I spent about three months on and off knitting my Veronika Cardigan, all the while picturing myself wearing it everywhere and being cozy, warm, and stylish.
When I was finished, I tried it on, all excited about my life-changing finished object, and nope, nope, nope! It was absolutely hideous on me. HIDEOUS! No one believed me, and when I tried it on for my knitting group at our holiday party, one of my favorite people said, “Yeah, it’s not good.” I love her.
So I gave it to my friend Edie, who’s also in my knitting group. She is taller and slimmer than I am, and it looked great on her. She hesitated to accept it, until I told her that I wanted it out of the house, and if she didn’t take it, I’d give it to someone else. She put it on and didn’t take it off.
Now I don’t want you all to think I’m trashing the pattern, because I’m definitely not. It’s just terrible for my body. Because this was a knit-along, I’ve seen it on several people, and it looked great on them all. I do have to say, however, that it looks best on people who are taller, like 5′ 6″ or more. Although now that I think about it, my friend Terry is about my height, and her’s looks great. So . . . maybe it’s not for chubettes. Or just my brand of chubette, because it looks fine on the Ravelry folks.
Anyway, lesson learned: don’t go for oversized, boxy items!
Honestly, though, I was pretty upset. I had spent so much time knitting this beast, and I loved my yarn choice. I felt bad about my body, and I had a thought that I’d just knit accessories from now on, because sweaters in my size take FOREVER, and it’s such a crap-shoot on fit. At least for me it is.
But then I had a stern conversation with myself, and thought about the successful knits I’ve made, including another cardigan I just finished; blog to come after I take some decent pictures.
This Veronika process also helped me realize that I need to make better choices (in many things, but I’m talking about knitting here). Why on earth would I think an over-sized sweater would look good on me? I am already over-sized, and I need to flatter my shape, not expand it! Total fail on the pattern choice. I just loved the look of it on the model and in The Studio, where I saw a finished sample and joined the KAL. So, again, lesson learned.
My next sweater will be a well-thought-out project, with much consideration of how the sweater will look on me, not how it looks on other people, especially the model. Kris from The Studio is a master of fitting knits, so I’m going to be asking her for advice.
Leave a comment and give me your advice,and tell me about your fails. I need some company here!
Cheers,
The Craftermath 