of course I had to make a cowl to match.

Now to be fair, the cowl was the second project from the Bluprint class, and I wanted to at least try it. I had two skeins left of the nasty Lemongrass color, so I made the cowl and it was pretty but gave me claustrophobia when I tried to wear it. So I frogged it, and made one twice as wide, which didn't really work either. Probably one that is about 1.5 skeins would work properly.

METHOD:
Done in LionBrand Wool Ease Thick and Quick Lemongrass (aka Babyshit Green)

AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?
1. This is a horrendous color.

2. Frog what doesn't work, but you can only do it a few times before the yarn becomes worn. 

3. Don't stash yarn. Only buy what you actually have a legit plan for using. 

First Abandoned Project

I started this tank top at the monthly knit day at Borders, and was all excited about it for a week, until I started wearing the other one and realized I don't like the way it fits.

This is the same yarn, Caron's Jewel Box, only I thought I'd actually try to knit it to gauge this time. I'm just not keen on having no shaping around the waistline and under the ribs. I mean, I HAVE a waist, and I'd like to see it! The white version looks dumpy. The pattern is not flattering.

I took the jump. I frogged it and rewound the yarn back into a ball.


AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?:
It actually feels good to rip out and abandon something hideous. Now I can devote my time and energy to something that looks better.

DISASTER sweater.

I can't fully describe how much of a disaster this was. I thought it would be a great Christmas present for Mom, in her favorite color. She didn't even bother to take it home, but quietly suggested I just take it apart and make something else. How depressing.

METHOD:
I found the pattern on the internet, and it recommended LionBrand Chenille Thick and Quick. Royal Blue is mom's fave color. This took almost 5 skeins. LOTS of fiber. I probably should have done it on #12s, but I ended up doing it on #13s for reasons I can't remember. It ended up being too loose, and the dang chenille looks awful.

AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?:
To NEVER work in chenille again. That's pretty much it.