Finishing a sweater is sweet!  Especially when you get it done in time for some special events — particularly the special events you were hoping to wear it to!  I completed the darling “Plath” boxy cardigan (by Shellie Anderson) in time for family gatherings in Oregon last week — and yes, I was knitting on it all the way down I-5!  I was able to wear it to the Fircrest Golf Club Children’s Easter Party on Saturday too 🙂

This was a particularly amazing achievement as I had had a real set-back in the knitting the week before.  When upon completing the large fold-over collar (9000+ stitches by my calculation), I thought  “hmmmm, this does not look right!”  It had an unusual construction and, after careful study and some research, I determined that I had screwed it up right at the the beginning of the collar.  This mistake was not fixable.  The only thing to do was rip the whole collar out (all 9000+ stitches….) and do it all over again.   So I ripped it out.  It took 40 minutes to rip out.  That is a lot of ripping out.

Then, I gamely started it over again.  Following the instructions carefully.  And finding myself setting up the collar exactly as it had been before! What was I not understanding here?! Argh!  So, I did what I always do un these situations.  I took it to Sarah for a consult.

And after careful study and some research, she determined that……

I was doing it right.  As in, I had done it right the first time.  As in, the collar (9000+ stitches) had been exactly as it was supposed to be the first time.  As in, I had ripped out a perfectly correct finished collar and now I was going to have to knit it again.

Let’s all just take a moment here.  Breathe.  

Okay, yes, I felt stupid.  Painfully stupid.  I had that “oh, if I could only ride a time machine back in time and stop myself from doing that totally stupid thing!”moment.  And then, I had that “oh, well, sometimes these things happen” moment.  And I picked up my needles and started knitting on that collar.  

So, a Happy Ending here — as the sweater is soooo lovely and just what I had hoped it would be!