Dye lot does matter!

I\’ve finished a couple of dishcloths.

First, I finished the January mid-month KAL. I ran out of yarn about 4 rows from the end and had in my stash another ball of the same color but a different dye lot. It looked the same to me (and since it\’s only a dishcloth) I figured it wouldn\’t matter.

Well, it does.

A lot.

You can\’t tell so much in this picture (if you look really closely you can somewhat tell that the top rows are different), but when I dampened the cloth for a light blocking, it was glaringly apparent. Thank goodness it\’s just a dishcloth for me and not a gift to give away.

I was a bit disappointed by this cloth. I was super excited to try out a cable pattern — my first ever. After I got a few rows into it, I realized it wasn\’t a \”traditional\” cable pattern. One side of each cable is done in a garter stitich while the other side is stockinette. It really doesn\’t make the cables \”pop\” too well.

So, I took it upon myself to try again. I designed this cloth and knit it up today. It\’s just a simple three cable design like the KAL, but without the garter stitch. And I changed the width of the cables. I felt that crossing over four stitches was pulling at the cotton too hard. So I dropped it down to three. I just finished it tonight and didn\’t even block it a bit, but it still looks pretty good.

Not too bad for my first attempt at \”real\” cables and I didn\’t even have a pattern. I\’m really pleased and I love how easy cables are. It makes me feel like an experienced knitter. 🙂

The next two pictures are my latest patterns that I\’ve finished for Designs by Emily. I meant to upload them the other day but I forgot. In keeping with the \”Winter Theme\” they are a pair of mittens and a winter hat.