Appetite for Destruction
I know this isn't a very good excuse, but part of the reason I haven't had much to say lately is because my knitting is going backwards rather than forwards. And unknitting isn't nearly as much fun as new knitting.
Remember this sweater?
What you don't see in that photo is that my awkward slouchy pose is hiding the fact that the sweater is at least two or three inches too short. Nope, not the pattern's fault, even though it's over 40 years old... reader error.
Knowing that I would never comfortably wear the sweater the way it was, this is what it now looks like after two short evenings of work:
Not nearly as cute, huh?
Sadly, the major drawback of the allover-patterned sweater is that it would have been impossible to cut off the ribbing and knit downwards (which surely would have been the solution for a stockinette-bodied sweater, thus avoiding ripping out all the nice shaping and truly textbook seaming I did). So I'm back down to the armholes, ready to knit a few more inches on the front and back, repeating the armhole and neck shaping, picking up stitches for the neckband, re-blocking the pieces, and sewing the whole darn thing together again.
I just keep telling myself, over and over, "you wouldn't have worn it the way it was. You wouldn't have worn it the way it was."
I guess, too, that re-knitting something helps with the "knit from your stash" ideal. Although if I ever honestly run completely out of stash this year, I'm not going to rip something else out just to re-knit the yarn. If it ever does get to that point, screw it, I'm buying new yarn.
Thankfully, there is other joy in my life:
The Christmas Cactus is getting lots of flower buds!
And I got some beautiful new sock yarn in a swap. I love to swap!
I don't know whether to ignore the lavender sweater and finish something else, or suck it up and get it over with. Maybe I'll just go back to bed instead.
Remember this sweater?
What you don't see in that photo is that my awkward slouchy pose is hiding the fact that the sweater is at least two or three inches too short. Nope, not the pattern's fault, even though it's over 40 years old... reader error.
Knowing that I would never comfortably wear the sweater the way it was, this is what it now looks like after two short evenings of work:
Not nearly as cute, huh?
Sadly, the major drawback of the allover-patterned sweater is that it would have been impossible to cut off the ribbing and knit downwards (which surely would have been the solution for a stockinette-bodied sweater, thus avoiding ripping out all the nice shaping and truly textbook seaming I did). So I'm back down to the armholes, ready to knit a few more inches on the front and back, repeating the armhole and neck shaping, picking up stitches for the neckband, re-blocking the pieces, and sewing the whole darn thing together again.
I just keep telling myself, over and over, "you wouldn't have worn it the way it was. You wouldn't have worn it the way it was."
I guess, too, that re-knitting something helps with the "knit from your stash" ideal. Although if I ever honestly run completely out of stash this year, I'm not going to rip something else out just to re-knit the yarn. If it ever does get to that point, screw it, I'm buying new yarn.
Thankfully, there is other joy in my life:
The Christmas Cactus is getting lots of flower buds!
And I got some beautiful new sock yarn in a swap. I love to swap!
I don't know whether to ignore the lavender sweater and finish something else, or suck it up and get it over with. Maybe I'll just go back to bed instead.
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