you told me there's no need to talk it out

IMG_8018, originally uploaded by pirateygoodness.

This would be the next stage of my Owls sweater. What a disaster.

I’ve been trying to salvage the yoke, and make this into something I’d enjoy being able to wear, but it. . .has not been going well. The sweater hits me right up until the waist shaping – which I thought, at the time, was so clever, but ended up producing this weird billowy hunchback effect between my waist and my shoulders. It was super attractive.

Between that and the fact that the math on the yoke just wasn’t shaking down the way I wanted it to, I ended up spending the better part of an afternoon on Ravelry and decided to just frog the whole thing. I’m going to take the yarn (which I still love, and which is not that much worse for being knit up once before) and turn it into the Garter Yoke Cardi (Rav). Everyone will just be happier.

I am, on the one hand, a little sad that I have to let this sweater go, because I was so excited about it. On the other, it wasn’t going to be what I wanted, and I’m in love with this yarn, so I’m glad I’m grown-up enough to realize that now and not after I’d cut the steeks and destroyed my chances of using that wool for something else.

Also, this is happening. It’s a very special birthday present for someone I am 99% sure does not read this blog, so I’m allowed to mention it every now and again as I go.

Song of the Entry: Ashley Tisdale – It’s Alright, It’s OK (Listen)

famous last words

IMG_7990, originally uploaded by pirateygoodness.

So, about ten minutes after I wrote my last entry, I put my sweater onto some scrap yarn and tried it on.

Yeah.

The yoke was terrible. Too low in the back, too big all around, weird-looking, and I could tell from looking at the pattern directions that it wasn’t going to get fixed by extrapolating the proportions I’d worked out – my worsted-weight row gauge was just too small for the yoke directions to make any sense. I’m not going to lie, the sweater and I almost had to go on a break.

The pie helped.

Also, I had the bright idea of looking at other sweater patterns knit in worsted weight with garter stitch round yokes (although I did toy with just throwing my hands up and doing a raglan yoke, a la February Lady), which led me to Cobblestone.

It also led me to frogging back down to the end of the owl cable panel and starting the yoke all over, but whatever. Nobody ever died from that.

hanging in the corner with my five best friends

IMG_7979, originally uploaded by pirateygoodness.

You guyyys this sweater. It makes me so happy. I was really, really nervous about starting the yoke, because I wasn’t sure if the purple would look stupid or the math on the owls would work out funny (knitting it steeked, I had to make sure that not only was the yoke a multiple of ten, but it was a multiple of ten before the steek and a multiple of ten after the steek). But I’m, like, 90% sure it looks awesome and I’m a rockstar at knitting. For the record? 33 owls.

Naturally, because the owl pattern is 20 rows long and I am knitting at a much smaller gauge than the pattern calls for, my yoke was too short to start the decreases right away. So I added on an inch or so of garter stitch, which again – I was nervous about it looking stupid, but it works much better than I thought it would. The decreases are going to be an experiment, but we’ll see how they go. I have high hopes.

Song of the Entry: Cobra Starship feat. Leighton Meester – Good Girls Go Bad (Listen)