Love-Hate Sweater, V. 4.0

I can't believe I've already been back here for a week. Leaving home was bittersweet this time, as it's the last time for quite a while (indefinitely?) that I'll be home during the summer, or for any considerable length of time. That's alright, however, because it was quite clear to me this time that life is changing for so many of my peers who now have jobs, spouses, babies... and that going home isn't quite the same any more. It's making me feel like I should feel like an adult (I don't, I'm just excited to be starting grade 19 in the fall).

I thought I'd throw a picture of this sign in for fun: I passed it on a bike ride last week, and it makes me laugh every time. It's on a small island in Lake Ontario, right by the customs office at the ferry crossing to New York state. It always makes me wonder who in Ontario is taking action to actually make me feel incredible...



Anyhow, I digress. Mostly because I'm procrastinating talking about this sweater, as I have with pretty much everything else concerning it. Sometimes I feel like this blessed sweater will always be a pox on my body of knitting... it just won't end.

Version 1.0 occurred back in January of 2006, over the course of a week. I loved the yarn, but wasn't impressed with the sweater. The button band rolled in, the neckline was weird, the rolled edges were much more exaggerated than in the pattern's photo, the shoulders were lumpy, and the whole thing looked boxy and short despite having added waist shaping and length. Long story short, I never wore it, but kept it in the closet anyway because it was hand knit, and the color was nice.

Version 3.0 - still blech!

V 2.0 happened sometime in 2008. I took the arms off the sweater, and decided to rip out and re-knit the neck. It didn't work. I felt stupid for (maybe?) misreading the pattern twice. V. 3.0: fall of 2008 to spring 2009. I ripped out the entire body, added a seed stitch button band, made up the neckline, added more waist shaping. Things looked a bit less bizarre after that, but it was still boxy, and the two times I wore it I couldn't stop fuming over my dissatisfaction with how it turned out.

So, earlier this summer when I had nothing on the needles and a severe case of knitter's block, I started V.4.0, with a totally new pattern (Fireside Sweater by Amber Allison), mostly because the pattern called for the exact yarn I had (Valley Yarns Berkshire). I'm not convinced that I'll wear this sweater, but at least it *should* look a little prettier sitting in a heap in my knitting basket, and it may provide amusement along the way. However, I'm not totally convinced the curse is gone, as I've already managed to lose the pattern (and my place) a few times. I think my gauge is off, and I'm quickly realizing that I'll need to order more yarn. What are the chances that the colorway will still be close after almost 4 years?




Oh, and in an act of lazy defiance I'm knitting it straight from the old sweater. We'll see how that goes!