As crazy as it may sound, I'm still working on the same sweater I unravelled for the third time almost three months ago (here and here). And even crazier is the number times I've unravelled, made adjustments, and started all over again since then. I'm not sure what went wrong, exactly, but this sweater kept threatening to become a wool giant, an enormous garment that would fit all three of my children together. Which wasn't my plan at all.
My first attempt was a clever (I thought) escamotage (French always sound better when trying to make a confused point): I used a bigger hook size than required, to make the yarn feel as soft and fluffy as possible, and compensated by making a smaller pattern - a size 4 sweater for my 6 year old girl. I was so sure that my math was right that I was two thirds of the way done before I realized that I was making something colossal. Oh, dear.
The next several attempts were all along the same lines: bigger hook than called for and a smaller size pattern than needed (each time I went one hook size down), and fewer decreases here and there. Which just proves how wrong I sometimes like to be.
At some point during the holidays, I realized that the yarn was going to felt on me, if I continued this guessing-and-unravelling game. Was it an unfixable problem? Could I ever find the right gauge? Should I just give up on this project?
On New Year's Eve, I unravelled for the last time, and made a resolution: I'd start afresh, using a smaller hook size than required in the pattern, and making (again) size 4. I've now been working on this for the last 10 days, putting behind me all the failed 2012 attempts - all good learning experiences, I tell myself - and crocheting ahead, hoping that the New Year and its fresh constellations will have a positive effect on my 2013 stitching.
