Knitting Disasters

I named this blog "Woolercoaster" because as many knitters know knitting is full of ups and downs. Well, my friends, I am in a bit of a knitting slump.  Two projects I have recently been working on are ready to be frogged although I have not had the heart to do it.  So they are sitting sadly in a bag waiting to be ripped out.

Disaster #1  I bought this yarn (Rowan Creative Focus Worsted) on a March Break trip to London and in my mind I was thinking I would knit some kind of vest with it.  Instead of listening to my gut I picked a lovely knitted sweater pattern by Glenna C. called Dundurn. After knitting a swatch I was all set to go.  I decided to knit both of the sleeves at the same time.  As I was knitting the sleeves a little voice in my head told me that this was going to be a warmer sweater than I first anticipated and/or desired and I should go back to my vest idea.  However, I ignored that voice and kept on knitting until I was about 3/4 done the sleeves.  By this point I finally listened to that voice and put down the needles.

Disaster #2  My next project I decided to do was the Grace Cardigan by Jane Richmond in a lovely fingering yarn called Caper Sock by String Theory.  After reading other knitter's comments on Ravelry I was warned that the lace section at the beginning of the cardigan was challenging for some.  Well it was challenging for me.  Without going into all the details I will just say that after several attempts I could not get the lace to go perfectly.  I usually do not give up on a pattern but I have spent way too many hours accomplishing basically nothing.  It's time to switch to another project.

Here is one project I did finish between Disaster #1 and Disaster #2.  It is the Chevron Hat by Kate Gagnon Osborn found in the knit.wear Spring 2013 magazine.  It was a very quick knit and I was very pleased with how it turned out.  I used a combination of Madelinetosh Chunky in Fathom and Fyberspates Chunky Scrumptious Solid.  You should try it.

Now I have to pick another pattern to work on. What do you do when a pattern is not working out?