Project Diary: Stego Sweater (And Some Thoughts On Mistakes)

Well, this is embarrassing.

I started working on the Stego Sweater by Mary P Hunt in Vintage DK (#2104 Mushroom and #2177 Douglas Fir) around Christmas as a gift for my partner. Two months and many hours of knitting later, it’s finished…but far too small for him.

So what happened?

When I made my gauge swatch, I didn’t make one for the colorwork sections of the sweater. I didn’t consider that I often knit tightly when doing stranded colorwork which created a tighter gauge than the simple stockinette part of the sweater. Once I was past the yoke and on to the body, it was clear the sweater was going to be too small for him… but as luck would have it – it fit me perfectly!

The Stego Sweater was a wonderful pattern to work with. I found the instructions clear and easy to follow. If you’re a fan of stranded colorwork or stegosauruses, I highly recommend making this sweater.

I have gotten so many compliments on my sweater, and, yes, I’ve started on a second one that will actually fit my partner (in #2176 Pumpkin and #2104 Mushroom).

Knitting mistakes are common. We’ve all spent hours on a tee that ends up not fitting quite right, or had to frog a project multiple times because the new technique turned out the be harder than we thought. Every maker has a story about a project that went so wrong they couldn’t salvage it.

Rather than being embarrassed and upset by our mistakes, let’s wear them as a badge of honor! These mistakes show we are learning and growing. When we share our mistakes other makers know they aren’t alone. It’s all part of the journey! And hey, sometimes you even get a cool stegosaurus sweater out of the deal.

If you knit colorwork tightly like I do, here are some strategies to get gauge:

• Knit your colorwork on a larger size needle. This will take a bit of trial and error with swatching, but I find that going up one needle size is all I needed to maintain gauge.
• Try a new technique. There are a few different ways to knit stranded colorwork, and it might be worth trying to experiment holding your yarn in various ways to see what works best.
• Knit the piece in a larger size. If you’re eager to start and like the look of your gauge swatch, you can try making a larger size to achieve the size you want. Be sure to calculate the gauge to ensure that you’ll get the proper fit but if you’re a fan of math you may enjoy the challenge.
• Try a new yarn. If you just can’t seem to get gauge, it’s possible that this may not be the right yarn for the project. Head to your LYS or find similar projects on a site like Ravelry and see what other yarns they recommend for your project.
• If you’re knitting in the round, knit your swatch in the round. Many knitters purl more loosely than knit, making it difficult to swatch a project meant to be worked in the round with a swatch that’s been worked flat.
• As always remember to wash your gauge swatch!

I’m glad my gauge mishap happened and hopefully you’ll learn from my mistake! Despite working on the sweater and it not fitting my partner, I wasn’t too upset about it, I mean… it doesn’t hurt that I’m also a pretty big fan of stegosaurus! 😉