Friday, October 12, 2007

There's good news and bad news

The good news is that Rusted Root is off the needles.


The bad news is it doesn't fit. Sigh. All of that trying on, all of the sensitive alterations, all of those hopes, all of the WORK! It doesn't fit. The armholes are too big. The sleeves aren't even puffy, just huge. And in spite of the trying on and the addition of shaping, I look like a sausage in a watermelon colored casing. The only good thing is the yarn, and that it's just the right length. A quick go round with the measuring tape brought some light to the matter.

My gauge is spot on. Let's just get that out there first. I knit the size with the 40-43 inch bust range. The finished bust measurement? 36 inches. 36 inches! I mean, I like negative ease, but honestly, who with a 43" bust is going to want to knit something 36" around? I have a 42" bust, and generally I make the 39" or 40" of a pattern and things work out. So I was feeling pretty good about my size choice. I considered the fact (in retrospect) that I eliminated the lace panel, which may have added a bit to the overall measurements, but even if it had increased the circumfrence by 2", I still wouldn't have been able to wear it. Here's the thing. I ran into these same problems on Ms. Marigold, as you might recall. The size ranges did not produce a garment with anything like the measurements they lead you to expect. Size discrepancies aside, I just don't have the body for trendy knits.

Of course, let's not overlook the fact that I am also dumb for not having seen these potential problems before binding off. In my defense, this was my first finished top-down garment, so I really didn't know what to expect. Now I do.

So, moral of the story, while I really like Zephyr Style patterns, they are not for me. Also, I'm not feeling the love for Rusted Root as a garment right now. Shortly after my rant about the weather, it got quite chilly and suddenly my Dollar and a Half Cardigan is looking like just the thing. I'm going to let Rusted Root chill in my closet until maybe February or March, when I'm desperate for a spring-y knit. Then I'll rip it and completely redo the pattern to fit my body. Unless I find another use for the yarn before then...


This is an accurate color representation, by the way. I guess there's nothing for a girl to do but go onward with my Socktoberfest knitting!

1 comment:

Kara said...

Oh no! That is so disappointing. Sometimes with knitting I feel like there is that gamble. That you are putting all this time and money and energy into knitting something, but you cannot be 100% sure it is going to turn out.