I am a chicken when it comes to yarn chicken. I know some knitters seem to live for the thrill of finding out if they’ll have enough yarn at the very end. I only have so many hours for knitting and while sometimes frogging in unavoidable, I see no reason to set myself up for it.
In the (unlikely) event that you went looking for the new cowl I started in my Ravelry projects, you may have noticed some potential issues. Such as I have 296yds of handspun sport weight for a pattern that wants 420yds of fingering.
The challenge with handspun of course, is that it’s hard to get more of it. I had a one of a kind 4oz braid. I couldn’t spin more if I wanted. So how am I not insane and setting myself up for sure failure in a crazy game of yarn chicken?
Pattern modification, that’s what. First, it calls for 8 repeats around. Well, I have thicker yarn, so I’ll do 7 repeats instead. Based on a quick mini swatch and checking my work as I go, this puts me near the desired finished length. (Note: one issue – while the pattern states you’ll repeat the pattern 8 times, the cast on number is for 7. Based on gauge & finished measurements, I believe the cast on number was wrong).
This probably won’t be enough though. So I examined the pattern and came up with 16 rows of a total of 88 I could easily eliminate, making the border narrower and skipping two cable repeats.
For some math – I have 296yds, and it calls for 420yds. So I have 70% of what I need.
I’m only doing 7/8ths of the repeats, and 72/88 rows. (7*72)/(8*88) = .71 or 71% of the pattern. I feel like we’re now within a reasonable error range.
Only… strategic measurements of yarn used suggest I may need to scrap a few more rows. I have used 50g of 113g and only completed 31rows. This suggests I’ll need 116g, 3g of which I most definitely don’t have. I have three more rows to go before I determine if further alterations will be employeed. I have my eye on four rows I don’t think are critical… and a 5th that can definitely be eliminated.
Having just put you all to sleep with all that math, here’s a picture of my progress thus far and proof that my pattern mods haven’t completely ruined it all:
