Things I should know by now

There are a number of things I feel that I should know by now. For instance I know that any movie involving small children or animals in peril will reduce me to a sobbing mess (just typing Free Willy, Empire of the Sun and Precious has made me mist up); any garment involving gathers makes me look like the back of a bus; and a third cocktail is always a bad idea.

But there are also things I should know by now, but for some reason I feel faintly embarrassed that I dont. Like superannuation. Surely I should have more of a handle on this by now. More importantly, and interestingly and embarrassingly, I dont know what the difference is between worsted and aran weight yarn. Ok, so one is heavier than the other, but just when I thought I had a handle on it, I discovered the intriguing third category, heavy worsted.

My lack of knowledge about worsted versus aran manifested when I cast on the Berkshire Dolman sweater. Initially I cast on in the yarn formerly known as Madelinetosh Worsted, which has been reclassified as a dk weight. After knitting one side it was apparent that the Madtosh was waaaay to lightweight. My second attempt was in Valley Yarns Berkshire, which WEBS called a heavy worsted. While the weight was right, the colour was wrrrrrrong.

Finally I cast on in Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran, and as I slaved away I had a sneaking suspicion that the aran weight was too light too. Still I was determined, and on finishing and checking the pattern specs out on Ravelry, I saw that what I had thought of as an aran weight, was listed as bulky! Arrrrrgh! Now I have a lovely warm sweater, which I suspect is going to stretch like crazy.



But my sweater has secret power. I put it on and it transformed me. Can you see the similarity?