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Ashley’s Adventures in Knitting: Flaherty With a Bit of Flair

My Flaherty has flair…at least that’s my official position. In reality, I royally flubbed this project. And I didn’t notice my mistakes until I was 14 inches and several months in.

I fell in love with this design the day I saw the sample. Here’s a picture of me modeling it just minutes after we pulled it out of the box.

Me modeling the Flaherty sample.
modeling the Flaherty sample last February

I had to wait two whole months to cast on. I got the rough instructions in late April and worked on it a few rows at a time, while also doing several knit-alongs. I decided to knit it as one piece, which is where the trouble started.

First mistake: I tend to get confused about which front is the left and which is the right. I set up the pattern stitch incorrectly, which then complicated the decreases for shaping.

Second mistake: I apparently stopped paying attention to the chart and did all garter stitch instead of alternating between garter and stockinette.

flahertyvssample
my Flaherty compared to the sample Flaherty

Knowing how much time it would take to frog and how bad that would be for the beautiful Blackstone Tweed yarn, I decided to stay the course. I put it away for a few months, but I think I’m up to the challenge now.  Of course, the problem with unintentionally changing the pattern is trying to remember how you unintentionally changed the pattern several months after the fact!

I can’t promise that I’ll love the finished sweater as much as the flawless Flaherty I first tried on, but as long as it turns out to be wearable, I think I’ll eventually appreciate its flair!

Would you fight to save a troubled WIP or do you prefer to start from scratch?

 

6 thoughts on “Ashley’s Adventures in Knitting: Flaherty With a Bit of Flair

  1. If it looks good I keep going. But if I follow a pattern correctly and I don’t like how it’s looking I frogg it. Just like I put a garment back on the clothing rack after trying it on in a store if it’s not what I want. I like your interpretation of the original pattern, I’d keep going and I’d wear it a lot.

  2. I actually like your garter stitch better. The sweater will be beautiful! I just did a huge mistake on the hooded sweater I’ve been knitting. I’m going to stick with it, and just change the pattern some. Gonna’ give it a try anyway. 🙂

  3. I think you need to see how much you like your mods… 🙂
    If it’s acceptable, go for it.
    Otherwise… Frog frog frog!

  4. For me, it depends on how much it will bother me when wearing/using the FO. If it will bug me at all, I tend to frog. Also, I have noticed that when I’m making an item for someone else, I am much more inclined to frog so that it will be as close to perfect as possible. 🙂

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