New year, new sweater…

After all the drama surrounding my 5 CustomFit swatches that didn’t lead to knitting a CustomFit sweater, I fell back to a pattern that has been in my queue for a while: Twigs and Willows by Alana Dakos (this is HER photo below):

I was on the lookout for yarn for this sweater at MDSW in May. I bought the blue yarn from Bartlettyarns, thinking I could sub it in. But after making two swatches from that yarn, it seemed clear that it was just too bulky for this pattern. So for my birthday in October, I asked for enough Brooklyn Tweed SHELTER to make the sweater. SHELTER is the yarn specified in the pattern. And I got it (thanks, S1!). This is the color called Button Jar, a medium green with flecks of yellow, blue, and red in it. (Those of you with exceptional memories may remember that I knit a cowl out of Brooklyn Tweed LOFT in this same colorway.)

Dutifully, I swatched. I started with a US 7 as the pattern suggests. My gauge was too big. I went down to a US 5. Still too big. Hmmm. The smallest size is a 35; the next one up is 38.5. I wanted to get something close to the 38.5 (maybe a bit smaller). What if I could knit the instructions for 35 to get a sweater that was a big bigger? I did math. But according to my math, my sweater would STILL be too big.

I was pretty frustrated by this time. I looked carefully at the pattern and decided it would not be easy to modify, at least not in the front where the leaf motif is. In a small knitterly fit, I picked up size US 4 needles and just cast on for the smallest size. This is the back. Not a great photo, but proof that I just forged ahead (color is much better in the above photos – I have already lost the light for this weekend so this is what you get for an indoor shot):I know. This goes against all my knit-to-fit training. But I was irritated that I’ve been having so much trouble getting a sweater to fit and weary of (over)thinking about it. I don’t know if this will fit or not. I’m done with the back and am nearly halfway up the left side. Time will tell. But I’m knitting on.

In other belated birthday yarn news, I found this gorgeous skein of yarn in my home mailbox:Lisa left it for me when in town for her son’s birthday (we share a birthday!) and Family Weekend on campus. Here is the funny part. Usually she leaves stuff at the library if I’m not there. This weekend, she was driving to campus and thought she recognized my house because of the front door. (Well, it IS a distinctive color.) She stopped and left it in my home mailbox. And she was right – it was my house! This skein is so perfectly autumnal. It is Corriedale sock yarn. I will think long and hard before picking an appropriate pattern. Thanks, Lisa!