If Only...

...I had seen this thread before I'd fallen in love with a gorgeous Blue Heron Chunky Rayon Chenille at my LYS yesterday ...and bought it ... and then came home and began the nightmare of knitting with it! :(

The lovely lady at my LYS suggested US size 10 needles, and a loose tension to knit the scarf that I wanted to make with this yarn. That's just what I did, after deciding on a simple stockinette as the stitch du jour on it. To make a very long and unhappy story short, I started so many times that I lost count, with the result of frogging each time. I've estimated that with the amount of scarf I had done before each frogging, I'd be about half way finished! All of the problems mentioned in the KH Forum I encountered. "Worming", uneven stitches, gaping holes where there shouldn't be any. In sheer frustration I even grabbed my trusty crochet hooks (trying several sizes), but the end result was the same as the knitted tries.

This morning it all began again, three times at around 2 or 3 inches along when it would all have to be ripped out again. I finally did something drastic. Instead of the large needles and loose tension that all suggestions leaned to, I went exactly the opposite. Using US size 4 needles (pretty strange with a chunky weight yarn, I know!), and keeping my tension on an even (and not loose) keel, much to my surprise the result is perfect! No more wormy loops sticking out all over, no holes and gaps, but instead the smooth, supple and gorgeous fabric that I'd hoped for. :D <-- happy me!

There were two occasions where there was a stitch a little looser than the rest which was easily remedied with a size D crochet hook...after a little poking around I found just where I needed to tug a tiny bit to firm up those stitches and make them perfect.

I have about 6 inches complete, and will post photos when there's a little more done to make photos worthwhile!