Egentlig ved jeg udemærket, at man ikke kan stole på sin mavefornemmelse som strikker, når det kommer til garnmængder. Matematik er vejen frem, og beregningerne er faktisk en af de ting, jeg nyder ved at være designer.

Så hvorfor jeg valgte at gamble og tro, at min mavefornemmelse havde styr på garnmængderne til mit Eiri sjal i Hampshire 4-ply aner jeg ikke. Måske havde det noget med festivalstemningen på Fanø at gøre, måske var jeg overvældet af det smukke udvalg hos the little grey sheep, måske var jeg i sprintgear med for lidt søvn og for meget adrenalin (første festival med bogen, jep, det lyder rigtigt), eller måske undlod jeg bare at tænke mig om (det sker oftere, end jeg har lyst til at indrømme).

I should have known better! I very well know that gut feeling counts for very little when attemping to estimate how much yarn, one will need in a project (especially if you change yarns). Math is the only way, and it is actually one of the things I enjoy about being a designer.

So I really have no answer for why I chose to gamble and believe my gut feeling knew all about yardage and yarn amounts for my Eiri shawl in Hampshire 4-ply. It might have something to do with the festival mood on Fanø, perhaps I was overwhelmed by the gorgeous display of yarn at the little grey sheep? Perhaps I was running a multiday sprint with too little sleep and too much adrenaline (first festival with my book, yup sounds about right), or perhaps I just didn’t think (that happens more often than I care to admit).

Virkeligheden indhenter desværre ofte den håbløse optimist, og jeg er nu i den situation, at jeg ikke har garn nok af den tredje farve til de sidste 5 (!!!) pinde i den farve. SUK! Denne oplevelse gør så også, at jeg er blevet noget mistænksom på, om jeg har nok i den sidste af mine seks farver. Det vil være jævnt ærgerligt at løbe tør undervejs i kanten – og en hurtig beregning (jævnfør mine betragtninger om matematik herover) gør mig sikker i sagen.

Heldigvis er strikkere et hjælpsomt folk, og den gode Karen (der har en fantastisk fin video podcast) har lovet at bruge et par minutter af sin kostbare tid på markedspladsen på Edinburgh Yarn Festival på at lokalisere de matchende farver og købe noget med hjem til mig. Indtil da må jeg jo “nøjes” med at strikke på Eiri sjalet i g-uld garnet (det er nogle gange en velsignelse at have flere projekter i gang).

Reality has its way to knock you over the head – especially if you tend to be overly optimistic, and I am now in a situation, where I don’t have enough yarn of the third colour for the last 5 (!!!) rows in that shade. SIGH! This experience has also made me wary of my stock for the last of the six colours. I would be rather miffed at running out of yarn midway through knitting the lace edging – and a quick calculation (see the above mentioning of the powers of math) make me certain that I will run out.

Luckily knitters are a helpful bunch, and the good Karen (who has a really nice vblog) has promised to use a couple of her precious minutes at the market of Edinburg Yarn Festival to locate a match for my colours and buy something home for me. Until then, I’ll have to “make do” with knitting the Eiri shawl in g-uld yarn (sometimes it’s a blessing to have multiple projects on the go).