Knitting Catastrophe! Help!

#1

Okay, I may be overreacting, but I am freaking out!

For the last two weeks, I have been knitting away at my first EZ Tomten. I am doing it in KP Sierra, main color Lettuce, contrast color Pool. Based on what EZ says about yarn needs, I should’ve only needed 4 hanks total (I estimated 3 of the lettuce, 1 of the pool). Then I was going to do the opposite for the 2nd Tomten, for my other son. I am nearly done with the first tomten, needing only to finish one arm and do the other. It is turning out much bigger than expected, which could explain why it is eating yarn. At this point, I have used nearly 7 hanks and may run out of the Lettuce before I’m done. Right now all I have left is 2.5 hanks of the Pool and still a whole other tomten to knit (in addition to finishing the one I’m currently doing).

So I go to the KP website this morning to order several more hanks - only to discover that neither of these two colors is even listed any more and the yarn is on clearance!!! Like I said, I am FREAKING OUT. What do I do? Scrap the whole project? Frog and try to make it smaller so it doesn’t take so much yarn? Put out a call to buy anyone’s Sierra?

I have emailed KP to see if they happen to have any more that’s not listed (I just reordered this yarn in these colors last week!). I love this yarn and I’m so bummed out about this. :pout: I’ve been planning these little jackets for awhile now. I’ve never run out of yarn before b/c I always make sure to buy enough, but in this case EZ’s suggestions are so unspecific that I screwed up.

Mostly I guess I need y’all to commiserate with me. :pout:

#2

If it’s turning out larger than it’s supposed to it will consume more yarn. I have to wonder if you did a gauge swatch, and if so, if you did it accurately… ?

If it’s much bigger than it’s supposed to be, I would personally frog and start over…

#3

I did do a gauge swatch, and assume it turned out accurately (I no longer have it since I frogged it to use the yarn for the project). The bigness is more in terms of length (there is no gauge listed for length). I had already determined that I would make the second one shorter but keep it the same width.

I’m guessing that frogging and starting again is my only option, though I’m not at all certain that that would leave me enough to make a whole second one. :pout:

#4

Well, I went back and measured my actual gauge in the garment, and though I’m pretty sure I got gauge with my swatch (4"/inch), my current gauge is 3.75"/inch - enough to make me eat a lot more yarn than anticipated (though EZ’s "un"pattern simply said 4 skeins of bulky wool - with no mention of yardage or ounces of how big those skeins should be; I figured maybe she meant roughly 4 oz. per skein, but who knows?). The little bit of bigness wasn’t really bothering me, b/c I was hoping the boys could use these for at least a couple of years. But of course the bigness is a problem if it means I don’t have enough yarn. Phooey.

After several deep breaths, I’ve decided I’m just going to have to frog and start over. Which wouldn’t suck quite so much if I hadn’t already woven in all my ends so far. Bleh.

#5

Phooey indeed! I think gauge swatches can sometimes be awful liars. I’m convinced that we sometimes knit our gauge swatches tighter, but after working on the project for a while we loosen up, relax a bit, and get fewer stitches to the inch.

I don’t know what advice to give you. You already called KnitPicks. Maybe it’s time to go searching around for some Sierra, asking here, on other forums, looking at the destash blogs, etc.

#6

Thanks, Nikki. Yeah, I’ve been everywhere - already have a post on the buy/sell/swap board, also posted on another board begging, did a google search on “sierra for sale” or something like that. And so far, nothing. I’m so bummed out. I don’t know why the KP website wouldn’t have indicated these were on closeout. :shrug: I would’ve for sure stocked up, and guess I should’ve anyway.