I have decided that it’s Friday. Have you?
Here’s what I’ve been
Listening to (If I could only listen to one artist for the rest of my life, it would be Tom Waits. No question.)
Watching
and
Yay.
This picture has nothing to do with anything, except that kitties are nice.
So I’m wearing my Hourglass pullover today. Yes, to work (Jennifer–I swear I’m putting on a lab coat every time I walk into the lab, even though it makes me feel pretentious). I’m going to the Nutcracker later with the blub and his parents. One must look presentable at the ballet, you know. Anyway, I’m really starting to think I should frog this sweater. It started out too tight, but now it has relaxed into too short. It also squishes my boobs down like a sports bra, while showing my tummy just a little. I always wear a shirt underneath so there’s no belly button peepage, but still.
Don’t. Like. It.
So, there is a decision to be made. Should I
a) frog it and rekint using the same yarn;
b) leave this one, but knit another in a different yarn;
c) frog this one, and reknit in another yarn (and use this yarn for something else);
d) forget the whole thing, and just wear this one occasionally and be pissy.
Before you chime in with your opinion, there are a few things you should know:
a) I knit this sweater out of Noro Cash Iroha. I don’t have any more of this, excepting one partial ball, because I gave away my extra skein in my blog contest. I would most likely need more than that, and could probably not find one in the same dyelot.
b) I’m going to be getting a bag of Shibui sock yarn in Mulberry sometime after Xmas*, which knits up to a worsted gauge held double. If I used it to make another Hourglass, it would look very similar to the first in color (but not with the pretty tonal variegation that Shibui yarn has). OR I could get a different color. I’ve been kind of eyeing the peacock-y blue. I know I look good in burgundy-purple shades. I’m not so sure about greenish-blues. I was originally thinking about knitting another Wicked out of it, but making the long-sleeved cardigan version (although I just saw this one today, and I’m digging it, too). But do I really want to knit the same sweater twice? Well, I *did* really enjoy it the first time. And this one would be different. I must admit that I liked knitting Wicked better than the HGP, but that might have been a yarn issue.
c) This sweater *is* really pretty. But I just get so peeved every time I wear it! I could be so much better, dammit! Grr! But it WAS my first sweater ever, so maybe I should cut myself a little slack.
d) is completely unrelated–do I use too many commas?
Arrugh! I’m normally so frickin decisive, but that trait is somehow escaping me here.
Help me, O Blog Readers! You’re my only hope.
*I know it’s a lot of money for a sweater, but I’m getting a tremendous deal on the yarn. I’m sorry, but I can’t share it. I really wish I could.
the chemgrrl chronicles 
12 comments
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November 30, 2007 at 12:08 pm
sunni
first of all, there is no such thing as too many commas. commas rock.
secondly, i would like to draw your attention to what you said about the first HGP experience:
I liked the pattern, but not necessarily knitting it (more on that below). It is beautiful in its simplicity, and showcases this yarn very nicely. But, if I had to do it over again, I would use a different yarn.
so…since you DO get to do it over again….i would vote for different yarn and doing whatever you need to do to spare yourself the finger callous you lamented last time. as for what to do with the existing sweater…i vote that you give it to ME. :)
November 30, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Dave
I think your commas are perfect. :-)
November 30, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Macoco
Commas are a wonderful thing.
Frog it – because your description of what it’s doing sounds awful and you now have a really negative association with this sweater. So since you’re probably always going to feel that way – frog it and reknit with a different yarn. The new yarn will make it feel like a new project, right? Good luck!
November 30, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Jennifer
If you feel uncomfortable when you wear it, and it makes you grumpy, I say send it to the frog pond and make something else (in a looser gauge!) with it. I just frogged a sweater the other day because the gauge was awful…
November 30, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Rachel
Oh no! I would offer to send you that skein back but I JUST knit it up into a little clutch thingy! I have 1.5 skeins of cash iroha leftover from my hourglass sweater in dark inky blue, would you like those instead? What if you just unravelled from the bottom and knit down with another color, like red? I think that would be cute. You could add colored bands to the sleeves to make it a little more matchy if you wanted. Or you could check on Ravelry and KB if anyone has more of that same dyelot. I always hate to see a whole sweaters’ knitting wasted, if there’s any way to salvage it! On the other hand, if you really don’t like wearing it and won’t no matter what, better to make the yarn into something you would like to wear.
November 30, 2007 at 5:01 pm
JennyO
Frog it and do it in a yarn you love. No doubt about it.
November 30, 2007 at 7:13 pm
weezalana
I’m all for pretty, but in my book, comfort is king. If it doesn’t feel good on, it’s got to go. It’s just a matter of where.
I think the important factor here is the yarn – will it hold up well to frogging? If so, would you *really*knit something else with it, or would it sit in your stash until the end of days?
If it won’t frog well or will end up a stash ghost, you could try and swap it to someone (say, to sunni?) as I did with my Monkey Hooters. That worked out great on both ends! Or maybe you could gift it to someone for Christmas. That gives you free reign to buy more yarn to knit another. heeheeheehee.
December 1, 2007 at 11:44 am
susubee
will you miss the sweater when it’s gone? or will you do a happy dance at not feeling obligated to wear something that makes you grumpy? is there someone who would absolutely love to have it and treasure it forever just as it is? do you repeatedly have happy dreams about gleefully ripping every single stitch into oblivion?
it all comes down to how you’ll feel once it’s all over – frogging can be liberating!
P.S. Commas are your friend; semi-colons are even better!
December 1, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Batty
The more commas, the better. I love and adore Cicero’s style, and his sentences, when you really look at them, can go on for more than a paragraph. At least in Latin they can, and there’s nothing wrong with htat.
About the Hourglass Sweater. If you really don’t like the way it fits, your best bet may in fact be a total frog fest. Perhaps this yarn wants to be liberated and turned into something else.
December 2, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Jennifer
I would frog it and then make it in another yarn. It doesn’t sound like you will have enough to make it in the Cash Iroha. If it’s bugging you, you will just end up hating the sweater and we just can’t have that. But, I would also make sure that it is going to come apart easily, since it has been washed, worn, etc. Trust me, frogging a sweater is better than hating it.
December 3, 2007 at 10:25 am
erica
My 9th grade English teacher once declared me “Comma Happy”… It sounded like a compliment so I shrugged it off and smiled…until I got my first paper back. Doh!
I would frog it and reknit that sweater. You can adjust it to fit you better!
FYI: I knit this sweater also, planned it out perfectly even added length to the sleeves for my alien-like long arms. And I screwed up the raglan decreases at the end and had to rip the entire thing out. It was worth it because I know I’ll rock that sweater if I get up the guts to ever make it again.
December 3, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Lien
Dude, I have frogged half the sweaters I’ve ever knit.
I actually have an Hourglass Sweater that’s slightly too loose on me; I’m contemplating whether I should just frog it, as well. I’ve worn it half a dozen times.
(By the way, I never wear a lab coat; I’m convinced it makes me more dangerous in lab.)