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When knitting makes you cry...
Jul. 5th, 2020 12:59 pmThis weekend I really wanted to get far enough on the Songe d'été top so I could fit it. After the Epic Row Gauge fail, I was reknitting it on needles 3.5 mm to match the row gauge, and knitting a smaller size because my stitch gauge would also increase.
Saturday I just needed to do the final 50 rows on the right front flap, and starting with just 30 or so stitches on the needles this was pretty fast going. Still, it wasn't enjoying much of it, mostly because it was already the second time I was knitting it. Part of my enjoyment is in figuring out a pattern and getting the Aha! moment.
For this pattern, which is kind of messy to start with, the Aha! moment was already behind me. It was now just the grind to get to the point where I could fit and start on a different set of instructions.
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anemoona was the first to mention that it didn't look much longer than what I had previously knit. And because I still had plenty of untouched skeins I had started over from a fresh skein so I could make this photo:
There was a minimal difference so far, and even stretching the knitting out as if I was blocking it rather firmly only did so much. I make plenty of clothing for myself, so I know what kind of shape and size I need even if I'm looking at a flat, half-finished garment.
And maybe the i-cord on the front lace didn't help, preventing the fabric from stretching more.
And I wondered if I even wanted to block this top EVERY time it came out of the wash.
But hey, maybe it's fine. Let's put it on....
It was not fine.
...
I admit, I had a bit of a cry over this. Reknitting something isn't so bad if it works out. But re-knitting and realising that it's not going to work and you'd have to redo everything AGAIN sucks giant dangly donkey balls.
Should have known better. I'm not an average sized human. Granted, the first was epic row gauge fail, it was my own bloody fault it did not fit. Silly me, I learned a lesson. I did better on the second try. I was almost matching row gauge -- and my stitches were even a little bit higher than the pattern suggested. Not much, just a little bit. I needed one row less for 10 centimeters, so we're not talking much. So it was actually a whole half centimeter longer than the pattern prescribed for this part of the knitting. (50 rows from shoulder seam down)
But patterns are made for average sized humans and I'm a whopping 13% taller than the average Dutch woman and 26 centimeters taller than the average French woman. I'm actually fairly decently proportioned for my length, my back is the right length for someone as freakishly tall as me. (I usually do need more length down the front to compensate for a large bust.)
Truth be told, I could probably fix the Songe d'été with an hour or two of math.
I could increase less fast, making it take longer to reach the proscribed bust circumference. That would make the v of the neck deeper, extend the lace portion quite a bit and probably look much better for someone of my proportions. I'd have to really re-work the lace V's on the front and back to make it match properly, so it means mostly reworking the entire top of the pattern to fit me properly. And since I was already going to change the bottom, I'd essentially rewrite the entire pattern for tall people, just holding on to the lace neckline band and the eyelets in a v-formation. Thank you, but no thank you.
So that was it for the Songe d'été. It's frogged. It's gone. Fuck it sideways.
And I'm not the only one that was struggling with this pattern so I'm following in Kat's footsteps and we're starting a new KAL with this yarn. We will be knitting Krokus by Lene Tøsti. Jannigje has already knitted Rosenrot from this designer and was very pleased with the pattern, so there's more faith in the designer and we have confidence that she writes a very good pattern. For starters, the pattern states four different ways to fit around the waist depending on how tight you want your finished garment to be!
And because Jannigje is a knitting MACHINE she will jump in when Kat and I are about halfway, no doubt, knitting herself a second Rosenrot.
---
In other pretty spiffy news, I made my stepdad a very happy man. Ashford is selling a 3D printed sock knitting machine, and a quick google search turned up the open source blueprints to print your own!! I e-mailed him with a very careful 'you know, only if you want to, and if you're not too busy' and my mom is praising me every chance she gets. Luc dove straight in, is tweaking his printer and trying new things and really, really enjoying the project. And I might soon be the proud owner of a sock knitting machine!
Saturday I just needed to do the final 50 rows on the right front flap, and starting with just 30 or so stitches on the needles this was pretty fast going. Still, it wasn't enjoying much of it, mostly because it was already the second time I was knitting it. Part of my enjoyment is in figuring out a pattern and getting the Aha! moment.
For this pattern, which is kind of messy to start with, the Aha! moment was already behind me. It was now just the grind to get to the point where I could fit and start on a different set of instructions.
anemoona was the first to mention that it didn't look much longer than what I had previously knit. And because I still had plenty of untouched skeins I had started over from a fresh skein so I could make this photo:There was a minimal difference so far, and even stretching the knitting out as if I was blocking it rather firmly only did so much. I make plenty of clothing for myself, so I know what kind of shape and size I need even if I'm looking at a flat, half-finished garment.
And maybe the i-cord on the front lace didn't help, preventing the fabric from stretching more.
And I wondered if I even wanted to block this top EVERY time it came out of the wash.
But hey, maybe it's fine. Let's put it on....
It was not fine.
...
I admit, I had a bit of a cry over this. Reknitting something isn't so bad if it works out. But re-knitting and realising that it's not going to work and you'd have to redo everything AGAIN sucks giant dangly donkey balls.
Should have known better. I'm not an average sized human. Granted, the first was epic row gauge fail, it was my own bloody fault it did not fit. Silly me, I learned a lesson. I did better on the second try. I was almost matching row gauge -- and my stitches were even a little bit higher than the pattern suggested. Not much, just a little bit. I needed one row less for 10 centimeters, so we're not talking much. So it was actually a whole half centimeter longer than the pattern prescribed for this part of the knitting. (50 rows from shoulder seam down)
But patterns are made for average sized humans and I'm a whopping 13% taller than the average Dutch woman and 26 centimeters taller than the average French woman. I'm actually fairly decently proportioned for my length, my back is the right length for someone as freakishly tall as me. (I usually do need more length down the front to compensate for a large bust.)
Truth be told, I could probably fix the Songe d'été with an hour or two of math.
I could increase less fast, making it take longer to reach the proscribed bust circumference. That would make the v of the neck deeper, extend the lace portion quite a bit and probably look much better for someone of my proportions. I'd have to really re-work the lace V's on the front and back to make it match properly, so it means mostly reworking the entire top of the pattern to fit me properly. And since I was already going to change the bottom, I'd essentially rewrite the entire pattern for tall people, just holding on to the lace neckline band and the eyelets in a v-formation. Thank you, but no thank you.
So that was it for the Songe d'été. It's frogged. It's gone. Fuck it sideways.
And I'm not the only one that was struggling with this pattern so I'm following in Kat's footsteps and we're starting a new KAL with this yarn. We will be knitting Krokus by Lene Tøsti. Jannigje has already knitted Rosenrot from this designer and was very pleased with the pattern, so there's more faith in the designer and we have confidence that she writes a very good pattern. For starters, the pattern states four different ways to fit around the waist depending on how tight you want your finished garment to be!
And because Jannigje is a knitting MACHINE she will jump in when Kat and I are about halfway, no doubt, knitting herself a second Rosenrot.
---
In other pretty spiffy news, I made my stepdad a very happy man. Ashford is selling a 3D printed sock knitting machine, and a quick google search turned up the open source blueprints to print your own!! I e-mailed him with a very careful 'you know, only if you want to, and if you're not too busy' and my mom is praising me every chance she gets. Luc dove straight in, is tweaking his printer and trying new things and really, really enjoying the project. And I might soon be the proud owner of a sock knitting machine!
