REDEEMING THE IMPERFECT

Fun and Fit V-Neck

You see it's like this; I was so fired up about Vogue Knitting Live that I rushed through knitting my sweater (see previous blog post), because I wanted to wear it there. I call this Fun and Fit V-Neck because I added a fitted waist and the yarn, Mountain Colors Twizzle in the color winter sky is a delightful hand-painted color mix.

When I was knitting the front, I realized I'd not started the neck when I should have for the type of V-neck I wanted, but rather than rip out and start over, I kept going. A shorter V is perfectly acceptable and it worked out. Besides, I thought, everything else would be great. I was focused on the finish line.

Well, I wasn't 100 percent happy with the finished product. Yes, it fit OK, but I really did want a deeper V-neck and, oh dear, I should have kept to my written instructions about length because it would look better a tad longer. Oh, well, I thought. It was done and I'd do better on the next one. But it nagged at me.

Then I was talking to my sister who had just ripped out a sweater she'd knit years ago so that she could make it into a different sweater. As Winnie-the-Pooh would say, "Think. Think. Think." And I did.

So I spent this past weekend ripping my new sweater apart down to the armholes--front, back, and sleeves--and knitting it back. By Sunday afternoon, I had front, back, and sleeves blocked and drying for the final seaming and finishing of the neckline. 

Fortunately I still had almost a full skein of yarn left. (I'd almost made felted slippers from it! Whew.) I used it and most of what was ripped out. At one point, I had tossed the yarn that had come from unraveling the sleeves. I still had a small ball of yarn left and was feeling pretty lucky.

Ah, but after I'd washed all the pieces, I realized I still had to knit the collar. Yikes! I retrieved the castoff sleeve yarn and washed it. It was going to be needed. Maybe.

The next day all was dry and I proceeded to sew the shoulder seam together and knit the collar. Unfortunately the night was over before I could finish sewing the sleeves in. By Wednesday I was wearing it to work. And much happier with sweater 2.0!

No knitter likes to rip out a sweater that they've just meticulously sewn together, but sometimes you just have to tear into it if you want a product that will not be a disappointment whenever you put it on--IF you wear it. You know the saying, "If at first you don't succeed ..."

ever trying,

Reah Janise