Two Flops and a Win

A frogged sweater, the end of acrylic yarn, and a darling kerchief that you must try yourself

Let’s just dig right in, shall we?

Two flops.

This sweater turned out to be a flop. The first one in a couple years, I humbly admit. Still it felt like a sucker punch.

Turtleneck Batwing, pattern here, my Ravelry notes here

I loved the photos of it. Such a modern yet timeless look. The finished projects gallery looked promising. So, I dove in and labored hard.

From the very start I had issues with the pattern. The pattern could use some tech editing, mostly for clarity and intuitiveness. But still, I sullied on. This sweater looked so cute on the model, and gosh, it was going to look so cute on me too—wasn’t it?

After a few weeks of rabid knitting I was ready to begin the bottom ribbing. At this point I paused and tried it on to check the torso length, to make sure it was the right length.

To my utter dismay, it looked and felt like a sack on me. The sweater wasn’t a cute slouchy look. Instead, it looked and felt more of the “I slipped on a trash bag to keep myself dry in the rain” variety of baggy. [Note: forgive me for my very spotty mirror and work-in-progress bathroom—real life is lifey!]

Perhaps the deep waist ribbing would have helped. And yet, I don’t feel convinced it would have transformed the sweater from baggy to chic. The waist ribbing, mind you, was 7 inches of twisted cable ribbing. My heart had no vim and vigor to knit that much ribbing only to have to still frog the whole thing if and when the ribbing failed to rescue the sweater.

I did learn a couple of things from this all.

1. I finally realize that the batwing/dolman shape I so dearly love visually adds 10-20 lbs to my body and makes me look like a block. See Exhibit A directly below.

This very blocky dolman top was instantly returned.

The dolman shape has to be very carefully constructed and tailored to my torso and waist. Think 1950s, like this pattern from Tasha Moss, where the dolman portion is contained to the sleeves and doesn’t creep into the torso of the body. I know, because I once owned a ready-made dolman sweatshirt exactly like it. Wore the thing to near tatters. Next time, I’ll focus on a more shapely dolman pattern for myself.

2. The yarn was also a flop. I was attempting to use up some acrylic from my stash. I’m sure you’re grimacing just reading the word “acrylic”. It’s such a terrific color on me and the yarn was on sale for such a fantastic price that I bought a few huge skeins in a moment of weakness a year or two ago.

After knitting on the sweater, my hands began to ache and ache for days afterward. Yes, I was knitting quite intently and knitting a lot. Still, this has never happened before. My gut feeling is that wool has such energy and elasticity it prevents and reduces fatigue, almost knitting itself as it were. Acrylic lacks that elasticity and energy, thus, it takes a lot of energy for my hands to knit. My hands are fine with a wool-acrylic blend but pure acrylic yarn is no longer a good option for me.

A win.

Finally a win!

This kerchief. My ranching friend, whom I knit it for, shared that they call it a rag. I love that name! So fun.

Ina’s Klud is a free delightful pattern found when searching for kerchiefs to knit. (Ina, the designer, has so many lovely projects, so take a look at her Ravelry project page.) In my haste to get said rag mailed to said friend, I forgot to take any proper photos. Just know that it’s knit in utterly soft yarns— a mix of cashmere, alpaca, wool, and tencel. The kerchief is also utterly chic! I really liked the “recipe” a lot and will make more of them in the future.

You can find out more details at my Ravelry project page.

I’ve actually been doing a lot of knitting for myself the last few years, so some gift knitting felt nice. I gift knitted for decades, actually. I didn’t feel confident knitting myself anything, let alone a sweater. It felt relaxing to return to knitting for friends and family. When you want to knit but don’t know what, knit a little something for a beloved friend or family member. It never fails.

Just make sure they’ll really love it and will properly care for it. Always the gamble with gift knitting, I suppose. So a little consideration is worth it.

OR… knit it in acrylic yarn, so the wearer doesn’t shrink it. HA! ;)

I’ll see you next time, darlings. XO!

P.S. I’m not sure yet what to do with these 4 mega skeins—or 4,188 yards (!)—of port wine acrylic yarn. Perhaps I will donate it to charity knitting. My hands will not comply to make use of it. Lesson learned: acrylic is no longer for me.