Opinions please

This is the amazing Mongolian cashmere that the wonderful Norma sent me. 

(Never mind that she was picking on me last week for all the pink I've been posting when she occasionally sends me pink yarn.)

I cast on for a simple 1x1 rib cowl last night.  I knew going in that it had to be something very simple because of the colorway.  I am not a fan of pooling or puddling and was afraid that this colorway (Berries & Cream) would do one or the other or try to do both.

No, I don't think it would spiral.  Although, it is doing a wonderful job of spiraling.

I'm not sure how I feel about this spiraling.  Part of me thinks it's fine, but that's the peasant part that can take anything.  Then there's the part of me that is screaming FROG IT NOW!  It figures that the voices in my head would be arguing.

I could restart it with smaller needles and/or change the stitch count.  Or I could live with it and start looking for a great pin to wear with it.  Or try a pattern?  I don't know.

(Mark Harmon made me cry last night on NCIS.  So all bets are all off.)

Thoughts?

Ideas?

Feelings?  Beyond the impression that I should get some professional help and leave Mark Harmon alone?

Btw, y'all do know that that best part of this blog is the comments, yes?  You do go back and read them, right?  Because I'm just a knittin' monkey.  Y'all are the real talent around here.

Oh, and that cowl is also the only thing I have in progress right now.  Shut up.

Happy Wednesday!

Comments

[Jessica]

I kind of like the spiral, but I like pooling and flashing too so I obviously have no taste. ;)

[Mandy]

Personally, I love the spiraling color. It's different, and very pretty. I don't think I've seen another yarn do that - the more I look at the picture, the more I like it! Crap, now I have to go search Ravelry for it...

[Norma]

I do not like pooling and I do not like flashing, but I do think the spiraling is awfully neat. I think it could be a very cool cowl, assuming it spirals like that all the way up. Nice!

[Joan]

I love the spiral too. But I fear that if you come to love it, the yarn will stop doing it just when you least expect it. Yarn is fickle like that, unlike your Mr. Harmon.

[Manise]

Hi! I say continue and see how it looks finished. I like the spiraling. If you hate it in the end rip it! It's not a huge time investment and who know, ya might like it! :-)

[Elizabeth L in Apex, NC]

I guess I'm the odd one out... I don't care for it. I don't know what it is, but I don't like the wide, slightly inconsistent spiral. I agree with Joan that it might turn on you without warning. (But the colors are pretty.)

And the Mark Harmon thing is fine, until you actually start stalking him. :)

[dana]

you could think of the spiral as continuous stripes.
you can't know until the end whether you like how it turns out. unlike mr harmon. with him you know at the beginning.

[Opal]

I think the spiraling is cool. I would keep it or at least knit more.

I'm closing in on 48 hours. o.o

[CindyCindy]

Oh, hell. Live dangerously. I think the spiral is cool and enough different that you know nobody else will have one like it. But if everything absolutely must be symmetrical, then frog it now. And, this opinion is worth every penny you paid.

[beverly]

I agree with Joan re: the fickleness of spirals. So sad when they flake out on me!

[La Verna]

I like spiraling.Makes me kinda dizzy.No wait,I already AM dizzy.Or is that ditzy?Either way,I like it!

[kmkat]

I like the spiraling. But will it make you look like a [pink] barber pole? Only if you twirl while wearing.

And that's enough about that.

[Carrie K]

I like the spiraling too.

Mark Harmon made me cry too. Out loud. It made Hez cuddle me. If only Hez was Mark Harmon.......

[Lucia]

I think it would swirl like raspberry ripple... yum. Seriously, I really like the spiraling so far, and I would give it at least another couple of inches to see what it will do.

[(formerly) no-blog-rachel]

Yes! Leave Mark Harmon alone. Definitely.

(so I can have him....)

I liked the spiraling until kmkat said something about a barber pole. That could be a problem.

[margene]

Spiralling is preferable over anything else and will look very cool on a cowl as it's crowded in little ripples around your neck.

