Gauge Rage


Thought I'd get into the spirit of autumn and walk around Kelvingrove park taking pretty tree shots ... I was trying to re-find the things I love about Glasgow as it all seems a bit 'meh' after Japan. Various shots were ruined by the rubbish lying everywhere *sigh* so I went off to find the resident Heron at the pond ... instead I found a family of rats.


... and a fibre-stealing squirrel. I was on way to Knit n Stitch as well, so I was stacked with yarn.


In the spirit of the changing season I decided to sort out my craft room. Above is the clean bit. Then I ran out of shelf space and a trip to IKEA was needed ... and so below is what remains to be sorted. Despite appearances there is an order to the chaos.



And I got to the sleeve section of the Pinwheel Sweater - yay! Until ...



It's too [expletive] small!! I could cry. I really could. I mean I gauged the arse of this I swear! I bought 3 sets of sodding Addi circular needles ... IN THREE LENGTHS. I washed every single swatch. I was good right? I did what I supposed to?!! And I got bitten.

So I'm torn between washing and blocking what I have - just to see if it miraculously grows by 10 cms in diameter. Or frogging it and facing the fact that all my passion and love for this may wilt.

It's not the best time of the month for this to happen ... the following is the exact words the boy used when I expressed a desire to frog this quickly, like removing a plaster - before the shock wears off and I start to weep at months of wasted knitting;

"Maybe you should wait a bit? You're all hormonal at the moment and not thinking straight"

He maintains that he 'didn't mean it like that'.... He is currently residing in the dog house.

What should I do? Washing and blocking is a waste of time right? I just have to face this don't I?

Comments

  1. sienna05 October, 2007 00:41

    Oh man...does that get me worried!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous05 October, 2007 00:44

    Maybe it is just the picture, but your cardigan only looks too small in front (not across the back), so could you not just keep knitting in the round to make the front sides longer? I suppose that would change the neckline and hem too. Good luck, it really sucks when you do everything you should and it still all goes to hell.

    Lori

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous05 October, 2007 01:02

    oh my god elaine!! im crying for you :_: never left a comment before but i think ive disappeared for far too long and u seriously deserve a hug for this one *huugs*
    DONT FROG IT!! u know what'll happen if u do! i think it still can afford to have rounds added. it looks like it fits so i think it'll still look nice even if u added another 10cm or so, then u can have that "capped sleeve" look and the back will be a nice length too.
    email ya soon! - chris

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous05 October, 2007 09:39

    I with Lori - I think that if it fits over the shoulders (it looks like it does)then I would add another 10cm or so round the edge. I might mess up your beautiful colour progression though. I'll watch what happens with interest as this is on my list of things to knit.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kathleen06 October, 2007 10:58

    Strange, because it seems to fit you across the back, in length as well as width. I can see how you would want a bit more fabric on the front though. What a shame.

    ReplyDelete
  6. soCherry07 October, 2007 09:26

    It's a bit tight under the armpits and I wanted it to swamp me - to below the bum, otherwise my big hips are just accentuated, and with my narrow shoulders I'll look like a weeble - which is sad.

    I'm currently thinking of washing and blocking, then seeing whether I just need to add a couple of inches of knitting - if so I may perservere; if not ... well I'm not ready to think about that right now...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Twelfthknit08 October, 2007 15:19

    I was also wondering about the 'few more rounds' option - it looks so good, darn thing!
    India

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous08 October, 2007 16:06

    Hello,

    Just wanted to say hi and how much I’ve enjoyed reading your blog, and try to offer some encouragement!

    Is it possible to block what you’ve done so far then add some more rounds afterwards? (I’m a bit of a newbie to blocking so don’t know really what works and what doesn’t!) It really does look great and as other people have already said it seems to fit across the back really well. If you were to redo it, it could even come out too baggy across the back between the armholes anyway? Aargh – sending sympathy!

    I finally finished ‘Bolero’ from the s’n’b crochet book, by the way, which I was working on when we met, by the way. I decided to make it with long sleeves instead of short and the second sleeve was a pain. First I unwittingly crocheted it up with the wrong weight wool (duh!) then had several more goes because it still kept coming out too wide. On the fourth attempt, with copious pattern-cheating and tension-tightening, it finally came out ok!

    Hope to see you again – good luck with Pinwheel, whatever you decide to do.

    Erica

    ReplyDelete
  9. Flavaknits09 October, 2007 19:41

    Elaine, it look gorgeous - I think it will all turn out in the washing and blocking! Your "boy"s comments had me laughing - that is sooo my husbands comments to me too.

    ReplyDelete

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