Follow these instructions carefully to make your own handknit 3-man tent:1. Dive into your yarn stash, searching for just the right yarn for your yet-to-be-chosen pattern.
2. Come up with 13 skeins of luscious chocolate brown Jo Sharp Classic DK wool.
3. Check the total yardage and determine you have enough yarn to make a sweater for yourself.
4. Browse your sweater knitting patterns and discover all of them are for worsted weight, not DK weight, yarn.
25. Weep.
5. Visit http://www.ravelry.com, type in "Jo Sharp Classic DK wool," click on "projects," and look to see what others have made with this yarn.
6. Spot a beautiful v-neck pullover sweater with an interesting cable design mid-chest.
7. Know for sure this is the project you've been yearning for.
8. Knit a swatch to check your gauge.
9. Assure yourself your gauge is, indeed, correct using the recommended size 7 needles.
10. Cast on and start knitting.
11. Enjoy the texture of this yarn as you knit in-the-round, starting from the bottom of the sweater and working upward.
12. Knit.
13. Knit.
14. Knit.
15. Knit.
16. Knit some more.
17. After seven or eight days (and many hours) of knitting, grow a little suspicious. Why is it taking so darned long to knit one round on this size medium sweater?
18. Continue knitting.
19. Entertain more suspicions.
20. Dismiss your suspicions and forge ahead.
21. Realize you've now knit approximately 8" of the bottom of the sweater.
22. Place your tape measure around the bottom edge, expecting to see that it measures precisely 42".
23. See, instead, that it measures way, way beyond 42".
24. Know, finally, you've been knitting a 3-man tent, not a ladies' size M pullover.
25. Weep.26. Weep some more.
27. Start raveling.
I loved this post. To think that you did everything right-- gauge, needles, yarn type and weight--and it didn't work, warms my heart. Certainly not because it didn't work for you, but because if you can have a problem, there is still a modicum of hope for me.
ReplyDeleteOh my heavens Aunt Jean, I am so sorry but I can't stop laughing!! I mean, I can't stop crying in deep sympathy for you!! You hung in there a heck of a lot longer than I would have, heck I would never even attempted the sweater! Ohhh, I know what would look gorgeous in chocolate brown (medium size)....Or maybe a winter coat for Molly!
ReplyDeleteOh my! Oh my! I could empathize with your frustration but I couldn't help the giggle that escaped also.
ReplyDeletehow funny I thought you were really knitting a tent. lol!
ReplyDelete