Or, Why Gauge Is Important
Or, How Bourbon Can Be Useful While Knitting
Remember this?
I finished a couple more repeats of the cable pattern, then got the bright idea to transfer it to a circular needle to finish it, as it was getting sort of unwieldy on the straights. As long as I had it on a circular needle, I decided to measure it.
Uh-oh.
I found a top that fits nicely, not too big, not too tight, and compared.
Well, damn. I got out my trusty gauge-measurer and found that I was off by half a stitch per inch. Now that doesn’t sound like much, does it? When you multiply that out over the width of the whole garment, this is what you get. It’s about an inch and a half too wide, which means it would be almost three inches too big around in circumference. This is just not the look I was going for with this one.
As Norma would say, ” Oh for fucksakes!”
I contemplated this a bit, then got up, got myself a little fortification, and the camera. As long as I was going to rip the whole damn thing out, I might as well document it for the blog.
Here I am waiting for the fortification to take effect:
And here we go:
And my trusty helper:
And I started over, again.
Did the drink do it’s trick?
Thank goodness for trusty helpers and bourbon! Life would be so worthless without them.
At least you have your comfy, pink Rogue to keep you company! I’m sure you’ll have better luck with this next go!
The look on your face says the fortification is kicking in. That’s pretty heart and knit rending. Isn’t it fun, what we do for the blog?
My husband lines up to help me frog, too – he’s pretty good at it. I never thought about fortification, though. I don’t suppose it could hurt for ripping!
Lorette! You made me spew! I love that look on your face, waiting for the “fortification” to kick in. It’s all like, “Okay, now…I’m waiting…” It’s priceless.
And how are you today…after the “procedure”?
I think I need some bourbon, too, just to have witnessed all that ripping. But I bet you feel better now to know you did the right thing. At least I always do.
Oh it can be so painful, but in the end you’ll be happier for it. Good sense though to take your medicine to cut down on the pain.
It’s always the incontrovertible evidence that matters most. I mean, we can pretend it’s fine until we actually make ourselves measure and… pah! Good work. And good thing you measured now and not later!
OH nooooo. So sorry. It did look really pretty. I’m sure it will look great again soon. (I’m not helping, am I?)
You done good. And I sure like your medicine. 🙂
Nothing like a little ethanol to make things better.
When I was recently out in Santa Clara for Stitches West, I was eating dinner at a local bar talking to a woman who wasn’t there for the knitting, but had noticed that a lot of knitters were taking over the local hotels. She commented that it seemed like knitters drank a lot.
I sipped my frou-frou martini and agreed.
You have the best helper! You’re so lucky!
Those damn half stitches per inch! Oh, yes, you will be happier for it. But really: for fucksake!
And what is that pattern?
Frogging is bad, but nice to have a helper.
Whoops. At least you hadn’t already had the bourbon and it caused you to think the gauge was ok.. then, you would have REALLY been in trouble.. I wish I had a patient hubby to help me frog my fark-ups. 🙂
Oops, by the looks of my name, you’d think that perhaps I’m “fortified” right now! (I’m not.)
Anyway, I can’t stop giggling over the “waiting” shot. Very funny. Sad, sad circumstance, but funny and I’m glad you caught it when you did. ; )
I just posted to my blog the other day about frogging and everyone who commented would agree you did the right thing. Frankly, if I had a shot of bourbon I wouldn’t care about gauge and would just knitknitknit, probably at a completely new, even looser gauge!
Sorry! Oh that 1/2 stitch has bitten me you know where many many times. Fortification always dulls the pain. Well, a little bit anyway.
Ah, liquor and Rogue. What more could you need to comfort you? Well maybe just a little more liquor. It was quite lovely anyway.
🙂
I’m so sorry….but there’s nothing quite like an adult beverage to take the sting out. Cheers!
My sympathies! It was so beautiful last week. Will you give this one another try or will you let it RIP for a little while? Really, I have to commend you for showing it on your blog. If it was me, I probably would have suffered in silence. Knit On!
Reading this post just made me realize why I had no problem ripping 3 in-progress sweaters at the drop of a hat…. lots of vino!!!
the next time i need to rip i think i’m going to follow your 3 point frogging plan
Oh, it hurt just to *watch* those lovely cables being ripped back. Hopfelly, the fortification helped somewhat.
I love your recipe for taking the sting out of frogging Lorette! The same half stitch got me on my last sweater except I was in complete denial until the armholes! At least your common sense kicked in in a more timely fashion!
It’s such a beautiful pattern, I can’t wait to see take 2!
Your Rogue looks great – I just started my neck detail…. hope mine ends up looking as good as yours – same color!
Awww man! Thank goodness for fortification!!
Oh honey, I SOOOO feel your pain. Just had to go visit the frogs today myself. sigh. It’ll be worth it in the end to get it right, right?
HILAROUS!…and what was the background music?
Well, if I have a drink each time I rip, I’ll be an alcoholic by now! LOL 🙂
Oh goodness, but you are a strong woman. I don’t think I would have the strength to start over again. I learned the very important gauge lesson with a Kaffe Fassett sweater when I was a teenager. It was really short, and really wide. I ended up throwing the whole thing away ….