It’s always a bit disappointing when a project doesn’t quite turn out as planned, and the reality isn’t nearly as attractive as it was in your mind’s eye. I think it’s even more disappointing when in your mind’s eye, the stash yarn you chose matched the pattern perfectly. Sometimes it is hard to let it go — perhaps the project will magically become better in a couple more rows.

I have had Raindance queued for a little while now, and had enough yarn leftover from Matt’s Henry to make it (how I had enough yarn leftover from a scarf to make a short sleeve top is a story for another day). Originally I had envisioned it as a nice tweedy top for work but sadly, I think this pattern and yarn just were not meant to be.

Working on it at Stitch n Bitch last night, something about it seemed a little off. The more I thought about it, I realised the yarn just did not work with the pattern. The flecks in the Grignasco Tango I was using just seemed a little too bold for the top — if I used a heathered yarn, or a tweed with more subtle flecks, it would look really good. So, this is the end of this incarnation of Raindance.

Looking at the Tango knitted up, it seems to be more suited to a jumper or a cardigan rather than a tshirt-like top. So, on my decidedly knitting-free commute to work today, I wracked my brains for a different pattern to use with this yarn and I think I have the solution. Pickadilly. I might be pushing my luck, yarn wise, and I’ll have to employ my virtually non-existent crochet skills, and I’ll have to buy more yarn for the edging, but I’m feeling a lot happier about this yarn/pattern match already. Happy enough to give it a fly anyway.