[Frances]

My first thought was spiralicious! So I say go with it until it starts to pool or do something else unsightly and then see if adding a pattern in the middle would stop the horror. And optimistically, the yarn might behave itself and continue to spiral. :)
But right now - tres pretty!

[Marilyn]

I love the colors. The spiraling not so much. Will it always look like you have it on crooked? Will it continue to sprial or go off on some crazy different twistedness like a lot of stripy yarns want to do? Will it cooperate if you try to change it or will it do something new that you might not like? Gee I have no answers just more questions...lotsa help hunh?

[Janet]

A pink candy cane around your neck. If you like that kind of thing, then go for it. Otherwise, how about a mobius cowl? With some lace stitching thrown in - should break up any pooling that you have and still showcase the yarn.

[sil]

Well I like the spiraling too, but rip it out. You're unsure which means you'll always be unsure.

Try some of the slipstitch patterns in Barbara Walker's Treasuries. Or do a bubblestitch to get some 3D texture in there. That could be fun. Look up her Powder Puff Stitch, it's a 10 st repeat and easy to convert to circs.

[Kelly]

keep the spiral, I think it will look cool when its finished!

[Cathy-Cate]

I like the spiral!
But depends on what's happening next. I deliberately knit spirals in a felted bag once, and found I could keep the spiral going by watching my tension and adjusting as needed, very slightly. But that only applies if you are continuing in stockinette. Obviously, any change in pattern and the spiral will stop.

[Mary]

I don't think you are going to like it. Certainly not as much as I have lusted after Mark Harmon!

[Carrie]

I like it, myself. (And it is BERRY not PINK so I can say that. Just like how I have this lovely ROSE ST someone wonderful knit for me.)

[Cheryl S.]

I fear it may look like stripes gone crooked.

[kelly]

As a rule, I usually don't like spiraling in yarn when knit in the round (ie, like in a pi shawl). However, I think the light pinks and the small scale of the project, this specific yarn would be rather cute. Even in a hat, it might work okay.

[MicheleLB]

Just say no to the spiral. You already think it's strange, or you wouldn't have asked!

[Mona]

I like the spiraling -- it makes me think of those raspberry creamsavers (my favorites) . . . just sayin' OTOH, if there is loud internal dialog going on, then frogging is probably the best thing to do - while the emotional investment in the time spent is pretty minimal. Love the colors . . .

[claudia]

Keep knitting it for awhile more. I can't tell yet.

[Gretch]

Rip. Aside from the barber pole remark, which is remarkable in its aptness, you know for sure that if you thought you could live with spiralness, it will pool. It will pool hard and deep and why spend the psychic energy trying to defy it - show the yarn who's boss and do a slipped stitch thingy with it. You will regret the spiral.

But, do what you want.

[Sarah]

I think you need to listen to the screaming frog.

[Nora]

Well. 20 knitters. 25 opinions. Helpful, huh? Reading through the comments, Sil's stands out as a voice of reason. It doesn't matter what we think - if you have that nagging doubt, rip.

Mongolian cashmere??? Wonderful!!

xoxo

[Carole]

If the cowl is loose and kind of squooshes down then I think the spiraling will be fine.

[sophanne]

I am in favor of the spiraling- it looks so delicate and candy-caneish and it will squoosh and not be obvious.

Maybe you should watch that Ted Bundy movie with Mark Harmon. That got me over him in a hurry!

[Jean]

I might be too late but if you don't like the spiraling, try knitting from each end of the ball... alternating rounds...

[Melissa]

I like the spiral, however, if it's bothering you now, you will probably always have a slight nagging feeling about it and question whether or not you like it, so you could save yourself the pain now.

As for Mark Harmon, he could make anything better.

[Angie]

The spiral is interesting but I would have to see it on a model to say yea or nay. The yarn certainly looks pretty, though.

[Becky]

Honey, Mark Harmon does it to me, too. As for the cowl: Frog it! Do you really want a candy cane around your neck?!

[Jeanne]

I'm late to comment, and I'm sure you've already made your decision - but I like the spiral. And I love the yarn!