I have refrained from purchasing anything what so ever from my LYS because “I have a shawl to knit.” I have to say this out load whenever I pick up some soft, tasty looking yarn in the store… like that alpaca/silk slightly thick and thin that would make a nice shawl for myself… or a throw…. um, yeah. But, on Saturday, I could not let pass up getting some Bouton D’or Ksar in black… 15 balls, in fact… at half off cause the shop owner was sick and tired of looking at dangling ends (the balls fall apart really easily). So, $180 of gorgeous 50% wool, 50% camel yarn became mine for $90 (I’m very proud of myself if you can’t tell). I found myself casting on a swatch at around midnight… have to see how it knits up, right? Once I had a swatch I found myself wondering what I could knit with it… 15 balls should be enough for a sweater… although black isn’t exactly the best color for me… makes me look more than a bit pale. I could, however, knit a sweater for my husband, who does look good in black.

Due to some confusion on the yarn tag… it says the gauge is 17 sts/4 inches on US size 10.5 or 5 mm… I swatched with both my size 10s and my size 8s. For both I got 4 sts to the inch with the fabric created on the 8s a bit tighter… I thought the 10s made it too holey looking.

I am now about 4 inches into Le Bete Noir (as it had been christened)… and am wondering if I am still knitting at the gauge I swatched at. If I just measure the guage as the kntting sits on the needles I get 5 sts/inch, which would make this 5 inches shorter in width than it should be. If I try to make the knitting looking like it might when not bunched up on knitting needles I get 4 sts/in… 4.5 sts/in.

Le Bete Noir is beginning to look like a very appropriate name…