Recently in Project Reviews Category

My Interweave Knits Winter 2006 issue was in my mailbox this evening.

The quick scoop:

• This issue is heavy. There's a whole lotta projects in there!
• Like always, even though I saw the preview, I'm so much more excited after flipping through the magazine itself.

Favorite Project - Kate's A Cardigan for Arwen

This project has so many things going for it.

• It's clever with its reversible cable along the front and around the hood.
• Its namesake is one of my favorie LOTR characters.
• Its hood is pointy in a playful sorta way.
• It's a cardi so it's great for layering.
• It's versatile and will be as nice paired with khakis at work, or with jeans and a t-shirt for running errands.

Remember when I said I might not knit another sweater this year? Well, I'm seeing me knitting this very soon in a vibrant sapphire blue.

Added Later: About 20 minutes after I wrote this post, I came across NaKniSweMo -- National Knit a Sweater Month. I don't have to tell you that I've been looking online at yarns since then, do I?

I made this mistake rib scarf in November 2004. It's a pretty basic scarf and normally wouldn't warrant a look back.

Except for this...

The single ply yarn has developed a strong white halo (better visible if you view the enlarged version of the closeup). The colors have clouded and the texture has changed too. It's...hardened. The scarf has lost its drape, it's stretched out and narrowed as well. This combined with the texture changes make it hard to wrap around me in a way that actually covers my neck sufficiently. And the fringe edges keep sticking together too. It feels like it's in a pre-felting stage.

I blame all these problems on the yarn. I can't imagine a sweater in this yarn would wear very well. The scarf wasn't my everyday scarf so it didn't get a ton of wear. I'd envision the same hardening/felting happening at the elbows or where the arms rub against the body sides.

I really don't recommend this yarn.