Why you should always check your gauge (and Ivy Sweater Giveaway)

October is a big month for the Wayward Girls! We have our "half-blogoversary" this week, and over the course of the month three Wayward Girls and two of their husbands will celebrate birthdays. To celebrate, we're having a giveaway a week throughout October! This week is mine:

Several years ago, I wanted to make a beautiful wrap sweater for myself. I went on a long hunt for the perfect pattern, and came across Ivy from Knitty Magazine, an amazing free online knitting magazine. I knew I had to make it but I wasn't willing to splurge on the recommended yarn. (The intervening five years have taught me the value of good yarn!) I really liked some microfiber yarn from Lion Brand and I went for bright red.

  

True color

Color altered to show detail

The pattern has a faux-cable on bottom of the body and sleeves. I reengineered the sleeves to be a little narrower than original. But in the end, I think my gauge was off. You see, when you knit something, your stitches need to be the same size as the pattern designer's stitches. If you have four stitches per inch where the designer has five, your finished project might have the right number of stitches, but it'll be 20% too small.

Or the opposite happens (though I may have picked the wrong size in the beginning): it's too big for me! (Okay, there's also the issue that I was nursing at the time...) It took me more than a year to make, and it doesn't fit. Sigh.

Color altered to show detail

The yarn is super soft and comfortable and pretty warm for an acrylic. No itch here!

  

Color altered to show detail

Neckline and bottom detail (color slightly altered)

True color

I love the details and the pop of color and the feel of the yarn, but it's time to face facts: it just doesn't fit me :( . So my loss is your gain!

It's made for a 38" chest (if I remember correctly). It's soft, comfortable, hypoallergenic and I've worn it maybe three times, including this photo shoot.

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED. WINNER POSTED HERE.

All you have to do to enter to win this beautiful handknit sweater:

• One entry for becoming a follower of our blog, and commenting on this blog post to tell me about it.
• One entry for following us on Twitter, and commenting on this blog post to tell me about it.
• One entry for tweeting this post, and commenting on this blog post to tell me about it (with a link directly to your Tweet).
• One entry for Liking us on Facebook, and commenting on this blog post to tell me about it.

Just so we're clear: each of these should be in its own SEPARATE comment! So if you like us on FB, comment, Follow us on Twitter, you should leave 3 separate comments.

Good luck!

Looking for a fast and delicious dessert? In half an hour, you could be eating this:



What do you do when a project you love just isn't right for you?