Weird. And frustrating.
I decided to make two sweaters for two babies who were born recently, and happen to live in the same building (in different flats, with different parents). I thought it would be nice to make two different raglans, and jazz them up a bit with some embroidery – one for a girl, the other for a boy. I’ll blog about the one I did finish a bit later for the baby girl, but right now I want to vent a bit about the one that is about to retire in disgrace.
Body done, half a sleeve done, an hour’s work away from finishing up the sweater. I thought I would use some of the golden sock yarn I bought last week to embroider a Cal Bears type pattern on it. But I finally realised that what I thought was just the curl of the fabric is, after all, some serious mis-shaping, and proportion gone wrong. The front is wider than the back by nearly an inch.
WTF? I followed the exact numbers in the pattern (.pdf) all the way through. I got gauge (5 spi). I thought it would be a quick, yet interesting twist on the Reliable Raglan. Instead, it’s weirdly baggy in parts. I peered closely at the sample in the pattern and the photos of the finished projects on Ravelry, and oddly enough some of them do seem a bit loose in the front, but none of the 109 people who made this have complained about the bagginess. So maybe it’s just me, and I knit the front more loosely than the back…. I don’t know. See how one edge peers out over the other:
I hate it when such simple things turn out to be more work than they ought. Am also wishing it wasn’t a seamless raglan, requiring me to frog everything back instead of just one piece. After toying with a pattern of my own, I chose this one because it would be mindless plane knitting during my trip to Vancouver. But in the end I think I’m madder because I chose it over the Vancouver Violet sock yarn I was itching to start working on.
But you know what the weirdest thing is? This yarn really makes my allergies go crazy. It’s bizarre. I wound up a new skein last night, and sneezed like it was a contest and I wanted to win the largest-number-in-a-minute race. Having knit with wool for 30+ years, I still cannot believe that I might be allergic to it in this sneezy rather than scratchy way. Other yarns I have worked with recently have also made me congested, but not like this one. I keep looking at it suspiciously as if it’s the evil cause of the horrid allergies ever since I brought it into the house, even though that can’t really be true, can it? It can’t be casting a spell on my sinuses from within its plastic packaging in my closet.
Honestly, I could finish the sweater, block the front a bit aggressively and be done with it – like the baby’s ever going to notice, right? – but somehow I can’t bring myself to do it. And if I, usually of the If-It’s-Not-Glaringly-Visible-It’s-Not-a-Mistake philosophy feel like that, that must mean something. It’s going into the closet for a while as I contemplate a different yarn and project for this baby. And maybe start something with the Vancouver Violet. Like these lovely Maeve socks.
Maybe it is supposed to be bigger in front for the round babybelly?
I understand the need for it to be perfect but honestly, I think it looks great the way it is! And the exhausted parents will never notice. But still, I understand that, as the knitter of the uneven object, you need it to be perfect and only then can you bear to give it as a gift!
Does the yarn still have some of the lanolin in it? One of the reasons David started working with alpaca was that he had a terrible allergic reaction to raw sheep wool. Yarn & fiber that’s been well washed doesn’t cause him problems and he has no problems with products that use processed lanolin, which leads me to think that there’s either a protein in the lanolin that gets denatured in the rendering process or enough residual pollen & other environmental allergens trapped in the raw lanolin to cause the reaction.
EZ has wider backs on her baby sweaters to accommodate diapers. Perhaps you could undo up to the neck and position the opening on the other side?
dont tell me desi knitter is allergic to knitting…
weird! maybe it’s meant to be that way, to accommodate a baby shape with a big round belly? Or maybe you could at least tell the parents that
I bet with a little blocking, it won’t even be noticeable! Besides, it’s a cute sweater! I love that you used a non-traditional baby color.
Have fun with the Maeve’s when you do start them. I just finished a pair for Iron Knitter and LOVE them. Unfortunately, I did them in a friend’s size instead of my own, now I have to make another pair!
Uh-oh for sweater mishaps and wool allergies. The only consolation is that this is a little person garment and babies look cute in anything!! I hope that blocking helps since you’re too close to the finish line to rip and re-knit. You’re going to be in Vancouver???!!!
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What a lovely idea! Too bad it didn’t turn out the way you wanted.
btw, I was trying to put this line into quotes in my comment above:
“I thought it would be nice to make two different raglans, and jazz them up a bit with some embroidery – one for a girl, the other for a boy.”
I looked at the pattern. There are 5 more stitches on the F than on the B. At 5 spi, there is your extra 1″ of bagginess.
Do you think the wool was stored in a home with cats or cigarette smoke? Are there vegetable bits in the yarn, that would be a tip off it wasn’t cleaned properly. Or it could have been dyed and left outside to dry while the pollen was high.
Grace, That is insane, I didn’t even think to actually count the stitches – just assumed they would be identical! Thanks for this, it makes me feel a lot better. I might just finish it after all.
Thanks for all the sympathy and suggestions, everyone – I think after my annoyance subsides I will go with the baby-belly-accommodation argument, since it does seem to be a part of the design. I would hate for the parents to think I fudged it deliberately, but now I feel better about it.
Mel, thanks for the lanolin tip – there’s definitely something like that going on in this yarn.
Definitely a baby-belly design element. They start flat, and then grow to be quite rotund–things that are the same size around and not stretchy are really tight on my little girl, as I discovered when I tried to get on a shirt that has a ribbon band around the bottom.
Hi,
I found your website via some post you’d written on Aniket Alam’s facebook page. Really like your blog as well as your work (Discovered “Stash” in December and have been buying wool from there_.
I’ve just moved to Berkeley from Calcutta. Need some sewing advice – regarding cutting a salwar. Could we talk? If so, do email me a number I could call you at
Maureen
I think you should just finish the sweater and block it. No one else is going to notice that boo-boo. And as Preeti said, babies look cute in anything or without anything!