The Never-ending Project

We all have those projects - the ones from hell that just won't go away, won't finish themselves, and don't inspire you to pick them up and finish them - EVER. Well, for me this is a two color garter-stitch coat that I've been working on for about a year.

At first, I thought it would be a quick and easy project, great for my first adult garment. I chose one color to do the entire piece in, rather than two, because I liked the store model and that was done in one color. I couldn't afford the original yarn (Frog Tree Alpaca, doubled), so I settled on Cascade Pastaza in a gray-black color (007, I think, but the yarn is downstairs and I'm too lazy to go check).

Now, I like the yarn, I do. And the pattern is easy to follow. But here's the thing...the darn project is just SO BORING! So boring, in fact, that I allowed myself to purchase some beautiful Louisa Harding Sari Ribbon yarn as a bribe. I chose a pinkish colorway (it's called browns on the site to which I've linked, but it's pinks in person) and told myself that it will be for accenting the color and sleeves of the jacket when it's all done.

I'm a bit of a timid knitter when it comes to large projects, so even though I've read about tons of people who choose a plain sweater to knit and then are bored, I thought this one was a good choice for me because I didn't want anything I could screw up. Well, the universe is teaching me a lesson because, not only am I bored with this knit (but determined to finish it before embarking on another sweater) but I screwed it up and had to rip it out too.

I was concentrating so hard on trying to get the button holes in the correct place that I forgot to decrease for the underarm. DUH! I've fixed that now and have finished the back and both fronts of the sweater. However, one front is larger than the other front, and said front side also seems to be a bit larger than the back to which it's supposed to attach. By larger, I mean 1 - 1/2" wider and about 1/2 - 1" longer than the other two pieces. (This could have something to do with the fact that I put the project down for about 8 months and then picked it up again without even bothering to check to see if my gauge was the same.) HELP! Can I block this out?

I decided to take a break before knitting the sleeves and hope for some friendly advice, either from some kind readers, or from my lovely knitting circle friends, with whom I meet on Wednesday evenings.


Since I have from now until Wednesday to break from this godawful jacket, and a BIG GAME to watch in a little bit, I've decided to start the Cablefooties from One Skein, in this:

It's a potluck skein from Cherry Tree Hill that I snagged at a LYS a few weeks ago. I'm not sure if the cables will be too busy with the variegated colors, but I'm gonna give it a try. I knit up a swatch to check gauge earlier today and the yarn is just gorgeous. It's jewel-tones meet Mother Earth. Wish me luck! I'll post FO picks if it ever gets to that point.