The things we carry.

Did I ever tell you about this one?  I bought the yarn using a birthday 10% off coupon at a local store.  In 2004.  It's South West Trading Company Phoenix, and it looks and feels like a soy shoelace.  Which sounds bad, but really isn't. 

I loved the color.  Love the color.  I was a brand spanking new knitter and I bought the Rowan Summer Tweed book and fell in love with the tank pattern called Rosemary.  (At this time in my life I did not go sleeveless in public, so I am not sure how this love came to be.  Perhaps I was beginning to be tired of self consciousness?)   But Summer Tweed I did not like the look of.  And Rowan stops their sizing at about 40 inches anyway, so I knew I would be re figuring and why not redo the gauge as long as I was tinkering?  Just look at the pretty blue and brown.

I was new.  New enough that I was unclear on ease.  Somewhere I read that you should allow 2-4 inches of ease.  I chose 4, as I am a big girl and I thought it was better for something to skim, rather than hug, the curves.  I made a swatch, even.  I did not notice the way the swatch relaxed into this lovely, thin, heavy thing.  I knit.  And knit, and knit.  Each skein has 175 yards.  I used every bit of the six I had and went back for the other four on the shelf.  I knit some more.

(While I still don't like Summer Tweed, this is actually a pattern with some thoughtful detail - a clever slipped stitch edge and well thought out shaping.  I might curse the name of Rowan, but I must do so fairly.)

It went on forever.  I bought my first addi turbos to move things along.  And one weekend I sat down - this was just before the blog, and I wanted to wear it that summer - and made myself finish.  This was clearly before wrist surgery.  The thought of knitting this yarn at this gauge on that needle now makes my wrist throb a little.

I washed.  I blocked.  I sewed up the sides and one shoulder - harvesting from the swatch to do so, because I had used every last scrap of my 1750 yards of worsted yarn.  I tried it on before I finished seaming, just to see.  Then I took it off.  I folded it up.  I put it in the closet.

And there it stayed.  Like this.

There's a lot of sweater in that pile, considering it is a tank, don't you think?  The v-neck stretched to below my bra, the hem to mid thigh.  It was vast.  Like a sail.  Like a Christo installation.  A trapezoidal Christo Installation.

When a friend visited for the first time - you know how you tour the stash with wool friends, right?  - she picked up the front (I had unpicked the side seams at some point).  Looked at me.  Looked at it.  Looked at me.  What is this?

Fuckin' Rowan, I replied with some bitterness.

And we howled.  It was Rowan's fault.  Right.  When we could breathe again she asked me - not for the last time - exactly how big I thought I was anyway?

For three years it sat, mocking me silently.  This weekend I struck back.

I still love the yarn though.  Maybe a shawl?

This, by the way, is how a sweater is supposed to fit:

At long last, a picture of Matilda Jane. The auto focus and I were having a disagreement.  But I think you can see well enough.

There was some construction to balance the destruction too.  A yin/yang of creation, if you will.

I'm not binding off the sleeve until I finish the neckline, get the length just right.  It looks good.  It fits like Matilda Jane.  There may be a connection here.

This is a bulky yarn knit to a worsted gauge (not something I would ordinarily recommend, but this is an odd yarn).  I bought either 14 or 15 balls and I will have one left over.  Maybe a bit more.  This is a hip length sweater with sleeves to the middle of my hand.   Using 1200 yards +/-.  MJ used about 1350 yards of DK.
The answer to the question is "a lot bigger than I really am."  Seriously.

This made me laugh.  I groomed the stuffing out of her this weekend.  I think I went one comb too far.  Either that or I just finally took the damn yarn out of her basket. 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

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[Gina]

Very, very sexy in Matilda Jane!

[Lissa]

Oooh, pretty Matilda Jane.

I'm about to embark on my own first sweater and am also having trouble deciding what size I really am. Is not fun. Maybe the sweater will wait till next year.

[Jessica]

1750 yds. for a tank?! Were you planning on purchasing a tall ship to go with it? ;) MJ looks lovely. Interesting detail with the ribbon in the back.

[Adrienne]

I can't shake the idea of a trapezoidal Christo installation....ROTFLMAO

[Beth S.]

HA! I am absolutely going to borrow "like a Christo installation" from you the next time I knit something that is Way Too Big. ;-)

[Rose]

Thanks for sharing! That's why it took me two years to get up the nerve to start a t-shirt style sweater and two years later it's still not finished. I do lots of baby stuff (figuring it'll fit someone's baby) and hats, mittens, bags, etc., but fear the constructed garment. I thought the comment about sewing before knitting made sense too.

[Anne]

I just had a "how big am I?" moment, too. I was sewing myself a wrap dress for after yoga when I can't bear to wear clothes. I knew that sewing pattern sizes are different that off-the-rack clothes, so I carefully measured, and picked the size that matched. Turns out I could take in two inches at the bust and two inches at the waist. With knitting I usually knit too small, thinking it will stretch and wanting it fitted - I have a raglan that needs underarm gussets put in so I can lower my arms!

[Anne]

Isn't that the curse of the self-identified big girl? To make the largest size and not know what size one really is? I have a sweater like that--or had. All frogged now!

[Lee Ann]

Front shot, please. :-)

That just happens to be my favourite colour combo, red and black. Beautiful.

[cari]

Sweet, sweet Mathilda Jane. Looks great!

[julia fc]

Does that basket fit the cat the way your tank fit you, perhaps?
That's what I saw.
But maybe she was waiting for the basket to be emptied for her to take possession, it's true.

[Lizbon]

I have a theory about new knitters and sweaters, which goes something like this: when we are new, we think that knitted fabric will behave like woven fabric, and thus we figure in ease, especially if we were sewers before we became knitters.

We may read a little something about knitted ease, which may suggest to us that we might want to leave a little less ease than for a woven fabric, but we just can't wrap our heads around it. So we knit big, "to be on the safe side." And then we discover that the safe side, apparently, is a tent.

Over the years, I have knitted my sweaters progressively smaller and smaller, to the point where I pretty much want them to fit like skin, not fabric. And incidentally, judging by that photo, I would NOT describe you as a big girl.

[kmkat]

If that truly is the cat's basket, I do believe both of you have a rather inflated idea of your own size. :)

[Lise in NJ]

Matilda Jane looks gorgeous. Or you look gorgeous in it, take your pick.

[regina]

Matilda Jane looks GREAT.

[claudia]

Sexy red sweater picture.

[Stephanie]

1750 yards for a tank top. There are no words.

Denial baby, it ain't just a river in Egypt.

[Laurie]

You are brave. I have one cardigan that is so architecturally malformed, there is no saving it. I try it on for people and they bite their lip to keep from laughing out loud. Because this took a LOT of knitting. I can not find the humor in it yet. I'm crushed.

I SO can't face the deconstruction and then knitting with the accursed yarn again, I'm going to try to give the whole shebang away to someone else. Trade someone else for their tragedy-in-yarn.

[Ruth]

That last picture is priceless. She seems royally po'd.

[Catherine]

Matilda Jane looks fabulous on you! I have some of that SWT Phoenix, but haven't done anything with it yet. Thanks for the warning.

[Paula]

Matilda Jane looks great on you. And so does the not-so-new-anymore haircut. I think the new sweater will be smashing too. Well done!

[TheKnittingBee]

Oh, Matilda Jane is stunning! I've loved the pattern ever since I saw it, and have been eager to see your version (the red and black is delightful).