Mistakes I have made, Volume 1

Since I have been thinking about gross errors in knitting judgment this week, I thought that I'd dig out this all-time disaster to parade for you an example of my younger, more aesthetically clueless self. In spite of my efforts, you may recognize it from Kaffe Fassett's first book, Glorious Knits. I collected yarn for this sweater for a year (1987, to be exact) buying anything that caught my eye, without any regard for unity or colour. There's angora in there, a stripe of acrylic-blend left over from a long-ago Pingouin project, and the orange stripes are a slubby linen blend something. There's dk and worsted, doubled sport weight, and the dark purple background yarn is an aran. What was I thinking? I also made it the size of a tent, because I really didn't know how to make a sweater that fit, so I figured that "really big" was the best size. It was going to be a long-sleeved sweater, but I had lost steam after the front and back, and thought I'd just pick up stitches and make it a vest, and that was going to be a charming garment, I'll tell you. Big floppy dropped-sleeve shoulder openings do not convert gracefully to vest-like sleeve openings. I looked like a ship-wrecked samurai clown. So I tucked it away in the Rubbermaid time capsule, where no one would know what a breech of good taste I was capable of. Until today. So have a good giggle at my expense, and know that I am comparatively happy with Tuja, as unflattering as it might be.

Speaking of Tuja . . .
At Tuesday night knit night, looking for some confirmation so that maybe I could declare Tuja moot and cast on for something new (like, uh, oh I dunno, a simple V-neck in that gorgeous Manos) I tried on Tuja for all assembled, and they promised me that it didn't look that bad when I stood up straight and sucked it in, and that any poofiness around the tummy is the fault of the ribbing and that will block out.

It will block out, they said.

So I played along and cast on for the first sleeve.
Meanwhile,Kim has returned from obscurity, having finally moved into her house, and she was sporting two wrist braces. Not a knitting injury, but one sustained while re-tiling her bathroom. That means she can't knit for awhile, but frankly, she hasn't been knitting much anyway.
Light a candle for her.

Comments

[Nathania]

Thank you for posting your vest of shame. A while back I posted a pic of my first sweater in all its 80s oversized cotton peachiness. Felt good to fess up.

[Margene]

Oh good for Tuja. And that vest?! Very '80's. We all had something like that, surely!!

[Emma]

Kaffe would love it !
Actually,it doesn't look that bad from over here. ;-]

[Norma]

Yay, I'm so glad Tuja is being given a reprieve.

[Lisa in Oregon]

I took a class from someone who had hosted Kaffe and Brandon in her home for a quilting event. As a gift, they started a Persian Poppy wrap for her, then taught her how to do it and left it for her to finish. The class was awesome, in that it really opened my eyes to how terrified I was of failing. However.....my persian poppy project looked like crap. I hated it by the third row and it never got any better. What's Kaffe got that I don't? I don't know, but whatever it is, it is what makes the difference between his knitting and mine, and his color choices and mine.

Frankly, I'm glad you posted your vest pic...it just makes me feel like I'm not as hopeless as I sometimes feel...your knitting is lovely, maybe mine will be someday too!
;-p Lisa in Oregon

[Diane]

I still have a Quilttop of Shame that I pull out every once in a while. From its horrifyingly loud color scheme, I learned a most important lesson:

The eye needs a place to rest.

Thank you for sharing your vest. Wow. No restful spots there, either.