Mad at myself for baby wrap over cardigan epic fail
Not a very useful post but I feel I’m in need for some love from fellow knitters 😔
I consider myself and advanced beginner, having knitted stuff like scarves, a slipover jumper and a beanie for my eldest daughter and a Sophie scarf for myself, all with very satisfactory results.
A few months ago, when my baby was 4 months old, I started knitting a wrap over/ kimono style cardigan for her. I chose a super cute pattern, and despite being bottom up with a lot of hand sewing involved it seemed doable. But I clearly over estimated myself and my ability to knit with a demanding baby and a few hours of sleep (thank you coffee!). I also made the mistake of choosing a fine cotton, much more temperamental than chunkier wool. I found the pattern super frustrating, had to do a lot of brain work, ask AI and experienced knitters here in Reddit, write down bits of the pattern to make it clearer and easier to follow - also experienced knitters confirmed it was rather obscure at points and required a lot of interpretation…maybe I’m spoiled by the very accessible patterns available nowadays but, come on, following a pattern shouldn’t feel like decoding the Da Vinci code! I also spotted some mistakes, and found on Ravelry (when it was too late) someone else did too.
Progress was slow as a result of all this faffing, and of my mistakes due to tiredness. At some point I decided to give up, went on holiday and forgot about it. Until I realised I hadn’t forgotten about it and resumed working on it upon my return. I lost more sleep to try and finish it before it wouldn’t fit the little one anymore. Sewed all the bits together with very mixed results (because some of the edges were uneven) and…it’s now too small for her.
So LONG STORY SHORT: because of my stubbornness and inability to let go, I wasted months of hard work to end up with a garment that is far from perfect and too small to be worn by the intended recipient. I don’t even feel like donating it as it looks a bit crappy, especially the bits I made in a rush after I realised it wouldn’t fit (sewing of the pieces together and picking up of stitches along the border). I’ll try to take some pics and post them in the comments.
SILVER LINING: I learned a ton, and I could see this as a (long) learning exercise tat will help with my future makes.
End of story, sorry for the long rant to those who made it this far :( And yes, I learned a lot but I’m also feeling rather stupid for my stubbornness and disheartened before I start a new project…