Socks much larger

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!

Magnum Opus

I was listening to the pod-cast Cast-on the other day. She was talking about having a "magnum opus." What big thing have you done with knitting? Have you taken on a project that is just HUGE? Success or failure doesn't matter. It's just the attempt at something large.

I worry that the idea of a magnum opus is self defeating. Once you've done it, then what?

I think we should live a magnum opus life. We should continue to pick up the next big thing followed by the next big thing.

When I started knitting, I decided that I would really learn it. I wouldn't just be satisfied with being able to knit "squares." (That's always been my joke about crochet -- I can crochet squares, but nothing else.).

As I progressed with the knitting, I learned increasing and decreasing. I moved away from scarves to a sock and then to gloves and then to an actual garmet -- a vest for the Knitting Olympics.

Now I'm working on a sweater. I've never knit a sweater before, but it's the next BIG thing.

Image: Winter for Project Spectrum.