January 19, 2008

It's the thinking that gets me in trouble

I've been studiously knitting the Irish Hiking Scarf. I'm almost finished with the first skein of yarn, and it's going to be too short. It's also an inch or two narrower than I would like.

Last night I found myself stretching the scarf out sideways to the desired width (this does not help the "too short" problem, I know).

And I realized something. Don't the cables look much better a bit stretched out, or at least with a little more visible purl action on either side to give them more definition?

Stretched...
Cabled2

Unstretched...
Cabled1

So this morning I pinned out part of it to compare...The unstretched portion doesn't look bad, necessarily, but I like the stretched part muuuuuch better (do ignore the messed up cable on the top row. Or try to. I'll understand if you can't because I can't stop looking at it either).

Cabled4

What to do now? I'm pretty sure this scarf is a goner, but should I plan to reknit it on bigger needles, with maybe an extra purl stitch on either side of each cable?

Or should I assume blocking will flatten and widen the cables a bit, thereby accomplishing some of the same effect?

Or (and here's where I get into trouble)...should I view it as a really big gauge swatch for a cabled sweater? I have a sweater's worth of this yarn in another color that might make an awfully cute all-over cabled sweater.

What think we?

4 comments:

Karen said...

Hhhhmmmm, tough one. I think the blocking will help a bit, but after some wear it might start to shrink back up. I think I want to vote for the sweater!!

Kristy said...

I like the cables unstretched, kind of nestled between the ribs :) I suggest you leave it as is, and also treat is as a big swatch for a sweater :)

Macoco said...

I think blocking might do it some good - but I do think it looks pretty nice unblocked as well. Definitely do a cabled sweater!

Anonymous said...

this is not knitting related (shocking, i know, but i thought i would warn you ahead of time) i tried to email you the housing class info via ravelry, but you have the email function turned off. i'm hoping this will notify you that you have a new post on your blog so you get this! the homebuying class link is here:

http://www.cityofboston.gov/dnd/hbs/C_Homebuying_101.asp

it explains what the class is and tells you where they hold them and when. so happy home hunting! let me know what the southie house is like and if you like the realtor (you know them, right?).

anyways, maybe i'll see you next week at athan's.

ciao,
sabe (aka babyjenks)