Does anyone know if there is a such thing as overworking your yarn. I have ripped this sweater apart at least three times trying to get the sizing right. I am making the Yoga Wrap from Vogue Knitting Winter o5/06 and I cannot get this thing right. For the Small/Medium sizing it turns out it is ginormous and just was way to big. So now I am making it a size X Small, but again because I have made this thing a few times and my yarn is looking so tired and fuzzy. I am using Lamb’s Pride Wool in Bulky and just don’t know whether I should even continue using yarn that is so used.
I also thought maybe I should just go ahead and make it and consider shaving all the fuzzy’s off and then just steam block and see if that works.
I am sure the yarn is still fine as far as strength, but if you don’t like the way it looks maybe you should use something else and maybe use the wool for a felting project. That way you won’t see how “used” it is in the finished project.
Okay, thank you for your response but my real question is and maybe my concern is most people don’t wear clothing for strength we wear it and work so hard on our knitting because of how it looks. So is there a such thing as overworking the yarn and if so would you reccommend tossing it or as the last person suggested felting it or it there an alternative solution. I have spent a great deal of money and would like to know if shaving the fuzzy top layer off is something others have done in the same situation.
Hi! I think what Kemp was saying was addressing your concern about the look of the finished project. As she said, if you don’t like what you are seeing, then maybe you can use that yarn for something else where it won’t matter so much. There’s only “overworking” the yarn to the extent that you don’t like the way it looks anymore. Some yarns will suffer more from continuous frogging than others. Lamb’s Pride is a single, if I’m remembering right. These yarns pill more easily and will look fuzzier faster, both when they are frogged a bunch, but also just in terms of wearing. When you knit it up, does it look bad to you? I suppose you could shave off the fuzzies, as the product would probably get fuzzy at some point in the not-too-distant future anyway, even without the frogging, and you’d have to shave anyway. It’s something I haven’t tried yet, though.
[U]YOUR OPINION[/U] of its appearance is the KEY FACTOR as to your next step.
You are not happy with it. If you continue to work with it…you still may not like it, may even hate it… and never wear it…and you have lost both time and money. But, the experience will not be a loss.
I think what KEMP said makes perfect sense: use the overworked yarn for a felting project later on.
This yarn just isn’t the right yarn for this particular project, and that’s probably the whole crux of the problem.
And don’t beat yourself up over it. :wall: All knitters have had the same problem one time or another. [COLOR=black]The wrong type of yarn for a particular pattern. [/COLOR]
For example: I labored long and hard…making a pullover for my daughter-in-law. I used…are you ready for this? I used Lion Brand Homespun. :doh: The sweater not only pilled…it grew and grew and grew and grew…til it resembled a pullover bathrobe. Who knew? I didn’t know that the ‘curly factor’ of Homespun falls out over time. When worn on the human body…heat and some perspiration…a size 8 became a size 26. Kinda like your well curled and coiffed hairdo falls out on a damp, muggy, hot evening by the lake. Same principle. I made a pullover for her husband, too (my son)…and his grew, too. She wears both of them for those slouch-around-the-house-on-Saturday-mornings-when-nobody-is-gonna-drop-by-and-see-ya-kind-of-day. They are warm but look like h.
For real.