Knitting, knitting and knitting again

I've been working on the same sweater for almost a month now. That's not particularly unusual per se, but it's a short sleeved sweater, not a difficult pattern and it should be a breeze. But it hasn't been. *sigh*

I'm making this pattern out of Knit Picks CotLin in Desert Turquoise. Love the pattern, love the yarn, but I just can't seem to make this work. As written, the pattern is for a 34" bust. Needless to say, I'm NOT a 34" bust.

For the first attempt, I added a few increases under the arm after the sleeves were cast off. (I didn't actually cast them off but put them on waste yarn. I plan on adding some sort of hem - if I can ever finish the body.) After I knit a few inches of the body, I tried the sweater on. Major batwing/elephant ear sleeves. That wasn't going to work so I frogged it. Here is a picture of the first attempt. (I haven't had the heart to take any more pictures.)


Second time around, I did the math. Based on my gauge, I determined that 217 stitches for the body should give me a 39" bust. I changed the number of stitches cast on and re-arranged how they were sectioned out. Sounded good. After knitting about 5 inches of the body I tried it on. Huge. Simply huge. Apparently my gauge was way off. (Grrrrrr.) I tried frogging it to the sleeve cast off and re-knit , but I just didn't like the neckline with my modifications. So I frogged it all again.

For my third attempt, I am knitting it as written, using the math (with the correct gauge this time) and determined that I need 187 stitches for the body. I also decided not to do a seed stitch hem as on the two previous attempts and did a 2 x 2 rib instead. I'll keep you posted on how it works out.

I will say this though - the knit picks CotLin can take a lot of abuse and still knit nicely. My first ball has been frogged two times and knit three and is still holding together well. At least there's a silver lining, right?

*Sigh*

Knit on.