Knitting Bag Letdown

There is nothing worse than knitting a project - especially a hooded long cardigan project - and being disappointed at the end. Unlike hooking, you can't just change it up as you go along. You finish the project and then see whether or not you are going to love it.

Here's how the story goes....

For my birthday, my darling husband gave me the most glorious yarn I have ever purchased. Four skeins of Madeline Tosh Pashmina!!! For those of you who don't know, it's close to the equivalent of spun gold. It's like knitting with honey - so fluid on the needles - almost slippery. But it feels like heaven.

Here's a picture of the yarn, colour "Honeysuckle" and the hood that was knit that I have just taken off the original sweater, which I am frogging (or ravelling or unravelling depending on your point of origin).

Yummy - isn't it??

And here was the original, intended pattern. Also yummy - called Slouchy Cardigan - and finished and worn constantly by many happy knitters on Ravelry, including this one - a favourite blog I follow "A friend to knit with".

It's supposed to be the sweater you toss on over everything - wear everywhere. And I was so drawn to it that I forked over the $25+ and ordered the book Greetings from The Knit Cafe from amazon.

When I finished knitting - and there was a lot of stockinette in this puppy - I could tell almost immediately that it was "off". The drape was all wrong - I think the absolute fluidity of the yarn went against it. It didn't have enough body to hold the shape. And when I wore it - and I did that only once - it kept slipping off my shoulders and I was constantly tugging at it. I knew the "frog" was waiting for this one, for sure.

So, I started hunting for suitable replacement patterns. You don't spend that much on yarn and a book and not make it in to something else!! At least not at my house. (And the spending is not finished yet, dear reader.)

I found several contenders. In fact, I think I downloaded four different patterns, which I paid for each time. All possibilities, but nothing that really said "This is it!", until I found Olive. What a name for a sweater - who names these anyway.

Here she is

Everything about this pattern holds promise for the yummy yarn. The fluidity will be a bonus, since it will drape nicely. I like the 3/4 sleeves and that type of neckline is flattering on me. Plus I can't see any tugging possibilities here.

Since it needed a contrast yarn for the yoke, I went to the Purple Sock yarn store in Coldwater on my way home from a meeting on Thursday and found a wonderful baby alpaca that I think works well with it. It's a sock weight with lots of interesting colours in it, including the honeysuckle. So I think it will work well.

I started the yoke to test the combination. Here's a peek

I know it's a bit early to be showing it, but I felt so optimistic, I decided to share. And that's a good thing because I was SO crushed by the previous iteration.

I am the last person who needs another work in progress, but somehow, just getting it started and feeling like it will work puts me over a hurdle of sorts. I must focus on the gift knitting before I get going to far into this. But it's the promise on the needles that I needed to share. And that fact that when I finish my "most expensive sweater ever", it will hopefully be the love of my life.