Tag Archives: Araucania

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Sunset Ishbel

Last week I was lamenting about the other Ishbel I was working on. After hemming and hawing over how much or little I like the variegation in the yarn with this pattern, I have decided not to rip it, but it can stay in my UFO (unfinished objects) drawer for awhile while I work on some other things. Since I only have about 14 rows left to finish it, so ripping it seems like a waste. I really appreciate all of the input from readers on that post.

Instead, I pulled a partially done Ishbel in Araucania Ranco Solid sock yarn (color 105) out of my UFO drawer and decided to work on it so I could satisfy my need to have an Ishbel in my hands sooner than later, and I could get something out of that pile.  I wasn’t sure where I was in the lace pattern so I ripped back to the stockinette and got going. I was off work that day, so I finished all of the lace portion in one day and got it on the blocking board. I love it.

I don’t knit with a lot of red yarns, but I like this shade since it’s more on the orange-red than blue-red spectrum. I made the smaller version of the shawl, doing the lace repeat as A,B,A,C,D,E. Some folks opt to do the small stockinette portion with the larger lace or large stockinette portion with the smaller lace, but I just stuck with the pattern. I have some leftover yarn. I sort of hate having leftovers, but I’ll get over it.

I actually even got to wear this at work one day last week since they keep it pretty cool in this library. The temperature is climbing to the upper 90s and 100 this week, so I’m pretty sure all things wool are eliminated from my wardrobe for now.

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Rrrrrrrrrrrrripppppppppp? Or not?

Apparently, this Outlast fiber in my skein of Lorna’s Laces Solemate is some kind of miracle fiber. According to this press release about it, it can help control body temperatures, has high wind resistance, resists wrinkles and fading, is very durable, and can do your taxes for you.

Um, just kidding about that last one.

The yarn is not Malabrigo Sock soft by any means, and it could be a wee bit springier for my taste, but it is lovely, nonetheless. The thing is…I’m not really sure I like this amount of variegation in the color as I’m doing the lace. I know I was all cocky about the subtlety of the contrast, etc. a few days ago, but now I’m having doubts. I’m not afraid to rip this, but I can’t decide if I like it or hate it right now. I’m not getting a good gut reaction. There is a bit more splotchiness in the color than I would like.

In desperation, I pulled out that old Ishbel I was making out of the Araucania Ranco sock yarn from years ago. Now that I seem to have no troubles with the pattern at all, I thought about ripping back to the stockinette portion (not much at this point) and starting that one over. Everything was on gauge, and though not my favorite yarn in terms of softness, the color is a magnificent red-orange (colorway 105–good approximation here) and I could still get this thing done fairly soon so maybe it won’t occupy my brain at 5 am and make me get out of bed to look at yarn in my stash. Hmph. Basically, I’m eating all of my words from earlier this week.

Opinions are most welcome. Rip? No? I’m going to switch to the Araucania version for right now, but I’ll wait to decide on this Solemate version for a few days so it can simmer.