Live and Learn

I may have found all the boxes containing my stash of yarn, but I have not found all the boxes of unfinished projects. Half of the projects listed over there in the sidebar are hiding somewhere in the piles of boxes in my back room. That's okay, I will deal with them when I find them.

Meanwhile, I am going through the projects I have found. I'm looking them over and deciding whether or not I will actually finish them.

The prayer shawl is one that I will finish. The mitered baby afghan is another project that I will finish, as soon as I decide how I want to do the borders. That red baby coat, however, is a problem.

As much as I enjoyed knitting the Manoir Coat (from Bouton d'Or layette and junior book #13) it simply isn't working out well in the yarn that I chose to use. The shawl collar needs to be blocked into shape on the finished garment, and the cheap dollar store acrylic yarn that I tested the pattern with just won't do the job. This pattern will need to be reknit in a nice quality wool yarn if I want a successful garment.

My purpose in using the cheapo yarn was to test the pattern for any potential errors in the pattern or quirks in the garment, and that purpose has been served. I learned a lot from this one. Most importantly, I learned just how bad that cheap acrylic yarn from the dollar store really is. I wouldn't donate this stuff to charity, it's that awful. I mean, Red Heart is a quality product, this stuff isn't. So...

DON'T BUY THE DOLLAR STORE YARN!

It's only good for practicing, not for knitting anything you want to actually use. It seems ok at first, but by the time you finish the object you will regret it.