Details Matter

I got a reminder in the last week about why details like reading a pattern and using the correct weight of wool matters. After knitting this bottom-up sweater I finally got to the exciting cabled owls, and then did my decreases and cast off the neck.

I was so excited to try it on, but I got as far as the inglorious position where your arms are almost through the sleeves but your head isn't out the neck hole yet (where you feel kind of like one of those arm-flailing inflatable tube men) and got no further. The drop from shoulder to armpit was way to short, and the neck hole wasn't big enough to let my head out.
My first attempt finished sweater looks like it's permanently shrugging.
I has to rip back as far as the owls (I wasn't willing to re-knit the owls or steek below them), and add a bunch more rows to make it fit. But it worked, it fits now!

The owls sit lower than they really should, but I can live it with. And I'm definitely not re-sewing all 42 eye buttons on in a new spot!

I really lucked out in that this pattern did enough by measurements instead of stitch counts that there weren't issues other than the yoke, otherwise the whole thing might not have fit. I don't know if I could work up the enthusiasm to knit it twice. Most of the body was knitted on an 8 hour plane trip, and I want to knit something else on my next flight!


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