Yarn Chicken
There are a lot of knitting skills that I’m really good at. Yarn chicken…or estimating if I’ll have enough yarn to finish a project…isn’t one of them.
The Anti-Yarn Chicken
My sense of direction is awful, so I usually tell co-travelers to ask me which way to go, and then to go the opposite direction.
Assessing how much yarn it will take to finish a project is a similar situation. Here are the two typical scenarios:
- I’ll be working feverishly to finish a scarf. From about halfway through, I’ll start to have doubts if I’ll have enough yarn to finish the scarf. I will constantly assure my anxious mind that there will be plenty of yarn to finish. I’ll come up 20 yards short.
- From halfway through a project (like my current cardigan), I’ll start eyeing the ever more limp center-pull ball of yarn. I will be certain there won’t be enough yarn to finish the project. As the center-pull ball starts to collapse into itself, like a fiber-blackhole, I’m coming up with ways to make a yarn substitution. Possibly contacting the yarn vendor to try and get more yarn. Or planning to add an “accent color” stripe. But then like the five loaves and two fishes that Jesus used to feed the masses or the one day of oil that lasted eight days for a Hanukah miracle, the yarn lasts until the end of the project. With a few yards left over.
So, if you want to know if you’ll have enough yarn to finish a project, just ask me. And then plan on the opposite answer. Because I’m always wrong.
Current Knitting
Unlike estimating yarn-to-completion amounts, I seem to be very good at finishing knitting projects.
No, I haven’t fully completed the Ensign Brook DK Cardigan. But I have cut the steek in the front, finished knitting the button-band and collar and sewn them in. I’ve also woven in the ends of the body of the cardigan and sewn down the pocket linings. Now I just have to cut the arm hole steeks, attach the sleeves, knit two pocket edgings and weave in a few dozen ends. Oh…and block the sweater.
Winner winner, chicken dinner!
When you started the Ensign Brook Cardigan—I wasn’t sure. My design eye said—no, not going to work. I am thrilled that I was WRONG! This is on par with Tilt in it’s design perfection! What cinched it for me is the shawl collar. Choosing the darkest collar was a bit of genius. While I generally am not a fan of pockets on cardigans—I even like those on Ensign Brook. A home run, my friend! Let the knitting world know when you publish it—my library needs it.
Winner winner, chicken dinner!
When you started the Ensign Brook Cardigan—I wasn’t sure. My design eye said—no, not going to work. I am thrilled that I was WRONG! This is on par with Tilt in it’s design perfection! What cinched it for me is the shawl collar. Choosing the darkest collar was a bit of genius. While I generally am not a fan of pockets on cardigans—I even like those on Ensign Brook. A home run, my friend! Let the knitting world know when you publish it—my library needs it.
You hit a home run with that cardigan, Joe. It is gorgeous. Like, Lisa, I really like the shawl collar. Great choice of colours.
Hi Joe, I bought an inexpensive scale (eBay, it was $10 and I’ve ) that weighs by tenths of grams. When I worry that I’m playing yarn chicken, I start weighing the yarn after a certain amount of knitting or number of repeats.
FYI, Ive been reading you forever – thanks for turning me on to so many cool things, including Ravelry, back when it started and Herbert Niebling, among others! Cheers!
Meant to say, I’ve had it for years!
The cardigan is perfect! I so wish there were a pattern! I’d happily pay good money if you ever decided to write it.
This pattern will never be written up for three reasons. First, most of it is stolen. The basic shaping and measurements are taken from Tilt Cardigan by Lisa Richardson (https://knitrowan.com/en/free-patterns/tilt). Second, the stitch pattern is stolen from a sock pattern from The Knitting Man(ual) by Kristin Spurkland (https://amzn.to/2SUTefW). Finally, it would require that I figure out the numbers for at least 2 other sizes and test out the pattern design.
Way too much work for the tiny number of purchases most of my patterns get.
If I were you, I’d just download the Tilt Cardigan pattern, purchase three colors of Rowan Felted DK yarn (https://amzn.to/2Yz4x2D) and ignore the stranded knitting part of the pattern and substitute stripes.