Courage, in all forms

There are some knitting actions that require extra courage.  These are best saved for knitting among like-minded friends, who can provide commiseration and encouragement.  Alcohol is suggested, but not required.

Monday was Knittervention, and I came armed with just such an assignment.  Ages ago, I started the Swirl Skirt.  I loved many things about the skirt.  I loved the overall design.  I loved the color progression.  I loved the yarn.

As so often happens, there was a hidden bug that revealed itself too late.  Not a failing of the pattern or yarn, I regret to say.  This was completely user error.  The skirt was way too long.

It is knit on the bias (read:diagonal, for those unfamiliar with fiber nomenclature), so the length of the skirt is difficult to judge pre-assembly.  At some point, however, it became obvious to even the most dense of knitters (that would be me) that this skirt was going to be a foot longer than I wanted.

I am not sure if the extra foot was a failure of my gauge swatch (swatches lie worse than lawyers, politicians, and used car salesmen combined, after all), a reflection of me losing 40 pounds since I cast on, or a change in my expectations, but the facts were plainly before me.

And so was the solution, no matter how much I wanted to deny it:  I had to rip out the whole bloody thing and start over.

I finished the ripping, but have put aside the starting over for a few weeks.  I have other things to focus on, and I want to make sure that my anger at the yarn for not knitting the proper size has time to fade before I try again.

Today, it is all that the re-start delayed.