The Shawl Dilemma ....

The Plastic Kitten with no name contemplates my crochet dilemma!

Okay, so I have had the Viceroy Butterfly Shawl in my Ravelry.com Queue for almost a year and a half, and I haven't been courageous enough to start it till now.

 

I decided that since it seems like every other day I have completely forgotten how to knit (on bad days I can't seem to figure out and remember why my stitches are either twisted or sloppy) I've decided that I'm going to make small projects for my knitting, and stick with crochet to accomplish some crafting goals this year.  This includes my Holiday Party Shawl.

I've had some Beautiful Yarn from Blue Heron Yarns in my stash, that looks just like a Butterfly, and thought it would be great.  The yarn is an Egyptian Mercerized Cotton, and it rated as a Lace Yarn.


Unfortunately, the pattern calls for a Size 10 Cotton Thread Yarn.  And Blue Heron's doesn't have the same measurement.

I figured that it would end up a little larger, even though I'm still using a size 2.00 mm (size 4) Crochet Hook.

Well, this is what I've got so far.



Yes, it's very pretty, I think, but I'm afraid it will be too big.

So I'm not sure what to do now, and I'm about to cry!

I started looking at #10 Crochet Threads, and they are tiny.  I made a swatch using some Red J and  P Royale Crochet Thread, and the swatch speaks for itself:



Right next to the Blue Heron, the size comparison kinda shows me that the gauge is a little off..

So I've been looking online.

GossamerWeb has beautiful Silk yarn, her AK-47 Silk Lace is the perfect color, but I've tried gauging with it, and I'm having a hard time getting it to work.

Yarntopia Treasures has #10-2 Tencel, which I think will work, but I'm worried about ordering a custom dye job and not being happy with the results.

I have some recycled cashmere yarn purchased from Mish-Mash Yarns, which is super soft, and will be super warm, plus I can dye it myself!  The only problem, it's been a pain to work with, very fragile, and I'm not sure I'll have enough.  The only plus?  It is working up to wonderfully match the gauge called for in the pattern!



I totally don't know what to do, and I'm starting to Craft - Panic!



To make things worse, the crochet hook you see in the picture?  Yeah, I went down to a size 1.9mm Hook, which is an odd size apparently, and.....I seem to have misplaced it.  I think it may have fell out of my project bag at the doctor's office.

I'm not sure what to do, but I just know I've only got a couple of months to do it!  Help!