The goal of NaSweKniMo was to complete a 30 000 stitch sweater in under a month. While I didn't finish the Husband sweater by the 30th of November at midnight, I came pretty close. I still haven't finished it, but I have knit more than 30000 stitches. I didn't work out the exact math, but I'm up over 37000.
The progress you see here has since moved backwards a little. That intarsia cross in the center wasn't working for me; the scale was too small and due to a miscalculation, it was about 2 inches too high. I was also using a funky method for the colourwork that I wasn't particularly keen on. I would knit across the first row (stranding the green behind), drop the charcoal yarn and then continue with the green all the way around. When I got back to the charcoal, I slipped all the stitches across, turned the work and purled back, slipped them all across again and then joined a new strand of green. I knit the entire cross this way, weaving in the ends as I went to tighten up the edges where the stitches weren't joined every other row. It was working OK, but I wasn't thrilled about it. When I got to the point where I would start the saddle shoulders, I realized that I had 2 more rows of the cross to complete, with no rows left to knit on the body. There was only one thing left to do. Frog.
I ripped all the way back to two rows above the arm join. I checked with the Husband about duplicate stitching the cross in afterwards and after getting a nod of approval, I began re-knitting without the intarsia. The frogging was painful, but only because I hadn't listened to that niggly "this isn't working" voice in the first place. Why didn't I heed my own warning bells?
i do love the sweater.
Posted by: maryse | December 05, 2006 at 14:23
Gak. I love that color.
Bravo to you for doing it the way you want.
gotta listen to that wee voice!
Posted by: heather | December 05, 2006 at 15:39
Well, kitty seems to enjoy it just the way it is (was)!
My husband is always amazed at how much of a project I will rip out if I am not happy with something. That is, of course, since I did not listen to my own little voice 30 rows ago.
Posted by: jennifer w. | December 05, 2006 at 16:30
wow! i admire your ability to frog back that far. i think you made the best decision in the long run. i could tell on saturday you weren't that thrilled with it and after all that work you should be.
i can't wait to see the final result. it's going to look so great!
Posted by: meg | December 05, 2006 at 16:30
Ouch, frogging hurts, but better to be happy with it since you're the one who's got to look at the sweater on him.
Posted by: Abbe | December 05, 2006 at 16:41
*sigh* Us knitters never do! We always knit best! Your design is awesome anyway, and this way it won't always bug you.
Posted by: Julia | December 05, 2006 at 19:00
*sigh* Us knitters never do.... We always know best! Your design is awesome anyway, and this way it won't always bug you.
Posted by: Julia | December 05, 2006 at 19:01
You know it's gonna be worth it, because that sweater rocks. Hmmm. Mr. Frick's seamless hybrid part II? Tempting.
Posted by: JulieFrick | December 05, 2006 at 20:00
ooohhhh! Sorry. Don't you wish the "lessons" could be learned on projects without deadlines? It looks great though! Keep it up.
Posted by: AmyDe | December 06, 2006 at 09:27
Ooooo...frogging is bad enough, but frogging out all of that colorwork/weaving is really painful! I admire your tenacity for getting it right!
It looks great. Are you going to make the pattern available? My man likes straight-bottomed sweaters (no ribbing) like that, too.
Posted by: s t a c i | December 06, 2006 at 09:29
Looks great now - looks like your kitty loves the sleeve!
Posted by: stacey | December 06, 2006 at 09:42
It's painful but it will work out better in the long run. I feel your pain but the sweater is absolutely gorgeous!
Posted by: Kristin | December 06, 2006 at 10:01
Sign #1 this knitting is so impressive -- I don't understand half of what you are talking about on here! :) I'm glad you figured it out and the sweater is coming along. It looks quite nice.
Posted by: Kelli | December 06, 2006 at 12:32
That sucks! I agree with Staci - frogging the intarsia is a major pita. Were you doing the intarsia in the round?
Posted by: kelp! | December 06, 2006 at 14:48
Wow- I love the husband sweater! It looks great! Did you design the intarsia section?
Posted by: Dana | December 06, 2006 at 20:25
Frogging sucks, but your Husband Sweater still looks great!
Posted by: aj | December 07, 2006 at 16:49
Ack, I never listen to the inside voice either. I just ripped out the entire back of a knit christmas present with...what...17 days to go before Christmas? I'm doomed.
Posted by: Jen | December 08, 2006 at 14:42
You knitting is just beautiful always but I really love this sweater. I am coveting knitted stuff right now, mostly cause I can't do it myself. Frogging eh? I can't imagine what that is but evidently I should be sorry for you.
Posted by: Amy | December 08, 2006 at 16:16
I recently completed a sweater worked in the round a la EZ and my man had requested a letterman style P in the center of the chest. I first thought about working the intarsia the way you attempted and decided it wasn't going to work for me, so I used duplicate stitch also. It worked very well and looks really good. Good Luck and I'm sure your guy will love it!
Posted by: Stephanie | December 11, 2006 at 12:05
Yeek, yes. I'm familiar with the voice going, "Hey lady, this is going to suck and you know it. Just stop now and start over so that you don't finish a big pile of crap that you'll hate." This happened with the recent intarsia stocking situation. I ripped that baby out three times before I was happy with it. No fun, but big pay off.
Posted by: finnyknits | December 12, 2006 at 19:09