I Don't Know What To Say

I am so upset about a big project. I want to swear like a sailor but that's not my style, nor do I think it's really necessary in a knitting blog. I want to not finish the project and never knit again. Or until tomorrow. Which ever comes first.

I'm not posting pictures because it's just sickening to look at and I don't think pictures would really show the problem.

I wrote about my problems with knitting on my cruise. Let's back up even more. Last February, we were at my parents to celebrate my mom's birthday and the new Ontario holiday "Family Day". My mom was clearing out stuff, and found a lacey sweater her sister had made for her a long time ago--the sister I wrote about in the last post, my Auntie Pat. It didn't' fit anymore, and was rather dated looking, but Mom loved the colour and the look, so I took it and started ripping it apart, right there and then. It's a sagey, heathery green acrylic, and doesn't feel bad at all for being 20+ years old! I knew exactly what I wanted to knit. A top down raglan in lace. I picked a lace from one of my stitch dictionaries and got to it. I had a few rough starts....math problems, brain problems, etc. I wasn't happy. I purchased a download pattern from a big name Chicago designer, but it turned out to not be top down.

Then, IT was unveiled. THE must-have knit sweater/pattern of the year. I'm not going to post the name, because I don't want any snooping. But, I'm sure you're familiar with it; released in early June, based upon a popular baby sweater.....The name just happens to correspond with the name of the month of my Mom's birthday....Perfect! I got started right away. It moved along quickly, although by the fall I was worried about how much yarn I had left (that was the purpose of doing top-down). I had my Mom close her eyes and try it on at Thanksgiving. As expected, it would be too short. We decided to add a second colour. She peeked while taking it off and said she liked the pattern.

I found some more worsted weight yarn that had the same heathery feel, at Wal-Mart, but didn't get started. I figured that the mile of garter stitch would be perfect for the plane ride down to Miami....but we know how that turned out. After doing the first repeat of the pattern, I put the sleeve sts onto waste yarn to hold them for the sleeves. All I had with me was a fine cord I usually use on the knitting machine for ravel cord (it's like #10 crochet thread). Not great, but I used it anyway, and cast on for the underarm sts. And knitted away.

Knitted 14 inches away. On and on. Thought it was long enough, measure, it hadn't grown....finally, I put the body sts on waste yarn and went back to the sleeves. I was excited about being able to do both at once on one circular. The cord had pulled out of some of the sts on one sleeve, so I first tried to thread it back through before trying to get a knitting needle though. That was fine. But when I stretched it out to look/admire it, something was wrong. There appeared to be a twist in the 6 rows of the body that were on the cord. I put the body through the loop one way....then the other way...back again.....I ran my fingers along the cast on edge (which was the 'last' row of the garter st yoke that I hadn't knitted yet) and tried to straighten it out. Nothing worked. There is a twist. There is about 6 rows of 56 stitches, attached at either end to 15" of 184 sts.

Think of a tank top, but the straps have fallen off your shoulder. One of those straps has a twist in it. You could pick out those sts holding it together and untwist it. But not in this case as it's all knitted as one piece. I can't cut it, untwist it, and steek it because there aren't extra sts knitted to compensate/tack down, and it's not wool.

Here's my plan. I will twist it to get rid of the twist. I will align the twist at the back raglan 'seam' line. I will unpick the 282-16 (band sts) stitches of the cast on row (would have preferred to do a provisional cast on anyway) to reduce the bulk slightly. That leaves one garter stitch ridge and 4 pattern rows, I think, to be in this twist. I think the lumpy nature of the pattern and the heathery nature of the yarn will hide it. If not, my mother will have instructions to grow her hair. Long.

Sigh.