Posted on 9 Comments

My huge sweater

I am not having a whole lot of luck in the selfish knitting department. First there was Lady Kina, which came out somewhat on the gigantic side. I’m frogging it as soon as Icome up with a new use for that yarn.

Then there were the three sweaters I started in one week, all of them with enough problems that they were each unraveled by row 50.

My Everyday Cardigan (Cap Sleeve Variation)

And now there’s this. My new Everyday Cardigan. I made it with cap sleeves, and intended to wear it over a tissue tee or one of my ubiquitous home sewn peasant shirts. The plan was for it to be more body-skimming than my long sleeve version. I even added waist shaping to it.

And yet…

My Everyday Cardigan (Cap Sleeve Variation)

I’ve got about eight inches of ease in this sucker. That’s eight inches more than I wanted. Ugh.

I really really thought I had checked my gauge before I started, but how is that possible given these results? Perhaps I measured incorrectly. My gauge was a full stitch per inch less than I thought it was! 4 sts instead of 5 sts. And that translates into a much wider silhouette than planned.

There are things I love about this sweater.

My Everyday Cardigan (Cap Sleeve Variation) My Everyday Cardigan (Cap Sleeve Variation)

For one thing, I still really find this yoke design quite attractive. Front and back.

For another thing, the yarn is lovely! The variegated neutral color really appeals to me. And the yarn itself is so soft and super squishy.

That last point, though, as much as I like the way it feels, contributes quite a bit to the stretchiness of the sweater. It’s already huge on me. I don’t need it to stretch out even further.

My Everyday Cardigan (Cap Sleeve Variation) My Everyday Cardigan (Cap Sleeve Variation) My Everyday Cardigan (Cap Sleeve Variation)

I haven’t decided yet what I’m going to do with it. I have tried wearing it several different ways (as you can see) and most of them make me look about 20 lbs heavier than I am. I’m barely willing to own my actual weight, so I’m really not excited about artificially inflating it.

The good news is that I knit this up in record time, and if I do decided to unravel it I’m only looking at a week wasted. I can justify it even further by pointing out that I really enjoyed the knitting experience (which is not always the case) and so it could hardly be called “wasted” time.

I’m not going to make any decisions about this right away. I may feel differently about it when cooler weather comes. Right now, in the middle of August, it was kind of an awful photo shoot. Long sleeves, long pants, and a wool sweater in the summer? Ugh. Not fun.

In the meantime, I’ve decided to scratch the sweater-knitting itch by doing someone else’s pattern for a while. I sometimes get caught up in tweaking my own design, and I forget how much I can learn by knitting something completely new.

2015 222/365

So I cast-on Tin Can Knits’ Caribou, and I am really liking it so far. It’s got an unusual yoke construction that is just enough of a challenge to keep me enthused, but not so much of a challenge that I am overwhelmed by it. I’m knitting it in a pretty yarn that is usually over my budget, but I was able to grab thanks to a generous gift certificate from my in-laws (from Christmas 2 years ago – it took me a while to choose something!)

I have high hopes for this new one. I’m hoping to break my unlucky streak. After that, maybe I’ll be ready to unravel the super wide cap-sleeve Everyday Cardigan and try again for a more reasonable fit!

(Somewhere in there I need to figure out what is up with my gauge – lately I knit much more loosely than I used to!)

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Posted on 9 Comments

9 thoughts on “My huge sweater

  1. Lisa, I love your new cardigan design, especially the short sleeve pattern! Last year I decided I was going to knit myself a sweater in similar wool as you have here. And foolishly fell in love with a batch of wool, plus extra for scarf etc and then started on a search for a pattern. Lol more then a year later I’m still looking lol that is untill I opened my email and saw your great design! I love love love it! Just wanted you to know and to say thank you for the design. 🙂

    Kind regards

    Pauline.

    1. Hi, Pauline, I’m so glad you like it! Thanks for taking the time to drop in and tell me so. I understand foolishly falling in love with a batch of wool 🙂 Happy knitting!

  2. Hey, Lisa! I have a great idea for your new evertday cardigan that doesn’t fit you too well…sell it to me! I think it would work on me. Would you consider that? I’ll pay you for postage and whatever you think is a fair price for the sweater. I can do it through PayPal if that works. Just let me know. Email me with the price and your PayPal address, and I’ll send you my address if you agree. Don’t feel obligated. I’d love to have a sweater you made though, and I have a feeling I’m going to need LOTS of sweaters this winter! ♥

    1. I have to say, I kind of like that idea. Let me mull it over for a few days. My only hesitation is that I really like the yarn and they’re not making it anymore. I have to decide if I am ok with that 🙂

  3. Ahh, sorry! 🙁 I hate it when something doesn’t look the way I picture it to…it is very pretty though! You mentioned before that you were working out more. Maybe you lost some inches since you last made the pattern? If so, then that’s a good thing!

    1. Oh, if only! 🙂 No, I’m the same size. I measured the sweater. It really is several inches wider than my usual knits.

  4. I’m having the same problem with a project I’m currently working on. I decide to make Pam Allen’s Tong Pond Tank (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/togue-pond) and it’s much larger than the size I was trying to make. I did a gauge swatch, but as a newbie I flubbed a bit. I knit the swatch flat in stockinette, but the sweater is constructed in the round. Apparently those purl rows really tighten my work. I’ve decided to keep going and finish the tank. Maybe I’ll frog it down the road, or give it away, but for now it’s teaching me a lot and I really enjoy Pam’s pattern. (Which I plan on trying again with smaller needles.)

    1. I like that pattern! I hadn’t seen it before. I always feel like I would overheat in a knit tank, but I have to admit I find that one tempting. (like I need another project on the needles!!)

      Yeah, I’m a terrible swatcher. I haven’t swatched in the round for my current project, but I’d better do so before I begin the sleeves.

      Good luck with your tank!

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