Crotchety crochet

I mentioned my foray into crochet a couple of posts ago. At that point, I started my Grassmarket Shawl a second time with very soft, luxurious yarn: Neighborhood Fibre Co. Capital Luxury Lace (80/10/10 wool/cashmere/nylon). Sure, I had to rip back every now and then as I figured things out, but overall, I made headway. This much headway, to be precise:

It was at this point that I realized I didn't have nearly enough yarn to do this shawl justice. I figure I had nearly 400 yards left over from this cowl project, which sounded like a lot when I started. But upon closer inspection of the pattern, I realized that it called for a whopping 738 yards of yarn. WHOOPS.

So I set the shawl aside and picked up that cursed blue sock instead. I checked Ravelry to see what other yarn candidates might be lurking in my stash. I don't tend to stash laceweight, though. I had this 938-yard megaskein of handspun gradient yarn (really, too much - and I don't want to use only part of a gradient - that misses the whole point):

I also had 682 yards of this Swans Island Sterling Collection Fingering left over from the WWI socks I knit. It's a light fingering in an 85/15 merino/alpaca blend:

And I had 866 yards of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in this handsome navy blue:

I got home and started working with the blue yarn. I also went down a couple of hook sizes so that the fabric wouldn't be too loosey goosey. Very quickly, I realized that it splits too much and would be very frustrating to work with. Also, it's difficult to work with a dark color. I doubt you can see the split-i-ness here, but trust me:

So I picked up the Swans Island gray stuff. It worked up very nicely, with just the right balance of structure and drape. Easy to see. Looks beautiful! I got this far:

That's when I put it around my neck and felt... THE DREADED PRICKLES. This yarn is just not neck yarn. Since when are merino and alpaca not neck soft?!?? I knew there was no point in continuing, so I stopped.

I actually went back to the initial green yarn, Road to China Lace, which is a 65/15/10/10 blend of alpaca/silk/camel/cashmere. This IS neck soft, but I don't love the color and my hook size still might be off. It doesn't have enough structure and you can see it looks kind of sloppy:

My thoughts now are:

1. Continue with this green yarn, but plan to overdye the finished garment
2. Order a different yarn (maybe Neighborhood Fibre Co. Maisonette, a 50/50 tussah silk/superfine merino blend?)
3. Just put this on the back burner, because I am about to begin a large knitting project

Before our vacation earlier this month, I finished the third and final swatch for the Sempervirens sweater. It took me 3 tries to get gauge, but I knew it was important on such a large project with fine yarn:

The winning needle size is US 3 (3.25 mm) and I swatched on a wood KnitPicks circular needle. The problem is that those ONLY come in fixed circulars, and I don't have a long enough one (40"). Also, the needle I swatched on is the "Caspian" wood, which is beautifully dyed in blues and greens. But when one knits with a blue-green yarn, those stitches disappear on the needle. So I ordered new needles in the "Sunstruck" color, which is a plain, light wood. My needles haven't arrived yet, but when they do, I will have a very large project ahead of me. Maybe I don't also need a large crochet project at the moment.

I have to chuckle when I consult the pattern page for the Grassmarket Shawl. It says it is a beginner project that will only take 10-15 hours of crochet time. I'm sure I've put in 10 hours at least, and I have nothing to show for it. Oh well, sometimes that's the way this hobby works!