Trouble with a Capital T

     Ya got trouble, my friend, right here, I say. Trouble in River City …
     Oh, yes, we got lots and lots of trouble … Trouble with a capital T.  
     The Music Man

I can’t get those lyrics out of my mind. Here’s why.

The photo below shows the four strips destined for my latest version of the reversible Twegen fluted rib afghan. All the strips are completed and ready to bind off. So far, so good, right?

Take a closer look. The purple strip hanging off the needle incorporates two solid shades of purple, one deep and one mid-range. While there’s more contrast than the photo indicates, the colors blend together for a subtle tweedy effect. 

The result is attractive and it could be a good thing, except for one small, naggling problem. The other strips feature a lighter two-tone confetti or speckled yarn as a counterpoint to the solid one. In the purple, the cumulative effect of two solids at the darker end of the color spectrum tilts the visual balance.

Don’t get me wrong. The purple strip could (and would) work if other options weren't available. For better or worse, however, I have one more ugly skein of confetti/speckled yarn skulking in the stash.

The speckled skein was actually part of the original color mix, but in isolation, it made a rather lovely purple look muted and dull, so I pulled it from the lineup. Now the other strips are completed, the two-toned effect reads differently and seems more appealing.

As you may recall, much of January was devoted to frogging several large, near-final WIPs that missed the mark. Perhaps that's why I'm so very, very tempted to just live with the dark purple strip as is and push onward. 

Nope. That course of action simply spells trouble with a capital T ... and lots of future frogging with a capital F. So, instead of starting to assemble the afghan, my goals have shifted: Frog the deep purple strip. Recake the yarn. Reknit the strip.

Yes, indeed, there's a reason this blog is titled Knitting | Work in Progress!