Poor Planning

My hemp yarn arrived today from Lanaknits in Canada. It was mailed just last Wednesday, and I must say I am surprised it arrived so quickly. I don't quite know what I expected from the yarn. Just to look at it, I can't imagine being able to knit an entire top from the amount I purchased. Still it is very fine in diameter. Took me a while to get one skein balled, but that was my fault. I let it get mussed when I began. It does seem more difficult to ball than other yarns; might be worth the extra cost to buy the balls next time. After supper, I pulled out the size 3US needles and started to swatch. I was using Susan Bates Quicksilver and felt like it was all slipping away from me. Then I tried some size 2s; they were plastic, but a little sticky feeling. Sort of gripped the yarn better; but then I had to push it along more. I liked the feel of the 'fabric' with the size 2s, but get gauge with the 3s. Wish there was a size 2.5US/3mm! If it wasn't for the Stripes Go Round pattern being worked circularly, I'd try using one of each. What I may do is go up a pattern size and try the 2s. Will need to do a little math first I think -- my worry would be running out of yarn. Of course, silly me didn't think to check if I HAD any 3s (or 2s) in circular while I was waiting for the yarn to arrive. Guess it is just as well; I should work more on the vest. Yes, the vest is going better. It's not much like the pattern in the magazine, as I am knitting the "A" thread (Paton's Divine) *with* the "B" thread (Bernat's Boa) and then knitting the "C" thread (a rayon boucle) *with* the "D" thread (LB's Fun Fur) -- obviously making use of things in my stash instead of buying the called for yarns -- so the vest is a lot more dense than I think the model in the magazine. For the Divine, I went down to size 6 needles to get gauge. I finally got about seven inches of the back finished before I went to bed this morning. Only have to go to nine to start the armhole shaping, so that's not too bad. It will most likely be too big for my stepdaughter though and that really bothers me. I knew I should have made it just a little bit smaller!! Well, back to it... LC