The Amazing Lace Team

While the past few weeks leading up to the big event have been nerve-wracking for our Team Captain, she remains strong in the face of a number of last-minute substitutions. The team originally consisted of our Team Captain (TC), the Pinwheel Shawl pattern from Wool You Order, Merino Oro in black and brand new Addi circ. The first hint of trouble was the needles. The size 1 (yes 1) needles seemed too small. Having already shelled out for both the thread yarn and the needles our TC needed some quick thinking. The cost of the Addi's was nearly what the skein of Merino Oro had cost and there was no way to justify another set of needles. Not having a size 2 circ handy she sat back and thought for a bit. She quickly realized that the first substitution wouldn't break the bank. Digging through her great-grandmothers stash of vintage knitting needles she found a pair of pale pink straights. Sadly, the tip of one was damaged, seemingly beyond repair. In a stroke of genius, our illustrious TC pulled of a miracle and fixed the tip. The pinch hitter was on track to save the day, but our TC noticed that she suffered from a flare-up of tendonitis each time she sat down to knit on the shawl. Before long, she even realized that it was the straights that were causing the problem. Grandma's straights went back into the stash and out came a size 3 bamboo circ. Aaaah, much better on the wrist. But they were much too large for the thread yarn. Hmmm, this was not going to work. After much consideration, the Merino Oro was benched. Tree Frog Alpaca in color #38 was in. As the TFA is so slippery, it will take some careful consideration to determine the proper needle for this yarn. Originally the ball band calls for a 3.5/4, so our intrepid TC has decided to try size 7 (circ), most probably a Susan Bates, but as it has been marinating in the stash for years, its lineage is uncertain, and it is slippery as heck as well. How will she fair? Stay tuned for more updates.