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Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Help me! I don't know what to do!

I am nothing if I am not indecisive. It's a flaw of mine.
I bought a bunch of colors for the Confectionary tank and this is my swatch. 


In case anyone who might be reading this hasn't already seen it on my Ravelry page,  the yarn is Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in Stone, Lake, Turquoise, Violet, & Plum. I love that the colors are analogous, cool, and have a sort of ombre thing going on, but I do not dig the stone (light grey) next to the plum. It's too abrupt. I thought I'd add a cool pink to the palette to bridge the tonal gap. I added Blossom and to my project stash and I thought/think it looks pretty good. I decided to simply insert the Blossom between the Stone and the Plum and knit this pretty baby up.  


I cast on (while watching Bikini or Bust - how appropriate) and knit a bunch of repeats. Then I decide that I don't like the Blossom after all. The tone isn't deep enough to please my eye... and the added pink next to the purple is looking a little saccharine. (If Cactus and Lime had only looked better I would have taken the tank in the green/blue/purple direction.) 

I ripped out several repeats and decided to re-think my color pattern. I REALLY dig my swatch.... except for the Stone on Plum action. I decided to focus on what I liked about my swatch... the ombre-like order of the colors... and I've decided to have the colors vibrate back and forth between the Stone & the Plum. I'll use Stone for the trim  which will help to minimizing the effect of the purples. Great, I love it. 

I knit one half a repeat.... then I realize that I started with Lake... and I want the bottom color to be Stone. 
I also realize that this tank CURLS at the hem as stockinette only does (duh, Grace) and even though the project pics Show this, I don't like it. 

Incidentally,  I am very critical.... that might also be a flaw. 

So do I frog completely and start over with Stone? 
If so, should I knit a few rounds in Garter to make a firm bottom trim?
Do I proceed as is and pick up and knit a Stone border after the front and back are sewn together? Should it be garter? Or perhaps a short ribbed band?

I am paralyzed by indecision.

And since I can't decide if I should rip or knit, I switched to my neglected Bella Blouse.... which had previously caught me in the indecision trap... and I bravely cast on for the body in the round. I think I am in desperate need for some simple cotton stockinette for a bit. I'll have to blog about that later though.... I only have sufficient light/time in the morning for pics.

3 comments:

suze said...

Helps to go back and look at the original pattern, what makes it work. can't paste the confectionary tank photo in here, but I just took a look.
Your swatch has 5 colors, from beginning, you start with lightest to darkest.
You have 1 BRIGHT -that teal or aqua blue in the middle. It is followed by 2 darks (blue and purple) which give the eye a rest.
NOW. go take a look at the color orders in the photo. Take some crayons or colored pencils and draw a line to learn the repeat. I'm not saying yu even have to order your striped in the same way, but by doing that exercise you will be able to see how much exact repetition there is of color stripe order, and where there are changes. Looking from top down, I see the lavendar appears in 2 places in the stripe sequence. (ignore strip for now)looking from top down, is this color order:
1 dark brown
2 dark red
3 medium/lt pink
4 dark copper
5 med purple (shall we call it medium lavendar)

6 light beige.--break for the eye

7 medium pink (again)
8 medium gold (new)
9 medium lavendar (again)
{ends at bra strip line)
END of stripe sequene
=========================
I can see 4 repeats of this 9 color sequence, plus 1 more (or part of one) from the straps upward. She used 7 colors.
========================
You have 5, Your bright teal might be comparable to the PINK. your light blue could be placed where the lavendar is placed (adjacent to beige, which is where you've got it on the swatch).

What is different about the pattern--she always "frames" the pink with the red and the gold, which are harmoniuous with the pink, but deeper/darker.
The red is always adjacent to the brown (a flow from pink to red to brown)...

wHAT MAKES THE STRIPES INTERESTING IS that both lavendar and pink are used twice in the 9 strip sequence...

Another interpretation: in the 9 strip sequence, take a look at the photo: you see a 4 bands of darker colors accentuated with pink in the middle of them, 4 groups of lighter colors.

have fun. I can be done with 5. maybe use the bright teal twice in the sequence (sub for the pink). surround it with your 2 darks. and use the light blue twice (sub for lavendar). Just some ideas to get you moving!
sUZE IN iTHACA, ny
(suzesas on ravelry)

Alison said...

I like the vibrate-back-and-forth idea (in fact, I was going to suggest that before I read on), but for me I'd want to start with plum. If it bugs you, frog and restart. This is supposed to be fun, but also *rewarding*.

OR, knit or crochet on an edging in stone. It will maintain the colour repeat pattern and minimise the curling, if you choose a good one.

Bear in mind that you will use twice as much stone and plum, compared to the other colours, with a 'vibrating' pattern as you would in the original. Count the stripes and you'll see what I mean.

Anonymous said...

Ooo, I like the suggestion about a crocheted stone edging - could be a very cool finish.

Such constructive commenting offered up here! Inspiring.

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