Monday, June 12, 2006

Shoot me now!

My Green Gable sweater is 90% complete, only missing the bottom four inches. Halleluiah! The only problem is... I've run out of yarn. AAAAAAAAAGH! I was sure I had enough since I had only used half of what I had when I made the sweater the first time. You remember that posting. My pea brain had somehow managed to read the gauge as 10 stitches per inch instead of 5 stitches and the sweater ended up incredibly small. Off to the frog pond it went.

This time around I doubled the yarn, got the perfect gauge and thought I was home free. I had already decided that I wanted longer sleeves to cover my "mature" upper arms so I made those before completing the sweater. Even without that extra length in the sleeves I would still be short enough yarn to make the sweater cover my stomach. The yarn is discontinued and unavailable from any sources that I can think of so I need to improvise.

At this point I just want to finish this thing and move on. So here's my solution. I have a fairly large supply of cotton yarns in a variety of colors, dating back to a time when hubby wanted me to mass-manufacture some dishcloths for him. That project was a bust because he kept scrubbing through them, leaving gaping holes in my beautiful handiwork. I am thinking of finding one or two colors to add some striping to the bottom of the sweater and ending with some ribbing in my original purple. Granted, horizontal stripes around my belly would not be my first choice of design. This will be like putting a neon sign on it that says, "Hey, look at me!... and while you're at it, check out my big butt. " But it sure beats the hell out of a crop top. That would be just wrong at so many levels. Both solutions invite a visit from the fashion police but my stripe idea will only get me a fine. The crop top could land me in fashion jail.

I'd love to know why this project has become such a nightmare. It somehow seemed doomed from the start. I really love the design and it really isn't a complicated pattern. Maybe someday I can try it again without wanting to tear my hair out at the roots! In the meantime, I need to get on with my life.

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