First Abandoned Project

I started this tank top at the monthly knit day at Borders, and was all excited about it for a week, until I started wearing the other one and realized I don't like the way it fits.

This is the same yarn, Caron's Jewel Box, only I thought I'd actually try to knit it to gauge this time. I'm just not keen on having no shaping around the waistline and under the ribs. I mean, I HAVE a waist, and I'd like to see it! The white version looks dumpy. The pattern is not flattering.

I took the jump. I frogged it and rewound the yarn back into a ball.


AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?:
It actually feels good to rip out and abandon something hideous. Now I can devote my time and energy to something that looks better.

DISASTER sweater.

I can't fully describe how much of a disaster this was. I thought it would be a great Christmas present for Mom, in her favorite color. She didn't even bother to take it home, but quietly suggested I just take it apart and make something else. How depressing.

METHOD:
I found the pattern on the internet, and it recommended LionBrand Chenille Thick and Quick. Royal Blue is mom's fave color. This took almost 5 skeins. LOTS of fiber. I probably should have done it on #12s, but I ended up doing it on #13s for reasons I can't remember. It ended up being too loose, and the dang chenille looks awful.

AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?:
To NEVER work in chenille again. That's pretty much it.

Tank Top: my first real garment

This turned out not too terribly horrible. I wore it to work today and everyone thought it was pretty. It's a little big. I know I didn't have the gauge right, but I'm also thinking I might have measured my body wrong. But at least it's not too small! My first garment, and it lay around the house in two pieces for two weeks before I got up the courage to actually block it. The blocking went pretty well -- I shaped it exactly how I wanted it, and it looked good, stuck with 100 pins. The only problem was the cat, who seemed to think she had to walk, literally, ALL over the pieces. I had to smooth out cat footyprints three times! Next time I'm going to stick some pins in the towel with their points up. Then maybe she'll get the message. METHOD: Made from Caron's "Jewel Box" yarn on #9 needles, I didn't actually get the gauge right, so I'm making another one in the proper gauge to see how it fits. AND WHAT DID WE LEARN? This fabric is a little too thick, but it still feels okay. I should have put some kind of band at the bottom, because it really wants to curl up. The shoulder parts curl in too, and look more narrow than they should. I think if I make another one, I'll do it in seed stitch, and see how that looks. The chenille got kind of wormy. I'm wondering if I wash it and dry it again if that will help the chenille even out. Finishing this piece, sewing it together, was a NIGHTMARE! I ended up taking out the bound-off stitches in the shoulders to graft them together, which doesn't look too bad. But the side seams are uneven, and I think I really need practice on sewing seams. Or maybe I can just pay someone else to do it! Edited to add -- I wonder if you can just thread the yarn through the edges, in mattress stitch, and then wait until the end to pull the thread tight? Hmm ... that would make everything MUCH easier.