Monday, March 7, 2011

Bamboo/Silk

Last summer, I bought one skein of Ella Rae Bamboo Silk. I bought it on the day we drove out to Ipswich to eat at The Clam Box (we go once a year. We often go with my parents. It's just one of those things we do in the summer). It's pretty, and soft, and felt like a nice end to vacation yarn buying.

Last week, I finally wound the skein into a ball, and knit this:
The pattern is Fern Lace Cowl. It's a pretty pattern, although this is a perfect example of how much blocking can do for lace. The yarn is also pretty, and all knit up, it looks nice. Until you put it around your neck. And then, it just hangs there, looking like a bunch of red yarn hanging around your neck. There's no body, and no style. The only word to describe it is "whatever".

I knew that bamboo would have a lot of drape. I had several conversations with knitters well acquainted with bamboo, and they all thought a cowl would be a lovely thing to make from the scant 99 yards of yarn that I had. I'm wondering now if I should have done something with a little cable, or just a solid textured stitch, something to give it some body.

What do you think? What would you do with the cowl now? Would you frog it? Or just hide it a drawer? If you had one skein of 99 yards of bamboo/silk, what would you make?

2 comments:

Nina said...

Oh no, sucks that it looks less than great when worn! It looks so pretty still on the needles. I hate to frog, but I probably would re-knit it with a pattern that has a bit more texture.

Jane said...

Bamboo is drapey, I don't think it would work for cables (they'll probably be flat).

If you decide to frog, you could use the same st pattern to make a scarf, which you can drape over your shoulders to show off the sts ;)

PM me if you need more info on how to do that.