Oh man .. now what?

The face is gone ... Yep, ripped it back to the brim of Santa's hat. Quite frankly I feel pretty good about that because there really were some problems and now they're gone. Unfortunately, I've now stumbled upon another quandary.

What color yarn to use for Santa's face? Everything I have that's close seems just a touch off. My choice was the same yarn as the rest of the stocking, Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride Bulky, in a pink shade. I knitted up a sample to show the color next to the white of Santa's hat. I was kind of liking it, thinking it might work well. Then Sharon registered a very decisive 'no' vote. Uh oh. Only to be followed by Eileen's, similarly without question, 'no' vote.

What's a fellow to do? I tried seeking additional support, asking others attending knit night, where Molly thought it looked pretty good. But it wasn't enough, the original 'no votes' weren't to be deterred and I'm left trying to find some shade of some yarn that approximates the flesh tone of Santa's face. It's particularly difficult due to the fact there is white around his hat and the white of his beard. I've gone through my entire yarn stash and nothing seems suitable. I suppose it's time for a trip to Orly's Yarn Shop to check out the colors.

Let's hope we find one that works!

Frogging ... 'Rip It' .. 'Rip It'

To frog or not to frog, that is the question. I understand the term 'frogging' is because when you frog, you 'rip it', 'rip it' out. I have no idea if that's the truth or not but that's what they say over at Knity.com and they're they authority, I suppose - regardless of how cheesy it sounds. Anyway, I'm facing the big dilemma on whether to rip out or not. Sharon says no. I say it simply must be done.

I'm in the throes of making a stocking for Adelaide. It's turning out to be bigger than .. well .. any stocking known to man. I really didn't plan it that way but the name Adelaide simply requires a lot of room around the top. I am in the leg of the thing now and, I'll admit, it's huge.

Now that I'm into it, there are a number of things I'd change. Larger needles and less stitches for one. I drew up the pattern on an Excel spreadsheet without much thought to gauge. It sort of just became what it became and I jumped in knitting. My needle size is truly at the edge of acceptable for this particular thickness of yarn - so it seems to me. I'm knitting in Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride Bulky, 85% Wool/15% Mohair on US Size 7 needles. A great yarn, I love it, but I really should have gone with larger needles and produced a less densely woven fabric.

Anyway, I'm into and now I see two things I just must fix. Santa's face is not working for me. At a distance, perhaps, but up close, something isn't right and the stitching is all off. Also, there is a cable that was supposed to run down the sides that isn't working. I've run into the tree and, thus, my cable is cutting into two colors. Each color change mid-cable pattern is simply not working.

So .. the frog dilemma. I'll let you know how that goes. In the mean time, here is the stocking 'pre-frog' with all the problem features.

This is tough to see but perhaps if you click it and enlarge it's evident: the red cable pattern down the side is running into the green of the tree.



Here is my Santa face .. just don't like it. I've looked at it for a year and my conclusion is the same. I think he simply has to go.



I created graphic features all around the stocking so that it looks good from any angle. It's high time we get this thing finished!