Knitting Ups and Downs

I am back! Not that I was ever really away but the past week has been madness itself - family, the husband, job hunting and knitting to a deadline have all slightly got in my way and posting on my blog got somewhat moved to the back burner.

The really BAD news is that Ice is about to be sent to the frog pond. Considering that I had sewed on one of the sleeves and was looking forward to wearing it, this is somewhat upsetting. I tried it on and it's gaping under the arms and makes me look huge. I object to that.

I met with some of the Rowanettes last week and Polly and Sharon had a good look at it. And then Polly, with a sad look in her eye, told me that she reckoned that I would need to rip to below the armholes at least if I wanted to get the sleeve to fit in the arm hole. Seeing as it is also too big in the body, I reckon I may as well frog the lot, after all, what's the point in having a sweater that I won't wear?

I think that I have mentioned before that all of this has come about due to my bad tension. I did knit a tension square, I promise! I still have it and it is perfect. But somehow the sweater has not come out to that gauge. I may have got the needle size wrong, I may have relaxed whilst knitting, I may just be a diptstick. Ah well. I am determined not to give up on knitting - after all what would I do with the stash? - so I am putting this down to that learning curve.

Funnily enough I am currently reading Knitting in Plain English by Maggie Righetti where she suggests that you should check your gauge every couple of inches just to be on the safe side. I think that for the time being I will do just that until I am over the knitting rut that has been plaguing me for the last couple of months.

On the progress front (I am determined not to be put off) remember Flighty that I cast on some time in August? Well I am determined to be able to wear her this summer seeing as I failed to finish her last summer...

So I have just cast the first panel for the back and I am hoping to motor my way to the top very very quickly :)






Having already knitted one of these, I know that it's a fast knit despite the 4ply cotton. I really like the detail of the pattern and I am enjoying knitting it, it's non-thinking knitting but with a little interesting detail which stops me from getting bored.






The only downside of it is the straps. They are fiddly and they roll so I am wondering if I should change the way they are done. On the other hand, the weight of wearing them just might straighten them out.

Posted by Amelia at January 22, 2005 09:27 AM | TrackBack