Do you remember this?
That is a rainbow sweater I spent….literally years on. I started over several times, and eventually had to put it in storage when we moved to Washington because it was too big to fit in the car (hey, you try moving your entire life cross country with three cats, a partner, and a Mazda 2 and see what YOU have to sacrifice).
I finally finished it…maybe 2-3 years ago?
Anyway, I’ve never been super happy with the final project. Do I love it? Yes. But it is deeply flawed, which has kept me from wearing it as much as I would like to.
So I decided to make another one.
On smaller needles.
No, I’m not crazy.
(Okay, I might be a LITTLE crazy, but the knitting has nothing to do with it.)
Let me back up. Here are the issues I have with the original:
- Gauge: For the yarn I used, this should have been knit on a US5 needle, but I upped it to a US7 thinking I would get it done faster. The end result is a sweater that stretches like crazy because the fabric isn’t strong enough to hold its own weight. Note to self: be patient. Your worst mistakes happen when you are in a rush.
- Yarn: For this sweater, I used a no longer available value pack from Knitpicks. It included 2 seins each of 7 colors of their Might Stitch yarn, intended for making an afghan. I managed to snag this kit when it was deeply discounted, getting the yarn for something like $40 (instead of $80). I’d had the idea for this sweater for years, and knew this was the only time I’d be able to afford it, so I got it. While I like the yarn itself, this sweater is HEAVY, and it’s huge. I tend to wear it more as a jacket than as a layering piece. Using 7 different colors also means there were a ton of ends to weave in, and the gauge means they don’t all stay in place.
- Arm holes: I put the arm holes into this sweater at least three times, which meant needing to rip back every time they didn’t work. The final result is wearable (obviously) but they could use another inch or two between them.
- Sleeves: Again, I got impatient and while I thought the sleeves were the right length, they are actually about three inches short of where I would like them. This is partially because of how the shoulders sit, because the sleeves are, in fact, the same length as my arm.
- Waist: Because the armholes are in slightly the wrong spot (both in realation to each other and compared to the sweater as a whole) the widest point of the sweater does not match the widest point of me, which makes it a little awkward to close. I have to lift it slightly to make it shut the way I want to.
- Closure: I intended this sweater to close with a shawl pin, but never found one I liked for it. Buttons are impractical on this shape, and at the time I didn’t want to knit a sash for it (the original sweater this is based on, a commercial sweater I had back in my retail days, had a sash closure). Now I see the wisdom in it, but there isn’t enough yarn left to make a sash and I’d rather not order more.
- Hood: This isn’t really a mistake, and more of a missed opportunity. I realized after the sweater was done that I could have made the big part of the collar at the back a hood. If I have the opportunity to add a hood to something, I will absolutely take it.
So those are the issues with the original. Next time, I’ll show you how I’ve started to correct the problems with the remake. If you don’t want to wait that long, check out the Spooky Stitches podcast, where I’ve already been updating on the progress.
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