the blue blog archives: what we have here is a failure to communicate

All the Knitsmiths were doing it: Thea made two; Johanna is almost done with hers; and Gayle just bought her yarn and cast on. So when Shannon said she was going to make one, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon.

I cast on, misread the first row, ripped out, reknit row 1, figured out what I'd done wrong in the first place, ripped and reknit it correctly. Then I started the pattern, realized after 5 rounds that I messed up the initial marker placement, ripped back, redid two repeats of the pattern, noticed that the lace wasn't coming out right, and ripped again. I gave it one more try, got through three repeats of the lace pattern and again my stitch count was off.

Look green gables, it's over. It's me, not you. Except for your appalling lack of stitch counts you're a nice pattern. I'm sure you'll make many more someones a nice top someday. But you and I are just not compatible. Sorry.

posted by alison at 8:59 am | in just blogging 06

Comments

Ha! I started it twice and I'm still keeping my fingers crossed. Though, my mistake was entirely my own: in my excitement to begin, I did not check for twists when I joined in the round. D'oh! This is officially my first sweater project, and I hope it goes well!

Posted by: Megann at May 24, 2006 9:02 AM

Too bad! Will there be other tanks for tank girl this summer?

Posted by: Helene at May 24, 2006 9:19 AM

I'm not crazy about the way the pattern is written, but have my fingers crossed . . . Sorry yours didn't work out, but life is too short to fight with a pattern you don't love!

Posted by: --Deb at May 24, 2006 9:45 AM

the first thing i did was sit down with a calculator and scribble in stitch counts per "section". i made some massive errors that I simply chose to ignore, and am now finishing up. i love the fit, but the pattern gave me fits, too.

Posted by: marnie at May 24, 2006 9:47 AM

Not only does the pattern lack stitch counts, but it lacks a schematic as well. Argh! I am getting ready to rip out the bottom for the third time now.

Posted by: Liz K. at May 24, 2006 9:49 AM

That was pretty good for a break up! What if Green Gables comes crawling back on its hands and knees begging for forgiveness? I mean, really, in the knitting schematic scheme of things, is the stitch count that important? [YES!!!}

Posted by: elisabeth at May 24, 2006 10:16 AM

Put this project down please and finish the mystery pinks/orange project -- I can hardly wait for that project to be finished!

Posted by: Leslie at May 24, 2006 10:17 AM

It does get better, I promise... Check out the KAL site- half of the members had absolute fits, and the rest finished in a day. I fell into the first group.

Posted by: Silvia M at May 24, 2006 10:35 AM

Thanks for the warning - I have this project on my radar for summer. :)

Posted by: Chris at May 24, 2006 10:53 AM

de-lurking to say that a blogger did The Math and posted it over on the KAL (http://ggknitalong.blogspot.com/). And, heh, 10th time (yes, i said tenth!) time is the charm for me!

Posted by: brenda in toronto at May 24, 2006 11:22 AM

Shoot, you have scared me away from this cute little summer sweater. I have only made baby/toddler sweaters and was just about ready to try one for me. Clearly this pattern would not be a good place to start. Pity - it is soooo cute.

Posted by: Sheryl at May 24, 2006 12:10 PM

Hmm, I'm almost done with the Green Gables top and I had some trouble with the stitch count at the lace, but I just adapted the pattern a little and it turned out great. I hope to finish it up tonight, only a few more rows left, but I already tried it on and it fits nicely! In my opinion patterns often do ask for a little flexibility!

Greets!

Posted by: Emily at May 24, 2006 12:22 PM

I was looking forward to working on this shortly...I will pay attention to that stitch count.

Posted by: Darci at May 24, 2006 1:13 PM

What a joy to read this post. I consider you such an expert knitter and it's nice to know that experts like you get stumped too. Good for you for moving on without bitterness! :) Leslie

Posted by: Leslie at May 24, 2006 1:57 PM

The same thing happened to me when I started! I set it down for a few days and am now on a roll. It is kind of a weird pattern...

Posted by: Sarah at May 24, 2006 2:43 PM

That pattern looks a lot like the Picovoli pattern from Magknits Aug '05. You could probably add lace to the yoke and ribbing to the hem of picovoli and get a similar result. Just a suggestion:)

Posted by: beth at May 24, 2006 6:29 PM

Sorry you're having so much trouble with the pattern, it's hard to admit defeat and give up on a project sometimes! There are so many projects I wish I didn't waste so much time on, for some reason I feel the need to finish every project I start.

I know you watch American Idol and love Legos so I wanted to tell you I made a Taylor Hicks figure and posted it on Ebay. I thought you might get a kick out of it!

Posted by: Heather's Knits at May 24, 2006 8:57 PM

Sorry about the gable.Shes giving me trouble too.I keep thinking I can skip a stitch here or there,but it all end up frogged again.
Bummer!

Posted by: melanie at May 24, 2006 9:50 PM

I admire you for not giving up after the 3rd attempt...sheesh...it looks nice enough, but after this detail...I don't think i'll be buying that patter...besides i'm really in to v necks.

Posted by: Orli at May 25, 2006 3:13 AM

I've seen so many nice Green Gables out there. I just finished the swatch for mine. Since my gauge is slightly different, I need to adjust the pattern a bit. I was horrified to see there was no schematic, finished bust measurements, or stitch counts for the body. I'll do the math myself, but was disappointed in this lack of basic information. Luckily I like math and love the top :)

Posted by: nona at May 25, 2006 11:09 AM

Must be the month for breakups...I just ditched Madli's Shawl. Life's too short for knits when it's not working out...and especially when you're not *married* to the project! :-)

Posted by: Olga at May 25, 2006 10:13 PM

Thank you thank you for showing me that even an exceptional knitter such as yourself, says no to a pattern sometimes.

Posted by: kathy b at May 28, 2006 10:26 AM