November 25, 2012

A vexing predicament

 
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Ours was good, all things considered.  Since this is our first holiday season without Tech Guy, we decided it would be wise to change things up a bit, so we went out for Thanksgiving dinner.  We found a nice restaurant with some New England charm.  It's possible the pilgrims may have eaten there....We asked Big City Girl to order the wine.  Seems like only yesterday we were putting her in a high chair.

So....big surprise.... I've decided I like going out for Thanksgiving dinner.  No frantic food shopping, no long hours of cooking, no annoying clean-up, no pressure to make soup afterwards, no nothing!  I sat in my recliner and knitted instead.  Which brings me to the vexing predicament. 

Back in 2008 I started knitting a red cardigan sweater that at some point in the process became known as The Red Pest.  It just wasn't cooperating.  When I began the blocking process I saw that it was too big.  Not only that but the left and right sides were not matching up. So I did the only thing a reasonable knitter would do.  I ripped the whole thing out.  And then I stood over a hot stove (remember how not fond of this I am?) and steamed all the pesky bumps out of the yarn.

Now it's 2012 and I decided to begin another red sweater with a pattern that seemed fool-proof.  It's knitted in the round from the neck down which is especially nice because there's no assembling required when the knitting is done.  Also, it can be tried on along the way.  So I began knitting and donning and knitting and donning and was quite pleased with how well it was coming together.  Then I started the first sleeve (also knitted in the round) and was making good progress when suddenly it started to taunt me.  It was as if it was speaking to me. "Let's see how she feels when she realizes one of us will fit around both of her arms?" it chortled.  

So now the 2008 Red Pest has morphed into the 2012 Red Beast.  Again I'm faced with that "What's a reasonable knitter to do?" question.  I guess I'll rip the damn thing out and throw the yarn in the back closet.  Then I'll buy me some expensive chocolate.  I don't think there's any point to revisiting this issue until at least 2016.

1 comment:

Kathy W said...

Just speaking with my neighbor this afternoon about this very type of knitted sweater and how she and her granddaughter knit and then find out it won't fit then unravel and restart. LOL. Such is the life of a knitter. No crowds at Thanksgiving restaurant? That is the only thing I don't like about the idea of having the turkey out.