Theoretical

This is why we can’t have nice things:
I have discovered that when you knit a sweater, you have a chance of one of three things happening.  Either the sweater is too big, too small, or….OR…you get the dyelots mixed up.

Yep. That’s exactly what happened.  You can barely see it in the photo up top, but let me assure you – it’s very noticeable when you look at it under the light in the kitchen. What we have are two sleeves of two different shades, and a body that switches dyelots in the top third.

In my defense, I did most of my knitting in a darkened room, and it wasn’t until after I went to compare the two sleeves for size that I realized that something was wrong. I also knew that I had picked up two different dyelots, so I probably could have avoided this by clearly marking which ball was which lot and then intentionally spiral striping the body and each sleeve. This was totally an oversight on my part, and so I can’t really say I’m putting the sweater into the Bad Sweater Box for a timeout.  If anything, I’m re-evaluating. I will likely have to frog the whole thing and start from scratch.

The good news is that I learned from the experience, so if I use this same yarn, I will likely label it better and stripe it. The need to stop also got me thinking about sizing. I snagged one of Robin’s old sweaters and am using it as a sizing template. Seeing as how he’s long in the torso and long in the arms, having an already-knit sweater to refer to is good. I’m thinking I may have to go up a size, but it will depend on gauge. I’m also thinking I may make an order from Knitpicks for yarn in one single dye lot (which might be a very smart move), and wait for about 3 months before restarting. Why? Well, our gym finally opens at the beginning of next week!  We have started eating healthfully again, so hopefully both of us will be dropping some pounds (the Yule season is a minefield, I tell you). Depending on the amount of pounds dropped and the amount of muscle gained, I may be dealing with totally different dimensions on the Husbeast.

So…I guess I’ll be looking for a good sock pattern to entertain myself with. Sock Knitters Anonymous has a flora/fauna theme going on, so I may just check that out…