Some days

I am just a bit frustrated.  I didn't really notice it on my last post, but after yesterday's photo taking, I could not go forward.

I couldn't hardly knit yesterday, I was so mad at how very dark it was all of a sudden.  I was so incensed that I found it hard to write about anything.  Part of being incensed is that I should have noticed the day before, but I think I was closing my eyes to it.  

It is inherent to the way hand dyed skeins are that some are darker and some are lighter.  It is part of the reason I love working with them.  I love the gentle changes.  But this isn't a gentle change.  This is sharp.  And when you consider that I am working from two skeins all the way on this sweater, right from the cast on, it is even more frustrating.

I sat down near the end of the day to knit on a sock.

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I finished the heel and is now ready for a bit of a cuff.  I am going to work on this a bit more today.  I would like to get the second toe complete so that it can be knitting I don't have to think to.

And then I have to look  at each skein of the rest of my Tosh DK, to see just what I have to do to make this work.  I have seven skeins, and I shouldn't need them all for this sweater.  I am expecting that it will finish up at about five and a half skeins used.  I should be okay, so long as all the other skeins are lighter.  I didn't really look at the bag with those in yesterday.  I don't remember ever thinking they were so far apart in their intesity before.

There are ways to deal with this.  If I find only light balls, then it is easy.  Hold off the darkest to use in combination on the sleeves and button bands.  If there are two really dark balls, I can hope and pray that I only need five and a half, but I can also use the darkest and knit single rows here and there on the body and go darker more gently as I go down.  If there are three dark balls, I guess I will have to alternate from three or four balls of yarn.  If I have to do four balls, then two will start on either side of the fronts, so that each row is only ever a single row from a single ball.  It could be a bit nightmarish to do this, but it is doable.  If all the rest are very dark, then I will sit down and  have a good cry. 

And I will sit and knit on socks today before I start all over tomorrow and blend the two lightest skeins in where I can and as I go.