Questions...and Answers

So, because I have nothing to show today but I felt like writing, here are some answers to recently asked questions. And may I say that including your email address when you leave a comment on a blog may be a good idea (especially if you don't have a blog for me to comment on)...because then I could write back to you personally. But then, on the other hand, I wouldn't have blog content for today. So whatever.

1. Sue asked: "I have never used Joslyn's yarn...did you like it?"

Yes, I do like it. I have a few skeins of Sheep's Gift -- it's more of a sportweight-- in my stash and recently acquired 1.5 more from a trade on Ravelry. The .5 skein threw me for a loop...I had planned to make adult socks with it but couldn't. So that's when I decided to use it for booties. A niece is due any day now and I should make another pair. The only 'problem' with the yarn is that it's not superwash. Which I don't mind, but it might not be the best yarn for booties. But it's darn cute, isn't it?

2. Wendy asked: "Love your wallaby - i have a few questions about it: for the sleeves and bottom, how many stitches did you cast on (as many as the pattern called for in the size you made, or as many as you would eventually increase to?) also, did you start with the smaller needles and switch?"

Thanks Wendy! I remember this process well. I wanted a Wallaby without ribbing, so I swatched with the yarn (a cotton/acrylic blend). I knew that I wanted to machine wash and dry the finished sweater, much like a sweatshirt, so I measured the finished swatch, washed and dried it, and measured again. Then I did a little math and figured out how much it shrunk (about 15% lengthwise!) Then I decided how wide I wanted the sweater to be (I think it has 6" of ease--it's roomy), and multiplied my stitch gauge (ex 4.5sts per inch...46 inches would require 207 stitches) and I cast-on for that. I did not increase; just ran straight up until I hit the armholes. I measured another sweater to get that measurement, keeping in mind that my swatch shrunk quite a bit lengthwise, so I had to get that percentage correct. It took some math, but I think it worked out well. I did not switch needle sizes, either. You might want to decrease a little if you don't want the big sweatshirt-tube look, but that happens to be what I was going for at the time.

Thanks for reading and asking!

And no, I haven't forgotten. We were fortunate that none of our East-Coast-living family and friends were directly affected, but we mourn the collective loss.