DAM(n)

Hey, what does a fish say when it runs into a brick wall?
DAM!

And what does Rita say when she blatantly ignores the very concept of gauge and thus throws her carefully planned project into chaos?
DAM(n) IT! DAMN SWEATER! DAMN %$&! GAUGE! &#@! NEEDLES! DAMN.

Indeed. OK, so remember, how I was making Trellis? And remember how I had that nice yarn? And I was all "Screw it, I'm not going to check my gauge, the yarn's kind of the right weight, I'll just cast on blithely and see what happens? Because hey, it's a baby sweater, it'll fit the kid eventually, right?"

Yeah. This is what happens when you laugh at gauge:



Looks normal, right? What you can't see is that the back, or at least what I've started of it, measures 14 inches across. Which is fine, except that the schematic says that the smallest size (6 months) should be 10.5 inches. Siiiigh. And I would almost be tempted to just keep on knitting, but the biggest size (for an eighteen-month-old) is supposed to be 12.5 inches across the back, which means this thing might fit a two-year-old. Yeah, not so much with the toddler clothes at a baby shower, right? And I would STILL almost be tempted to just keep knitting (because evidently I am both that stubborn and that dumb) except I would probably need more yarn, right, if I were sizing up from a six month size to a two-year old, right? And this yarn, as you may recall, is DISCONTINUED.

Damn. Damn, damn, damn.

Last night, after I'd finished grumbling and sulking about the fact that the precious little sweater I'd envisioned just wasn't going to happen, I made a list of my options:

1) Get new needles. Probably not. Not because I'm cheap, but because I really liked the fabric I was getting on size 6s. Even if I did manage to get gauge on smaller needles, it would probably be way too stiff. Useful if the kid ever got caught in gang warfare crossfare and needed to be protected from bullets, but probably not the look I'm going for.

2) Get new yarn. A possibility. Advantage: I would still get to knit Trellis, which I SO want to make! Disadvantage: I PROMISED myself I wouldn't buy any more yarn this summer, with the intention of being able to buy, you know, food and stuff.

3) Get a new pattern. Also a possibility. In an ideal world, this pattern would be written for the gauge I'm actually getting (18 st over 4 inches). I've looked around a bit and not found anything, but I'll keep looking. Advantage: cheaper than buying new yarn, plus I already have the Adrienne Vittadini and it'd be nice to use it. Disadvantage: I want to knit TRELLIS, damn it.

Hmmph. In the meantime, here's the dinner I made the other night; I appear to be falling into my father's school of cooking, which can basically summed up as the following:
1) get some stuff from the garden (or farmer's market)
2) cook it up with olive oil and garlic (some's good, more's better)
3) put cheese on top (not pictured)



Yum yum.