I surrender!  After hundreds of hours of knitting endless rows of fine gauge stocking stitch and many more hours of sewing and altering, sewing and altering, I admit defeat.  I cannot make this sweater fit my son.  Off to the Goodwill Thrift Store it goes!  Hopefully it will keep someone warm next winter (for a fraction of the price I paid for it).

This pullover, intended for my 19 year old son, is knit with Phildar Licorne, 14 balls of it.  It’s a silky smooth, 100% cotton with lots of body and a little bit of sheen.  A very nice yarn.  I knit it at a gauge of about 6 1/2 sts. to the inch, in a large size.

I’ve tried every alteration I can think of to make it fit my son; nothing has worked.  Part of the problem lies in my design and part lies in Erik’s changing body.  He’s been bodybuilding the past couple of months and his upper body has changed in size so drastically that the measurements I was working with last summer no longer apply.

What surprises me is how upset I am NOT.  There was a time when I’d have bemoaned the money I spent on the yarn and all the time spent knitting; wasting precious energy regretting something I can’t change.
Today I see it as a learning experience - I understand a lot more about creating saddle shoulders now - and as an opportunity to ‘let go’ and accept my own imperfections.
A smaller built man than my son will likely buy the sweater for $5.00 at the Thrift Store and, hopefully, it will keep the chill off of him during one of our cold Northern winters.

Posted in knitting