A year ago I started knitting my first sweater, finished it, and realized it was too big. I took it apart and restarted with a smaller size. It was passable, but the lower half of it still was too loose for my liking.
I wore my “goldfinch top” a couple times but it continued to hang weirdly at the shoulders and flares too much at the hips. Washing the cotton garment on hot did not help. When I buy something off the rack, I accept that a garment may not fit perfectly (though I really shouldn’t make the purchase if that is the case. However, I hold my handmade garments to higher standards.)
As it currently exists, this sweater is not a strong component of my wardrobe. It only looked good with slim-fitting jeans, since it obscures my waist/hip line. It is short sleeve, but does not layer well with any of my cardigans (which are all thin knits or sweaters themselves). The color is not a good match with my khakis (pants and skirt).
I like the sweater design very much and I do not regret paying for the pattern. But after two attempts to make it work, I think moving to a different project might be a better option for this particular cotton yarn. I want some variety. If I reknit this same sweater and it STILL doesn’t fit, I will be more frustrated than if I try something new.
I will return to this pattern down the road, with a different fiber yarn.
UPDATE: 5/4/13
I had started a cardigan from the frogged remains of the “goldfinch sweater” to work on during Game of Thrones. I was 11-inches into the base of the cardigan before stopping outright. The cotton yarn was constantly untwisting as I knit, and the cardigan just felt bland. I was not excited to wear it and I was not enjoying the knitting.
The yarn has all been rolled into balls again. Rather than feeling frustrated at frogging a project that had taken 4 weeks to get to that point, I felt liberated.
I will hold onto it for future amigurumi projects. I see lots of ducks in my future. 🙂
The Fabric Alchemist 