Insufficient Yarn Error

The main project that I’ve been knitting on recently has been the Ishbel scarf, and I was using some really lovely soft, squishy yarn for it: some BFL sockweight by Nimu.

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Isn’t it preeeeeeeeeetty?  I know you can’t see it terribly well in that picture because it’s only some of the stocking stitch portion.  But trust me, it’s lovely – the colour of ripe blackberries.  The pattern calls for 300m of yarn, the skein was 365m.  I used the suggested needle size because I liked the drape of the fabric that gave me, although it put my gauge a little bit off.  That’s not important in a scarf, triangular or not, right?  Well, I knitted all of the stocking stitch section, and thought I still had plenty of yarn.  The I started on the lace charts: chart A, then B, then as I started A again I began to get a bit worried.  I kept going though.  Right up until I ran out of yarn with essentially 8 rows to go.  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Has my dodgy gauge has eaten more yarn, or something?  I’m not sure that makes sense – I haven’t knitted more stitches, after all.  I’ve got more stitches to the inch than I should have: that means that to get suggested gauge, I’d have to go up a needle size or two, thus making larger stitches, and therefore less per inch.  My stitches are smaller, so they should be using less yarn, right?  The resulting scarf must be a bit smaller than intended, that’s all.

As I see it, I have a couple of choices: rip out the whole thing (noooo!) and start again with different needles or yarn, or knit the remaining few rows in something else.  But what?  I only have this one skein of lovely Nimu ‘Striding Edge’ BFL, and I love the way it’s feeling so much that I do want to use if for this project.  Bah.  My first instinct is to edge it in a black yarn, since it’s such a dark colour to start with.  But the only black yarn I have in what to my naked eye looks like a comparable thickness (I mentioned that it’s a very squishy sockweight, and it’s relatively loose-spun) is acrylic DK.  No.  I also have some similarly squishy sock yarn by the Yarn Yard – their merino ‘Hug’ yarn, in a couple of colours that might do:

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I don’t know which, if either, would be better though.  So I’m posting a poll.   Help meeeeeee!

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You know what’s really annoying, though?  This is the fourth time I’ve run out of yarn on a project recently.  I must be doing something wrong.

Author: Lou

Geeky fangirl and knitter, owned by large black mog. Sometime web designer. Lapsed musician.

3 thoughts on “Insufficient Yarn Error”

    1. I did think about that, but with my gauge already tight, it’s coming up a bit small. If I make it any smaller, I don’t think it’ll be wearable – d’oh!! However, it looks like I might be able to get hold of some more yarn now, so all may be well!

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