Sometimes I think about a project for so long that it feels like an UFO even before it is started. This is the case with Rogue. I can’t remember when I first saw it and decided I had to knit it, but it must be at least two years ago. Last winter I decided I wanted to have it ready for this fall. I’ve spent I don’t know how many hours in the LYS trying to decide on colours. I knit the gauge swatches ages ago. I decided that the colour wasn’t right after all, and got another one. But Rogue was always put on hold for another pair of socks or whatever I had on my needles Cause I was afraid. What if it didn’t work out? What if I do all that knitting and then it doesn’t fit?
And then, finally the other day, I felt that I was now ready. Yeah, that, and the snow in the mountains was lying further down every morning.
So. After much searching, found my gauge swatches. Gauge was spot on, but what needles had I used? Decided it had to be 4 mm, cause they were the only ones I could find. Started a sleeve. In the round instead of flat like the pattern says. Got confused in the first few rows, unable to make any sense of the charts. Rip. Google. Find the tutorial for the decreases. Realize that it couldn’t have been 4 mms and change to 4.5. Start over, flat this time, slipping first stitch on every row. No, it didn’t say so in the pattern. Knit happily along. Discover halfway through the chart that the sleeve increase row, for which I couldn’t find the instructions, increases 4 stitches and not just two as I had assumed. The instructions were right there. (Note to self: if a pattern is written over nineteen pages, essential info is most likely in there somewhere). Figure a few stitches to and from probably didn’t matter and almost finish the chart before I got second thoughts about my knitterly denial. Finally, it was my boyfriend who convinced me to rip back, cause as he said, it is a beautiful sweater, I was only a few inches into a sleeve, it would annoy me later that it wasn’t perfect and it was worth putting the extra effort into getting it right. I usually hate it when he is right, but this time I’m thrilled that he pointed out the mistakes for me and made me rip back again. Can’t wait to get it done and blocked.
Third attempt, not slipping the edge stitches and doing the proper increases. I’m in love.
