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susiknits
Permanent Resident
USA
1060 Posts |
 Posted - 01/21/2013 : 06:20:03 AM
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No joke. I started it a couple of years ago and got stuck on the sleeves. One is not quite finished, the other unstarted and I am sick of this project. It haunts me.
This is why I loved socks, but I won't let myself start more socks - because I've got a sweater going! And this morning I was thinking about starting a hat, but remembered the sweater.
It's also caused me to vanish from this board - which I used to love.
The sweater must die. But how?
--That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
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azblueskies
Permanent Resident
2294 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2013 : 07:22:10 AM
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Turn it into a vest? Commit to 10 min a day on this project until finished and then give yourself permission to work the rest of the day on something you love. Or...(my personal favorite) rip and move on. Life is way too short to keep working on something you hate.
azblue
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So much to learn, so little time. |
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susiknits
Permanent Resident
USA
1060 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2013 : 08:02:39 AM
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I thought about the vest -- I could also do cap sleeves...
This is what I've recently leaned is "situational paralysis" -- the mule between two haystacks problem.
--That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
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Ditzy Girl
Permanent Resident
USA
4712 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2013 : 08:46:37 AM
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Last week I frogged 3 projects that had been in my
wips for some yrs and I can't tell you how much better
I feel. The yarn in 2 of the projects is very good
yarn, but I am giving that away. 2012 was a finishing yr
for me and a work out of stash and I am pleased to say
my stash is way down and I don't have that many wips left. I still have 3 or 4 to start but even some of those I will not do. Life is too short to work on things you are
no longer interested in. Just gift it as a vest or dump it, frog and use the yarn for something else if you like the yarn.
Zola, Seattle, Wash.
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ikkivan
Gabber Extraordinaire
USA
429 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2013 : 08:54:09 AM
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I second Zola's suggestion. Unless you can turn it into a vest or something similar (and FAST) that you will enjoy wearing, frog the thing, wind the yarn into balls and go on. If you love the yarn, you'll figure out something else to do with it, and if you're sick of it by now, give it away.
I was in the same boat not too long ago, torn between what I had begun and "should" finish, but finding myself hating it and putting it aside for far too long. Frogged it and a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders ... I never knew a few balls of yarn could be so heavy!
Donna, with intentions always bigger than her available time. (OkieDokieKnitter on Ravelry) |
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Kade1301
Permanent Resident
France
1426 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2013 : 09:59:47 AM
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Would you want to wear it if it was finished? Does it fit so far? If no to either question, frog.
If you would like to have this nicely fitting sweater - is there a particular problem with the sleeves? Could you avoid it? I knit my sleeves from the top down. That way I can attach them to the shoulder as often as I like without undoing a lot of work and I know that they will be the right length. But a sleeve-less vest or a short-sleeved sweater sound fine to me, too.
Happy knitting! Klara
http://www.lahottee.info |
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susiknits
Permanent Resident
USA
1060 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2013 : 10:52:30 AM
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Kade, I agree with you one hundred percent. I can imagine starting the second sleeve from the top down and stopping when I think it will look right. Then I could frog the other and repeat. Do that sound crazy?
Yes, I believed this would be an excellent item to wear. I still would like to wear it at least once!
--That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
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Grand-moogi
Seriously Hooked
Australia
773 Posts |
Posted - 01/22/2013 : 05:04:40 AM
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Lots of very sound and sane suggestions here. And I have learned a proper name for the problem I have when I get stuck on something and suddenly do not want to go any further on it. "Situational Paralysis" sounds much better than "a funk." Thanks susiknits
I knit a hug into every stitch |
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Kade1301
Permanent Resident
France
1426 Posts |
Posted - 01/22/2013 : 05:17:59 AM
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That sounds actually very reasonable! Really, absolutely anything that will get this sweater finished is perfectly reasonable!
I believe it's the yarn harlot who once, faced with some disliked finishing task, changed her attitude from: "Darn, another 2 hours to work on this shawl" to "Great, I've already done most of the work, only two more hours and I can wear this wonderful shawl!" (That's a very approximate quote from memory as I read it years ago on her blog and wouldn't know where to find it.) So tell yourself: The body is done and it looks great, only the sleeves left and then I'll have this wonderful sweater to wear! (Having just knitted a cardigan loosely based on the Susie Hoodie I can confirm that a body is very much more work than sleeves.)
Happy knitting! Klara
http://www.lahottee.info |
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Ditzy Girl
Permanent Resident
USA
4712 Posts |
Posted - 01/22/2013 : 08:45:33 AM
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I always work both sleeves at the same time and first so when I am finished with the sleeves I feel almost done and they are the same. There is something very liberating about having the sleeves done first.
Zola, Seattle, Wash.
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Kade1301
Permanent Resident
France
1426 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2013 : 06:26:39 AM
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That only works when you are confident about your measurements. I knitted one sweater with too-long sleeves, that taught me. And I haven't mastered yet the skill of knitting two items in the round at the same time and on the same needles and I find switching a time-waster.
Happy knitting! Klara
http://www.lahottee.info |
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Ditzy Girl
Permanent Resident
USA
4712 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2013 : 08:22:32 AM
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Klara, I never have had any problem with length and I don't
mind a little long you can just roll the cuff.
Zola, Seattle, Wash.
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Grand-moogi
Seriously Hooked
Australia
773 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2013 : 02:34:21 AM
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The absolute best way of course is when someone else knits the sleeves for you as happened with my last cardigan. However, it is miles too big for me as I misread the pattern. I am still deliberating whether to turn it into a jacket by lining it and putting in shoulder pads.
I knit a hug into every stitch |
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susiknits
Permanent Resident
USA
1060 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2013 : 9:08:07 PM
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(Update)
Thanks for all the positive thoughts, knitters! I finally returned to my Not-Quite-Dead project this evening and followed Kade's suggestion for a top-down sleeve. It's a lot of fun to read a pattern backwards - kind of appeals to my contrary nature.
On the down side, the little moths had found my first ball of yarn, and that required some unwinding and snipping. The whole thing is in the freezer now. Serves me right for neglecting it all summer and not putting in storage.
Thank you again!
s
--That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
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robinstephanie
Seriously Hooked
USA
873 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2013 : 11:00:29 PM
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Grand-Moogi, I can't tell you how many times I've used the term "situational paralysis" since I read it in your post above. I can just apply it in so many ways and it makes me laugh at myself. And I am cracking up at the idea of having somebody else knit the sleeves for me. (That must have been your daughter?)
Susiknits--good luck! Sounds like you are getting your brain wrapped around it now and have some new options. Hope that stimulates you into finishing the durn thang.
Robinsteph
Different is good. ~Matthew Hoover |
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susiknits
Permanent Resident
USA
1060 Posts |
Posted - 02/06/2013 : 11:55:21 AM
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Ha! The best part was checking the Vogue Knitting Book for tips about casting on. Knitting on? I remember that!
Voila, BO8 next four rows becomes CO8 and away we go!
--That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
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susiknits
Permanent Resident
USA
1060 Posts |
Posted - 02/07/2013 : 8:26:45 PM
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Update: I knitted along for a number of rows, and found another moth-y area deeper in the ball. So I pulled out my ball winder and re-wound the entire ball, and cut out and reknotted wherever there was a bitten-out area. Now it's ALL in the freezer until I'm ready to knit again tomorrow.
--That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
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the sweater that won't die
