Project Halted and Project Started

I've finally thrown in the towel. I knitted and knitted and worked and worked, and kept ignoring the ginormous size of my Daily Sweater. I kept trying to convince myself that it would be OK -- that maybe I would wear it at home on a chilly night, and it would be comfy. Yesterday, as I knit in the car on the way to dinner, working on first sleeve, I gave in to my frustration and held the sweater up for Steve to see. We laughed. It's huge. I measured, and the body of the sweater is 10 inches wider than I planned. I checked my gauge, and it's something like 17 stitches to inch, when it should be 21.

Don't tell me that I should have knit a gauge swatch. I did. I knit it in the round, since the sweater is knit in the round. I knit it with the yarn I'm using and the needles I'm using. I even washed it and remeasured. I actually even knit THREE gauge swatches. I had gauge. Now I don't.

I'm frustrated, but I'm not continuing this frustration. I'm stopping. The sweater is going to the stash box to either wait until I'm willing to rip it out and start again (egh) or just get rid of it. I knit for the joy of it. I am not finding the joy in this huge sweater.

So last night, we wound my Socks that Rock yarn -- Fire on the Mountain colorway. It's pretty! I'm knitting Jaywalker socks. I've gone up a size, and will consider the first few inches to be my gauge swatch. If it works, I'll keep knitting. If not, I'll start again. So far though, it's pretty.

I never knew my sandpiper had such sad eyes. He's thinking about that Daily Sweater!